3 Rad Ways To Pimp Your Cell Phone

Nine times out of ten you're thinking of dunking your cellphone into the fire or mixing it in the blender because everyone else seems to be sporting a snazzy, sexy cell phone, while you are stuck with one that's snarky, ugly, obsolete and so unhip that it's started to look like a pig's behind. Chances are that you are planning to call it an antique and shove it down the throat of some wacko buyer on eBay.

Let's move on to the next step – your new cellphone. Now you need to pick up something and jazz it up so much, that you can show it off and make your buddies go green with envy. So, here are the latest ways using which, you can pimp up your cellphone:

1. Turn your cellphone into an ecosystem: In other words, convert your cellphone into an environmental-friendly product and check out the "oohs" and the "aahs" you get when you gently explain, to the opposite sex, how your cellphone actually protects the ozone layer. Don't buy cellphones that use non-biodegradable plastics; don't go near cellphones that coat their phones with flame retardant chemicals such as bromine-based flame retardants; conserve electricity by charging your phone as much as is required – better still, there's a new kind of phone that's made using bamboo and is powered by solar cells. Go for that. Our planet is getting hotter by the day; at least make your cellphone look cool!

2. Go for total convergence: First, get your cellphone hooked into a mobile radio service – there are many mobile services available and many, many more are on the way. Next, get a mobile TV service going – it's about 10 bucks a month, but that's nothing if you want to really pimp your buddy up. Now, get mobile VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) going – make calls to anyone in the world using your local connection! Bang, that's gonna get you some cool eyeballs! Now – here's the sucker punch – build all these features into a full screen phone! Mobile companies are coming out with full screen phones where everything is touch operated and the screen lights up when touched! Imagine a full screen phone with radio, TV and Mobile VOIP! Cool!

3. Make it burglar-proof: There are applications available in the market that make your cellphone scream out like Bruce Springsteen did while bellowing out "Born In The USA". Okay, the Bruce Springsteen bit was a joke, but, seriously, mobile applications are available that make your cellphone scream if it is stolen. Not just that, these applications lock in your private data, which can be recovered when you find the phone. Imagine what a technosavvy image you will project! Move over Neo, you two-bit son of an antique!

These are the top three ways you can pimp up your cellphone. Not only will your cellphone increase your social rank, it will also offer you protection from theft and provide you with entertainment when you need it the most – while at work or while studying. Plus, it will massage the ozone layer for you. Now what more can you wish for – Go for it, dude!

Picture on the Fly Challenge! RESULTS

Challenge Question:
Send pic representing "Progress?" or "Progress!" to able24system@photos.flickr.com By 04/30/09

Cell Phones in Learning Radio Show: Wed April 22nd, Interview with Technology Coordinator Paul Wood

Liz Kolb:Welcome Everyone
Liz Kolb:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/17/AR2009041702663.html
Jeff Stanzler:EVERNOTE http://www.evernote.com/
Liz Kolb:Hi Peggy!
Liz Kolb:http://www.bdhs.org
Jeff Stanzler:Welcome to Peggy and everyone!
Peggy_G:Hi Liz and Jeff-had a hard time getting to the chat!
Jeff Stanzler:I did, too
Peggy_G:clap clap!!
Peggy_G:keeps logging me out--oh well-I'm excited to be here for the live show :-)
Liz Kolb:GoogleSMS
Liz Kolb:41411
Peggy_G:that makes so much sense!! use the tools they already have in their pockets!
Liz Kolb:Hi Richard
Jeff Stanzler:@)Peggy: absolutely!
Guest6596:my display name is now Guest6597
Guest6596:my display name is now Guest6597
Richard@MobileEd.org:Liz!
Liz Kolb:HI Kim Yhanks for joining us
Peggy_G:are Paul's students allowed to use their cell phones in any of their classes?
Liz Kolb:Ooops...that was Thanks
Liz Kolb:@Peggy good question will ask
kcaise:hi liz, hi everyone
Jeff Stanzler:welcome. kcalse
Peggy_G:Hi Kim! glad you could join us :-)
kcaise:hi peggy
Peggy_G:Paul anticipated their concerns in the way he set it up. Great job!
Liz Kolb:Kstevens77 on Twitter
Peggy_G:I'd love to hear more about the twitter uses :-)
Richard@MobileEd.org:How did your colleagues respond to mobiles in the classroom?
Liz Kolb:@Richard...Will ask
Peggy_G:are the students anonymous in PollEverywhere or can teachers track the answers?
Liz Kolb:@Peggy--I believe you can do either
Peggy_G:how refreshing that cell phones aren't banned!! opens lots of opportunities for learning
Peggy_G:how do the cell phones affect the bandwidth?
Liz Kolb:@Peggy---they don't that is why he wants to use them.
Peggy_G:thanks--wasn't quite clear about that
Richard@MobileEd.org:Could use of mobiles open up new types of "learning," ones that might not be quantifiable in traditional curricula?
Peggy_G:if I use my iPhone in a wireless environment it picks up on that wireless signal
kcaise:fantastic interview paul!
Richard@MobileEd.org:thanks!
Peggy_G:thank you for the Twitter details! very helpful!
Liz Kolb:@paulrwood
Peggy_G:so sorry to see this end! Great show!
Jeff Stanzler:Thanks to everyone in the chat...Paul was great, wasn't he?
Liz Kolb:@Peggy that is a good point...if you use mobile Internet on Smart Phones that does take up some BW
Peggy_G:Yes Paul is fantastic!
Liz Kolb:Thanks Everyone!!!

MuVChat: Collaboration during Class Videos

I recently came across a new resource called MuVChat. MuVChat allows movie theater viewers to send text messages directly to the movie screen while watching a feature film. While this resource has obviously been created for social entertainment, I can see wonderful possibilities for chatting during class movies. For example, if students are watching the 1989 hit "Glory" in their history class, they can text message questions they have about the historical events or facts that are being represented in the movie. By being able to send text messages, students responses and questions are "in the moment" rather than after the movie is over (when they often forget). In addition, since texting is quiet, it allows for a collaborative chat to ensue between students to other students, as well as students to the teacher. Finally, texting content-related material during the movie may help to keep students on-task and focused on the information in the film (as opposed to sleeping on their desks or sending text messages socially).

While we do not have access to the MuVChat software, schools can use some free resources such as Wiffiti or Polleverywhere's free text poll. The free text option could be projected on the LCD screen while students are watching the movie OR they could be sent to the group through resources such as Textmarks or TxtBlaster.

Picture on the Fly Challenge!

Recently I posted about the Film on the Fly video challenge. It works by logging into the Film on the Fly homepage and signing up with your mobile phone number. On a designated day you receive a text message with an "assignment" to film on your cell phone. I love this idea! What a great way to engage students in "real time" learning. It can extend concepts and ideas in school-based learning to the real world outside of the classroom. The only problem with this challenge is that some students cannot use video recording on their cell phone. Therefore I am going to start a Picture on the Fly challenge. On April 28th I will send out a text message with a topic for a picture. Then you can take the picture with your cell phone and text it to the address given in the message. The photos will automatically show up in a slideshow on my blog and we will vote for the best representation of the topic! I am using Textmarks to send the text messages and Flickr mobile to house the pictures. Anyone is welcome to participate!

To SIGN UP for our challenge
Send a New Text Message to:
41411
In Message Type: picfly

Cell Phones in Learning Radio Show: Wed April 8th, Interview with Polleverywhere

Chat Transcript
Jarrod Robinson:ive been using poll everywhere to get student input on the way we tackle the course. The students decide what we learn next
Guest4563:my display name is now Guest4790
klmontgomery:Tell Brad Karen Montgomery is always available to help train LOL!
Liz Kolb:@Karen :)
Jarrod Robinson:gret quesiton
Liz Kolb:Partners with Mobile Cause
Jarrod Robinson:id want the ability to post key words that are then displayed as a wordle
Liz Kolb:Jarrod can you expand on that
klmontgomery:What about integrating with a wiki?
klmontgomery:Moodle
Cindy Kendall:Any expansion in the exporting ability of data?
Jarrod Robinson:so students post key words and the most predominant answers appear larger like in http://wordle.net/create
misterlamb:You can embed a widget in a wiki for each question
misterlamb:I use widgets (and the mobile voting page) for students without cell phones
Jarrod Robinson:would be brilliant for brainstorming
Liz Kolb:Thanks you for joining
Jarrod Robinson:waffiti does it similar, however not available in OZ
klmontgomery:Out of time...
Liz Kolb:I should have made this 45 minutes
Liz Kolb:Love your idea Jarrod! Hopefully Brad will try it
misterlamb:wiffiti is nice in that you can set ratings (G, PG, etc) for classroom clowns
klmontgomery:Invite him back!
Cindy Kendall:Thanks Liz - it was interesting to hear the future directions of poll everywhere
Liz Kolb:@Karen---definitely...I wish he had called in a little earlier
Jarrod Robinson:yeh id love to use wiffiti but of course it isnt available in oz
misterlamb:Cindy, I agree. I'm looking forward to twitter integration
Liz Kolb:Jarrod have you used http://textthemob.com
Jarrod Robinson:lots of the awesome products are not available, would have a field day using them if they were
Jarrod Robinson:yeh thats good Liz
Liz Kolb:We should have asked him about ratings for the poll
Liz Kolb:I also forgot to "beg" for free educator accounts :D
Liz Kolb:Jarrod---can you use mymiamia.com?
PollEverywhereBRad:Hey folks, this is Brad from Poll Everywhere. I'm going to stay on the chat and answer any other questions you might have
Liz Kolb:YES! Thank you Brad
PollEverywhereBRad:Also, my email is brad@polleverywhere.com if you have to jump off now
Liz Kolb:Any questions for him?
Liz Kolb:Brad---have you thought about "rating" your free text so that students cannot text inappropriate language?
Liz Kolb:For example filter out "F" "S" so they do not show up in the board?
PollEverywhereBRad:We have a moderation feature that lets someone select whether or not to display a question on screen.
misterlamb:I just want to say thanks for the product and the advancements in education you guys are making. I spoke with Jeff Vyduna in Feb. about some of the features
PollEverywhereBRad:But from our experience, we've found that kids will type in stuff to get around the filters
klmontgomery:Brad - Have you thought anymore about the SMART idea. Thinking I may have dropped the ball.
Jarrod Robinson:can use mymiamia in oztralia, will check it out
PollEverywhereBRad:@karen yes! Jeff is starting to talk to a lot of companies who want to partner with Poll Everywhere.
Jarrod Robinson:anyway im off to purchase a new Netbook with out Economy stimulus money that everyone in oztralia got. A cool $900
misterlamb:Jeff mentioned that you were looking at teaming up with a service like Study Island, etc. I know that would be a great way to increase use, as many teachers are already familiar with it
klmontgomery:Brad - call me!
Liz Kolb:Thanks Jarrod!
PollEverywhereBRad:@misterlamb You're very welcome. You should email us your story about how you use PE in class so we can post it up on our website and give other teachers ideas.
klmontgomery:Thanks Liz - Always great!
misterlamb:Will do
Liz Kolb:Thanks Brad...you were fantastic!
PollEverywhereBRad:@misterlamb we've been kicking around the idea of Study Island. Are there any other popular content providers that a lot of educators use?
PollEverywhereBRad:@liz thank you! Our company really appreciates what you're doing for mobile technology in classrooms. We think its a great way to engage students.
misterlamb:That's the big one in our area. They do a good job at keeping costs down. We used to work with homeroom.com from the princeton review, but they wanted $12,000 per building
PollEverywhereBRad:I saw a message above about free education plans, we've got those at http://www.polleverywhere.com/plans/classroom_response_system_k12
klmontgomery:See you on Twitter:-)
Liz Kolb:Thanks for joining us Karen!
PollEverywhereBRad:@misterlamb our "nirvana" for content would be to let groups of teachers get together and develop great content. Our public is not very well organized now.
misterlamb:there is also still a lot of not wanting to use it as many teachers see it as needing cell phones to work with
misterlamb:i like using the mobile voting page to show they don't need cells
Cindy Kendall:@misterlamb I agree. I do a lot of professional development with teachers and use the various ways of voting to show the flexibility of PollEverywhere
Liz Kolb:I think that is what is great about PE...the multiple options for voting (and being able to let students share phones to vote by deselecting the "vote only once" button
Cindy Kendall:Teachers are consistently amazed at the quick response and visual data
Liz Kolb:I also love having students create the polls, they get so excited when they see their classmates respond to THEIR poll
misterlamb:@Cindy I was working with a group of math teachers in our IU on creating lesson plans, and they included PE as part of the plan
Liz Kolb:And PE always works!!!! You cannot say that about a lot of web2.0 sites
Cindy Kendall:Once teachers experience it, they get it. The funny thing is, many teachers don't have texting plans - but they know that many of their students do.
PollEverywhereBRad:@misterlamb how does web voting work in a classroom without phones? Netbooks?
Liz Kolb:It would be nice if people could vote via landline...Brad is this possible (Speech to text??).
misterlamb:In PA, we have what is called Classrooms for the Future, which is a grant that has worked on outfitting classrooms throughout the state with carts of laptops (Mac or Windows)
Liz Kolb:Actually for Visually Impaired students it would be great if PE worked with Dial2do (Speech to Text) so they could call in their text vote. I think it is Free to work with http://dial2do.com
misterlamb:http://www.edportal.ed.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/classrooms_for_the_future/475

Create Oral Quizzes & Speech to Text Transcripts with Google Voice

The voice mail web resource Grandcentral is now Google Voice, and there have been some big improvements. Google Voice is still in private beta (you can request an account), but fortunately I have been able to use my old Grandcentral account in Google Voice. After a couple weeks of using it, what I find useful about Google Voice over other uber voice mail systems is that you get a unique local phone number (thus not having to give out your personal cell phones or landline number). This is an excellent feature for teachers who would like to be able to communicate via their phone with students and/or parents but would rather keep their phone number(s) private. Teachers can now give out their local Google Voice number and set it up so that when students and/or parents call it can go directly to the Google Voice voice mail to take a message or directly to a phone of their choice (cell phone, landline...etc) to answer. Google Voice has a wide variety of free features (some of which are offered on other web-based voice mail systems) such as...

1) Unique Greetings for Callers (This is wonderful for creating oral quizzes)
2) Documentation of SMS text messages and message sending
3) Documentation of every voice mail (MP3 recordings that you can download)
4) The ability to record live phone calls (SUPER COOL!)
5) Record of all your missed and received calls
6) The ability for one phone number to ring on many different phones (great for businesses and fund raising)
7) Speech to Text Transcripts of every voice mail (Great for hearing impaired and interview transcripts, will explain below)
8) Notifications (SMS or Email) each time you have a new voice mail
9) Call Screening (you can decide whether or not to answer as you listen in on the caller giving their voice mail message!)
10) Do Not Disturb option to send all calls directly to voice mails (great for oral quizzes, will explain in the section below).
11) Create call widgets for your blog, where people can directly call from the web. (here is mine below...feel free to try it out! I have my Google Voice going directly to voice mail)

Classroom Connections
Oral Quizzes
So many foreign language teachers spent a lot of class time on individual oral quizzes (because they often do not have another mechanism to capture the quizzes), while a few schools are lucky enough to have language labs, many language teachers struggle with how to capture oral language development. Google Voice's unique caller greetings and "Do Not Disturb" features are excellent for disseminating, capturing and archiving oral quizzes. By creating a unique greeting with the quiz question(s) and setting up the calls to go directly to voice mail (no annoying rings on the teachers' cell phone or landline), students can call in to the Google Voice number, hear the quiz, and then speak their answer(s). When finished the oral quiz will immediately be documented in the teachers' private Google Voice file as an MP3 file. The teacher can receive a text message or email when there are new quizzes in her/his account. They can hear the quizzes over their phone or listen to them online. They can also send feedback (oral or text message) to the students through Google Voice. As a result, the teacher not only has a running archive of MP3 files of students' oral quiz (and improvements in language skills), but also a running record of feedback sent to the students.

Hearing Impaired Students
Hearing impaired students can take full advantage of the free transciption feature. This is a great option for HI students participating in group work (they can still get phone calls and have them transcribed). In addition, they can take advantage of using SMS texting in the Google Voice to respond to group members. A nice record of all group converstaion can be captured in Google Voice.

Document Parent-Teacher Calls
Teachers can also take advantage of the live recording feature. Where they can record any phone call when speaking spontaneously with a parent. It is important for teachers to document their conversations with parents (and students). With the press of one button, teachers can instantly start call recording (the parent/student on the other end of the line will be informed that they are being recorded).