Mobile Technologies

The smart phone is not a new technology, but the service to schools it can provide is new. My school does not have the appropriate funds to equip the school with up-to-date technology or software. The business and technology departments are still using the Microsoft 2000 operating system which, among other things, makes it difficult to take advantage of open source software. Also, equipment is failing at an alarming rate; services to these old computers are slow or nonexistent. Another major problem with the use of this form of technology is behavioral. The attitudes of district leaders are negative in regards to the use of the phones in the classroom. The reports of harassment, bullying, and privacy come in to play, and liability is a major concern; however, because I teach seniors, almost every student has access to a smart phone in the class room but school policy will not allow teachers to take advantage of these tools.

Using a smart phone in the school will allow students to work efficiently with others across the district, use software not available to them in the school, save money, and save time. As evident by the new report from National Association of Secondary School Principals, the tide may be changing. According to their recent report on using social and mobile technologies in school, they are supportive of this new form of connectivity in order to further support independent, critical thinkers. With guidelines in the form of responsible use policies and leader recommendation, these devices will help teachers and students move to a different level of understanding and knowledge.

We cannot deny that cellphones are more and more common place in our everyday lives, and to deny this trend in education is to pretend typewriters are used to teach keyboarding. Are cellphones acceptable in your school? Do you believe they can be used as an effective tool in our schools; why or why not?

National Association of Secondary School Principals (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nassp.org/Content.aspx?topic=Using_Mobile_and_Social_Technologies_in_Schools

IDEA Blog. (2011, May 13). Smartphones Widely Integrated into Our lives (graphs). Retrieved from  http://www.idea.org/blog/2011/05/13/smartphones-widely-integrated-into-our-lives-graphs/

~Wanda


COMMENT ON DOLLY'S BLOG
http://studentofedtech.blogspot.com/2011/06/14-months-and-emerged.html#comments


COMMENT ON SULLUS' BLOG
http://sullus-teague.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-trends.html#comments

Mobile Device Tetrad/ Blog 2

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gZTWJyuU0fNcgFuV88QR9fw7OYBeZ3K1Vlzd3KeONQs/edit?hl=en_US

Mobile Phones

Enhance:  It is hard to imagine our world without a cell phone in our pocket or purse, but at one time, we were all connected by some type of cord leading from our telephone to the wall of our home. By cutting this “umbilical” cord, we are able to go wireless for a variety of reasons, and by going wireless, we have also enhanced our lifestyle.

Obsolete:   Because of the mobile phones, pagers and CB radios became obsolete. The use of phones connected to homes in a traditional landline format is also becoming obsolete. The landline telephone has decreased considerably, and it is due to the increase use of mobile devices (McGlaun, 2008). Mobile devices continue to become easier, better, and offer services landlines could not match or even compete. One service that has increased the use of mobile devices is the access of the Internet. When users can access the internet and communicate with others on their mobiles, the landline telephone cannot keep up.

Retrieves/Rekindles: I remember my father and uncle using CB Radios in their rigs moving across country delivering petroleum. It was amazing to talk to someone we didn’t know and get information about the roadway or potentially hazardous conditions from people who cared simply because we shared the same profession. This type of relationship connection either on the road or in the basement of someone’s home was delivered through wireless devices.

Reverses:  Mobile phones have opened the door to more than communicating with others across the world. It has opened the door to multimedia messages including written and visual modes of communication. Through the use of smartphones videoconferencing has also been a possibility.  Downloaded applications have increased its importance in business and in the future will be a tool used for a complete list of business operations. As Internet commerce increase, mobile devices will also play a significant role in how people buy and sell merchandise.

S McGlaun. (2008, April 4). Cell Phone Usage Increases as Landline Usage Decreases. Retrieved from http://cellphones.about.com/b/2008/04/04/cell-phone-usage-increaes-as-landline-usage-decreases.htm.

Module 1 Comments

I responded to the following blogs:

Dorothy Fernandes

http://studentofedtech.blogspot.com/

Sullus Teague

My blog URL: http://sullus-teague.blogspot.com/