Location Moblogging...Resources? I've exhausted my search..

From a post on Mobile Learning (Thank you Leonard Low!), I got the idea to start researching "loco mobloging" or location mobile blogging, where you can use your cell phone to immediately pinpoint your location on a map and post to the internet. I think location moblogging could be a very useful resource for social studies teachers who are doing local history projects or science teachers studying geographical distances and features. I also think that foreign language teachers who take their students on a cultural trip to another country could use location moblogging to document places they visited and post images, video, or audio of their experiences on a map. In language arts, students studying a novel that was written about local places or events could do some location moblogging for homework or extra credit to document those places and the inspiration that the author drew. Or better yet, students could create their own moblogging autobiographies where they moblog specific locations and how those places impact their personal stories. Health students could document their athletic activities and see the results online. In other words I think there could be many applications for location moblogging in education. The problem I have been having is finding a "perfect" resource to use for location moblogging. What I have found is that most of the resources ask you to...

1) Have a specific cell phone or cell phone provider. Such as Nokia's Sports Tracker needs you to have a Nokia Smartphone. Most basic cell phones will not work. Locoblog is a great example of a blog that documents people and their locations (along with images), but you need Bluetooth and a Smartphone in order to use the service (I know many students will not have a fancy smartphone or Bluetooth).

2) They ask you to pay money to use the resource (as we know, this is not a great option for schools), such as Runner's world Run Tracker. While both Nokia's and Runner's world application are really cool, you can track your run or jog or walk route on your cell phone as it happens, then log in to your online account to check out statistics (great for health education and geography classes). You cannot post immediate audio, video, or images (except I do believe you can include images with Nokia, but I am not sure how) from those locations to your files. Additionally they both couple with Google applications (such as Google Maps).

3) You have to download an application to your phone to use the web2.0 service (Sports Tracker and Run Tracker both have you do this). Google Mobile Maps and Locoblog are other moblogging applications where you have to download the application in order to use it on your cell phone and post to the Internet. While I am not against downloading to my phone, I really think that if we want to get educators using cell phones for learning and asking all of their students to use their cell phones for assignments, we need to cut down on the "extra" steps. Downloading an application often means that it will not work universally on all cell phones, which may cause problems if you want all of your students to be able to participate with their own cell phones and/or a landline.

4) You have to add the pictures to the map while you are online. Flickr is great for moblogging images, I use it often. And Flickr does have a nice map feature. But you have to physically add the images to the map in your online Flickr account, you cannot do it from your cell phone.

I would like to find a location blogging application that does the following....
1) No need to download an application to the cell phone
2) Works on all cell phones (not just smartphones)
3) No cost option
4) Tracks where you are on a Map
5) Allows you to document your locations with images, sound, and/or video (and not have to add them to a map later online).
6) Posts immediately online

Anyone know of an application like this?

Mobile Student Organization and Management Tools

Lately I have come across a lot of free mobile applications that could be used for student organization and management. I notice that many of these applications couple with Jott (see earlier post for tutorial) so that you can call in your reminders and have them post to a calendar or "to do" list. I thought I would go ahead and share a few of them. In most schools students are given an "assignment notebook" where they are ask/told to keep track of their assignments and schedules. While some students are very diligent about this, I found in my own high school teaching experience that many of these "notebooks" go unused and are often lost. Therefore many students struggle with being able to manage and organize their academic life. Since we know that over 73% of high school students have a cell phone (Speak Up 2006 K-12 Report, 2006) with them at all times, learning to use their cell phone as an organizational tool may be more beneficial for life-long structure than a paper assignment notebook. Therefore here are some FREE web2.0 resources that couple with mobile phones to help with organization.


Nozbe
Nozbe allows you to create easy "to do" lists through the web or it couples with Jott so that you can call in to Jott and post a "to do" task. Therefore once you create an account with Jott, you call in to the Jott number and say "Nozbe" and then describe your to do task. Nozbe also has a mobile web site for easy access via cell to your "to do" list.


iwantsandy.com
Sandy is a virtual "personal assistant" where you create a free account and can then use Jott to call in your "to do" list. When it is time to be reminded, Sandy will text message your cell phone to remind you of the upcoming event/assignment.


Rememberthemilk
Remember The Milk also couples with Jott so you can leave voice-to-text reminder notes in your Rememberthemilk account. Like the other sites, when it is time to be reminded, you will get a text message on your phone. This site also couples with your Apple iCal or Google Calendar so you can also view your "to do" list on your web-ready cell phone. Finally you can also set up your reminders to go to friends and family. So a teacher/parent could set up reminders to go to students.


Vitalist
Vitalist works in a similar fashion as the other sites mentioned above. It also couples with Jott and Google's Calendar. It also has it's own mobile-ready website for easy access to your "to do" list and it sends text message reminders to your cell phone. They do have a free and paid version. While the free version really provides all the support students would need, the paid version would allow you to attach files to your organizational list.


Google Calendar
While Google Calendar is not really a new resource, it does have a nice mobile text message reminder feature (found in the settings). Therefore anything you post in Google Calendar can be sent as a text message reminder to the cell phone. The other nice thing about using Google Calendar is that it also couples with Jott so that you can call in your "to do" task on your cell phone and have it immediately post to your Google Calendar and also it will be sent as a reminder to your cell phone with it is time for the task.

Mobile Active...A mobile world

One of my favorite blogs is called Mobile Active. The site is devoted to topical issues concerning ways that social organizations and citizens are using their cell phones globally to advocate for a cause. I believe this is a great example of a site that believes cell phones can have a large impact on society for the good. There are many blog posts and article references concerning youth activism projects such as this one from Albania and citizen journalism activism such as this one from Sri Lanka. In addition there are great resources that teachers could take advantage of and use with their students such as using a piece of software to track greenhouse gases with their mobile phone. You can also get mobile data from any country in the world such as who are the mobile providers in a country or how many people subscribe to mobile service. There is a also a nice mobile application search so you can look for a mobile application that will meet your needs (such as finding an application that lets you conduct mobile polls for free). This site really inspires many of my ideas concerning student activism projects. I think it is also a great piece of evidence on how the use of mobile devices really permeates our global world and it is one tool that crosses cultures and can be a tool to promote understanding, tolerance, and communication around the world.

Xpenser...students could use cell phones to be fiscally responsible

I have been playing with a new site called Xpenser, which is a place where you can post your expenses and it will generate all sorts of reports for you. It is really easy to use and the best part is that it is mobile! Xpenser can couple with Jott (which I have written about in previous posts) to allow you to call in your expenses and they are posted in your Xpenser account (and automatically calculated into your total expenses). I was thinking this could be a very useful resource for students who need to learn how to be fiscally responsible by using their cell phone! Each time they purchase an item (such as lunch or a tank of gas for their car), they could call in to Jott, say Xpenser, then speak their item and the cost. Such as "lunch, two dollars and fifty cents, at Moes Grill". This way they could understand how much they are spending each month and how much they are saving. I found it takes about 5-10 minutes to show up in the Xpenser account after the phone Jott. Once in the Xpenser account students can generate all sorts of reports on their monthly expenses. This could be a great tool for a business class or just for parents who want to help their kids learn fiscal responsibility.

The Youth Activists of the Future: Via Mobile Phone

A recent article in the Financial times, some Albanian youth have been using their mobile phones to gather evidence (photos/video) against the local police who have been corrupt and failing to help with the poverty and crime in Albania. The youth movement called Mjaft! or Enough!, which started in 2003 with 4 students has now grown into a full-fledged civic movement with 30 staffers who are armed with cell phones to communicate and document activity. The staffers can immediately text message their media to the over 50,000 subscribers instantly. I think this is the 21st Century version of CNN/National Geographic Reports, as a way to create an awareness of civil or human rights issues from around the world.

As I was reading the article I also realized that this is something that any student can do. Students in social studies or science classes studying human rights or global science concerns (such as poverty, homelessness, global warming, or other news worthy issues) can create their own "awareness" hot line through text messaging. This would allow students to learn how to be democratic citizens and advocate for a cause that is important to them. In the process they will learn about the science or social science involved in their particular issue. One site in particular that is very helpful to set this up would be Textmarks with their Text Alert option. And the nice thing about Textmarks is that it is Free to sign up and very easy to use. There are also no limits to how many people can sign up for your alerts, thus potentially students could reach people around the entire globe! Talk about a Flat World???!!

Using Mobile Evite's for Instant Polls...

So I have been playing with the new mobile Evite site (called Quickvites). While I know this site really is created for entertainment and social gatherings, I thought it might actually be a useful application in the educational setting. Therefore, I have come up with an activity that I would like to try with my students...using mobile Evites to create instant polls. Now there are other sites such as Polleverywhere or Mobiode where you can create instant polls for mobile phones. But Evite allows you to do a few things that I like. First, what you can do with Evite is allow students to add "feedback" as to why they selected their answer. For example in an Evite, you can create it so that there are three answer options (it is usually YES, NO, or MAYBE...but you can make it any three answers). When students answer on their cell phones, they can also text message their "reason" for their choice. Second, unlike Polleverywhere where you have to give out a text number before students can text their poll answer, Evite automatically sends the poll to the student's phones and gives them easy instructions on how to text back their choice. Finally, it does not need mobile web access, which is a negative of Mobiode.

Besides teachers creating the polls, students can create their own instant Evite polls. Students can actually create Evite's from their cell phones or on the computer. They can create one for homework and get feedback from their peers before class even begins the next day. Teachers could also create one, send it after school and compile all the responses before class the next day. The results show up instantly so you could even conduct them to get feedback during class or immediately after a presentation. Evite instant mobile polls could also be used for organizational purposes, such as a teacher trying to organize a meeting and wants to quickly find out if people can attend or students trying to organize study groups or get feedback on group project ideas.

Below is a quick tutorial...

1) Login to Evite.com (if you already have an Evite account, you can log in with that account, if not create one)

2) Click on Mobile Evite (upper right hand corner)
3) Go through the tutorial to create a mobile account

4) Add your students/parents cell phone numbers
5) Add your cell phone number and get the confirmation code from your cell.

6) Select your preferences (select to receive responses on your cell phone so even if you do not have Internet you can still prepare the lesson and/or receive the instant feedback).

7) Return to the homepage
8) Click on create quickvite

9) Set your preferences for your mobile Evite. Type in the question as the invitation so it is the first thing people see on their cell phones. You can even add a date/time so that respondents know when they must give their poll answers by. Select the students/parents that you would like to get your poll "answers" from. Once you hit Submit, the instant Evite poll is sent to everyone. Additionally, as they respond you will be able to get the responses on your cell phone and online.
10) Return to the main page and your new Evite mobile invitation should be on your homepage. Click on the invitation link to view the responses. Remember you can get all the responses instantly from your cell phone too!
11) All the results will show up under YES, NO, and MAYBE (and who sent them), so you can instantly have a discussion about them!

Growing Up Digital! Tomorrow Night on PBS

Thanks to Will Richardson, who posted on Twitter about a new PBS Frontline special called Growing Up Online. Although I do not think that cell phones are the focus of this show, the whole concept of the digital native/digital immigrant is explored. Below I pasted a preview. It looks like it could be a great discussion piece for teacher education classes.

The Politics of Cell Phones in Schools

Edweek published an interesting article in November highlighting the problems with students having cell phones in schools. Specifically students posting videos to YouTube (and other online vlogging-type sites) of teachers and other students that were taken secretly in the schools. While the article goes on to talk about this being a reason why schools need to have policies against cell phones it also opens up a discussion about the legality of these videos being posted.

What I really appreciate about the article is that it goes further than simply pointing to the problem, the writer actually offers some reasons for the problem and a solution! Yes, a potential solution----educate our youth on appropriate uses with cell phones! I think these are the discussions we need to be having. Instead of just banning the devices, how can we educate youth on appropriate uses? The fact is that we live in a digital world where everyday people are posting "illegally" obtained videos/images to YouTube and other sharing sites such as Flickr. I think by simply creating policies against bringing cell phones into schools, we are missing an opportunity to educate students on appropriate and proper uses of cell phones (as well as legal issues around publishing from their mobile devices to the Internet). This is an opportunity that we should embrace as educators, rather than shy away from. I think educators also need help teaching students how to stay safe and legal in the mobile world. While I do not condone what students are doing, I also do not think we should "band aid" the situation with a simple "no cell phones in school" policy. I believe if we create structures for cell phones and help students understand the consequences of their "publishing" actions, we may see less of these YouTube videos.

So I better practice what I preach, what are my solutions to allowing students to have cell phones in schools for classroom learning? Here are my ideas...
1) One possibility is a social contract with students, before they are allowed to bring cell phones into schools, teachers and students work together to create rules on cell phones use in the classroom.
2) Collect their cell phones at the beginning of class (there can be a drop box as the students walk in), and allow students to get them when needed in class.
3) Keep them out in the open. Focus activities on their cell phones, so that they will be doing content-based work with their mobile devices rather than hiding them and taking inappropriate video/images.

Any other ideas? I'd love to hear them...

Create Cell Phone "I search" video papers with Twiddeo

I was listening toEd Talk (01_14) recently and they (John, Jennifer, Dave, and Jeff) spoke about a new resource called Twiddeo, which is just Twitter with video. It was an interesting discussion about whether Twiddeo should replace Twitter, but it got me thinking about educational learning uses of this new resource. So I decided to try it out. And the result....so easy! And fun! You can post videos from your computer, but you can also post immediately from your cell phone to your personal account. This allows for many "out-of-school" learning assignments with cell phones and video. And since I was playing with Twiddeo, I though I better get more involved with Twitter so I put up my twitter information and have vowed to Tweet from time to time!

The first idea that came to my head was conducting an "I search" video paper. I know when I taught high school writing "I search" papers was very popular. Why not take it to a new level and have students conduct an "I search" Twiddeo, where they would document their "search" or research on a topic. This could be done for a language arts, social studies, or science class. In language arts the students could search for local authors and the places that inspired their work. In social studies, students could search for local history projects (such as local landmarks that played a role in the Civil War). Another example would be in a physical science class, students could do a video "I search" on citizens who are going "green" and how they are helping to prevent global warming. The great thing about using Twiddeo for conducting research or "I search" is that the focus becomes the process and not the product. The focus is how to conduct the research and students learn to use their cell phone as a way to collect data and document research. Of course students would need to get verbal permissions to post any person in their video.

Another project idea that came to mind was that since Twiddeo is social networking where you can view multiple videos and responses on your feed, students in foreign language classrooms could have video exchanges with students in other countries very easily. Each student could document different aspects of their culture (such as clothing, holidays...etc) and compare them instantly on Twiddeo. Since Twiddeo is more personal (as mentioned in the Ed Talk podcast), this would allow people in difficult cultures to make more personal connections.

Oh, Don't Forget...Easy and Free text message reminders

A very easy to use website called Oh, Don't Forget allows anyone to create free text messages that will be sent according to a specified time and date to any cell phone. This could be a nice organizing tool for both students and teachers. Students could learn to use their cell phone as a digital organizer, where they set up text messages to remind them of important due dates, tests, activities, and group meetings. This could be a life-long professional organizer. While you can set up alerts in a cell phone to be reminders, if schools do not allow cell phones in school than this is a nice alternative.

Besides management, Oh, Don't Forget could also be used to text message "quick review questions" to students from the teacher or other students. For example, a teacher could send out a review question to a specific student who has been struggling with a concept and see if they can text back the correct answer. Or students could send review questions (created during class) to each other (set up to come to their cell phones at specific times/dates). The nice aspect of this site is that it is free to send the text messages and they can be sent at appropriate times.

Grand Central Calling!

A newly acquired mobile resource from Google called GrandCentral works in a similar fashion to the recently canceled PrivatePhone. While GrandCentral is currently in private beta form (you can request an account), I have a feeling that it will soon become widely available. GrandCentral allows you to get a new private number (for free) in your area code. This private number will go directly to GrandCentral's voice mail account or you can have the number ring any (or all) of your phones. For example it could ring your cell phone and landline at the same time! The fact that the number is NOT your real cell phone or landline number is fantastic, so teachers do not have to give out their private numbers to students or parents, but they still have a way to be contacted. Additionally since the number is a local area code, students who do not have cell phones, can call in to the number from their landlines and complete audio assignments and quizzes without charge.

In GrandCentral's online voice mail you can retrieve messages (as audio files) and you can assign specific greetings to specific callers. This is an excellent feature if you are giving a verbal assignment and would like students to "speak" their assignment (such as an oral quiz in a foreign language class or a "think-a-loud" after reading a chapter in the class novel). Also, you can record any phone call at anytime (this is a great feature if you have a difficult call with a parent or student and you want to document what has been said). This is also a nice feature for student's doing interviewing or even podcasting.

At GrandCentral there is another feature called ListenIn, where you can listen to why a caller is calling (for example why a parent or student needs to talk with you) before deciding to pick up the call. This could help teachers better prepare for a conversation with parents.

Teachers can assign different ringtones to different groups of people. So they know when students, parents, or their friends are calling without even having to look at their phone.

GrandCentral could be useful not only with oral homework assignments and quizzes, but also with parent and student communication. I can't wait for this resource to go public!

Mobile Voting! When?

As the 2008 election primaries and caucus have been occurring, I have been thinking about being able to use cell phones in the voting process. There is often a low turn-out of younger voters in many elections and I was thinking if we were able to vote by mobile phone than it may make a difference in the younger voter turn-out. I recently came across an article from last year about citizens in Pittsburgh being able to register to vote via cell phone. Cell phone voting and voter information is much more common in developing nations such as Kenya, where citizens are able to receive text message reminders on voting issues, where to vote, and when to vote. If I can renew my driver's license via the web in Michigan, than I'm not sure why we are not able to vote via cell phone (or at least a secure site on the Internet), I do think it would bring in more younger voters and allow social studies teachers to better introduce the democratic process to their students as they reach the legal voting age. If anyone knows of a state in the U.S. where mobile voting is allowed or being considered I would love to hear about it.

Mobile citizenship could be applied to teaching and learning. For example, in schools, social studies teachers could use a free site called TextMarks, which allows anyone to set up text alerts for groups. Text alerts would be a great way for students to research a political issue (such as Health Care) and then send out "alerts" to subscribers concerning updates, current bills in the legislative process, or even candidates views on the issue in upcoming elections.

YouMail is MyMail for Cell phones...

I have become a big fan of a free resource called YouMail. YouMail is basically voicemail for cell phones. But it is so much better than my generic voicemail that I received with my Verizon phone. YouMail allows you to create unique greetings for each person calling you (or a group of people). This is wonderful for my students, because I often have them leave messages on my cell phone pertaining to specific assignments, now I can create a specific greeting that only my students will hear when they call (so people not in my student list will hear my default generic greeting) which will includes the details on their assignment. Additionally YouMail will notify me by email when a voicemail has been left on my phone, and allow me to play the message in my email. I really like this feature because I am always on email and but I do not always have my cell phone on. So I know and can immediately hear my students posting their audio assignments. The audio file also turns into a downloadable MP3 file so I can download all the assignments if I would like to. For example if I were asking students to leave an audio voicemail of their reaction to the latest presidential debate while the debate was occurring, I could download each audio piece and put them into an audio editor (iMovie or Audacity) and put the audio files together into a nice discussion piece for class the next day. Finally I can immediately send a text message back to the students (through YouMail or my cell phone) to give them feedback on their assignments.

Finally I can also send FREE group text messages! This is fantastic for parents and students on getting updates on school information (such as being late coming back from a field trip) or homework assignments.

I'll post more about YouMail as I further explore!

Looking for funding for cell phone projects?

While updating my own phone at Verizon, I came across a grant fund that they have called the Verizon Foundation. This is specifically for non-profits who are interested in using technology to improve society. Reading the guidelines for the grant, I found that improving "literacy" is one of their chief funding areas. You can apply for the grant between Jan 1st (Happy New Year!!!) and Nov. 1st. The application is entirely online and you can request up to $10,000 (there are options for requesting more than this amount too!). I think $10,000 could get a classroom set of cell phones and a nice yearly plan :)

For other funding ideas...you could try a "donate" website such as http://donorschoose.org

But of course keep in mind that the one nice thing about using cell phones as learning tools is that just about every secondary student owns one (or at least has access to one through their friends and/or parents).