Mobile Apps and Resources for Students and Teachers

Smart phones are an incredible educational tool for both educators and students. I have an Android Smart Phone and I can do pretty much everything with it that I can do on my computer or laptop or tablet. This means that I always have access to my data, files, information, and can do work anywhere. Students have the same ability with their smart phones. They have access to information, class resources, and so much more at any time. Instead of buying a $200 graphing calculator, they can buy a $0.99 app. There are tons of great apps out there for educators and students to use.

Here are some mobile / smart phone apps and resources for students and teachers:

100 Mobile Tools for Teachers - mobile sites and resources for teachers

Android for Education - resources, apps, links, and much more

10 Great, Free Apps for Students for Notetaking and Class Planning
My students used their cellphones in class - and I encouraged it!

Google Calendar and cell phones

Infographic on Mobile devices and Studying - and free apps to help

Mobile Learning Resources

Infographic - What do High School Students want from mobile tech

Google Mobile Apps - access your Google apps on mobile web browsers

QuickOffice - essential app for mobile devices

Essential Apps and Installs for Windows, Chrome, Android

5 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Students

Related:

10 Important Skills Students need for the Future

My students used their cellphones in class - and I encouraged it!

image from http://thinkingmachine.pbworks.com/w/page/22187696/MITC%202008

We started school this past week. I met 3 of my classes on Thursday and the other two on Friday. The students seem bright and eager.

One of the things I do with my students at the beginning of the year is have them subscribe to the class blogs via email so that they will get updates and be able to keep up with what's going on in class. Usually, I have them line up at the 7 student computers in my room and each student subscribes to the class blog, verifies it in their email, and then fills out the student survey (Google Form). This usually takes a bit of time since there are 24-30 students in each class.

But, this year something different happened. Many members of the class asked if it would be ok if they used their iPod Touch or smartphone to subscribe to the blog and fill out the survey. I said yes and the entire class was done in a 1/4 of the time it would normally take.

Now, I've had students use their smartphones in class before but this was different in the percentage of students who were in possession of the devices. Remember, I teach in an urban school with 95% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch and our district does not allow students to use their cell phones in class.

Yes, I just admitted to violating a district policy. But, I truly believe that these devices are an educational tool, not problem.

Opponents say that the students will cheat, text other students, and play instead of learning. Students did all of that before there were cellphones. I've caught students cheating with a cheat sheet, passing notes, and doodling in their notebooks. I remember plenty of times where I was drawing in my notebook or even playing hangman with my friend while in class. We didn't have cellphones then.

The technology is not the problem. If you make your lessons engaging and monitor  your students, you will not have a problem. These students are coming to class with computers in their pockets. Let's use these computers for learning.

Mobile Learning Resources

Today's cellphones and mobile devices make learning available anywhere, anytime.

Upside Learning has a great post listing 50 Mobile Learning Resources. These are a great way to find ideas and tools to utilize mobile devices in your classroom.

I would love to have my students use their cell phones in class, but it is against district policy, and state law, for them to have them in school. They all do anyway, but it's against the rules.

Hopefully, we can change how administrators, politicians, and some teachers feel about cell phones in school. They are great tools that can be used in education.

Palm Pre Release Info

Palm will officially release the Pre smart phone on June 6th. It will launch on Sprint and be available at Sprint stores, Palm, Best Buy, Walmart and Radio Shack. Pricing is $199 with a 2 year contract and rebate.

The Pre is Palm's newest smart phone and the first device to run WebOS. WebOS is a dynamic new operating system that is easy to program for and is the first smart phone OS to have multi-tasking. This means you can have an open email that you are editing, have music playing, check your calendar, and go on the internet. The new web browser is also more functional and renders web pages better than most mobile systems. 

The Pre also has a system called Synergy which keeps all of your contacts, from various sources, in sync and combined on the Pre. It also has the ability to sync your data to Palm's network for backup.

The Pre also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard instead of a virtual keyboard like the Blackberry Storm or Apple iPhone. This makes composing emails and work easier.

The Pre has been one of the most anticipated devices of the year and won awards at trade shows this year.

There are already many launch partners and applications available for the Palm including one that allows users to use their old Palm OS applications on it. There are also applications for gaming, data access, and using your Microsoft Office files on the Pre. And of course, any web application is accessible through it's web browser. 

I can see the Pre being a very useful tool in a classroom. Imagine a class of students with instant access to research materials, the ability to send information to the teacher, the ability to interact with each other and other classes, the ability to do their work anywhere, anytime. The classroom just got expanded to outside the building. The challenge - changing many school district's outlook on cell phones in school.

For more information:

www.palm.com

www.sprint.com

Disclaimer - I own Palm stock.