Mobile Nations - great resources for all mobile OS's and devices

If you own a smartphone or tablet, you should be using Mobile Nations. Mobile Nations is a group of web sites that each focus on a mobile operating systems. Each site has app reviews, hardware reviews, accessory reviews, tips, resources, forums, help topics, and much more.

These sites are great for anyone who uses a mobile system, including teachers, students, and others. Find out about new apps, resources, tips, problems, help and more. Share them with your friends, students, and colleagues. Education apps and uses for the systems are often featured on the sites. EdTech and IT personnel can find help information, reviews, and more to help them use these devices.

I use Android Central (and subscribe via RSS) for my Android Smartphone to find tips, app reviews, and more. I use webOS Nation for my HP TouchPad. I've learned about new apps, problems, help tips, and more from these sites and spent a lot of time on Android Central reading phone reviews before purchasing my Droid Incredible 2.

There are 5 sites/communities based on different mobile systems.

Android Central for all things Android.

Crackberry for Blackberry.

iMore for iOS (iPhone and iPad)

WP Central for Windows Phone/Mobile

webOS Nation for webOS (Palm/HP)

Android for Education Resources

Infographic - What do High School Students want from mobile tech

    

ASCD (Association for Curriculum and Development) has taken statistics from a variety of sources and coalates it into a nice infographic about students, mobile learning, learning methods and what high school students want in mobile learning.

The research shows that banning mobile devices in school does not work and that schools should be embracing these devices and helping students use them for learning. Some of the stats:

63 percent of students attending schools carry their mobile devices despite the rules (probably conservative)
63 percent of students want online textbooks with communication facilities;
40 percent want online texts with collaboration tools.
43 percent stated social media is one of the main ways they communicate with friends online.
62 percent of student use the Internet as a new source; whereas 17 percent use it to gain knowledge concerning topics generally difficult to talk about — such as drug use.

I am one of those teachers who hastes the rule banning these devices. I've allowed my students to use them in class before and, along with some other faculty, is pushing to change the rules. 

Check out the infographic below for more data on this topic.

Source:  ZDNet - http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/what-do-high-school-students-want-from-mobile-tech-infographic/15843


Related:

My students used their cellphones in class - and I encouraged it!
Android Smartphone and Apps I use as an educator

Android for Education resources and apps

College Necessities 1988 vs. 2012

In 2009, I wrote an article entitled "College Necessities 1989 vs. 2009" and compared what I had and needed in college back then, to what college students needed in 2009. I decided to revisit and update that for 2012 to see what has changed.

I went to college from 1988-1992, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Technology has changed a lot since then and so have student needs at college. I thought it would be fun to compare the needs (and wants) of a college student in 1989 and now in 2009.

1989:3.5" floppy disks for saving your work from the computer lab
notebooks - lots of them
3 ring binders to organize notes and handouts
graphing calculator
Walkman
Tape recorder (record lectures)
Pens and Pencils
Highlighters
Post-it Notes
Stereo
TV and VCR
Video Game console
Telephone for room (and an answering machine)
Backpack
Books (leisure and reference)

Camera

Planner and Address book 

2009:Flash drive for backup
Laptop with CD/DVD drive and external speakers
Smartphone
Some notebooks and pens
Backpack

Now let's see what has changed. In 2012 you need....a smartphone 

(and maybe a tablet/laptop for viewing things on the bigger screen. Typing can be done with a bluetooth keyboard and your smartphone if you really wanted to. )

That's it. No more flash drives (cloud storage to the rescue), don't really need a notebook (handwriting recognition on smartphone/tablets for math and science), and who needs a backpack when all of your textbooks are electronic and on your smartphone and tablet? Your smartphone does pretty much everything now. 

Heck, as an educator I only bring my smartphone back and forth to school with me. (Read more about that HERE).

Amazing how technology changes things. I think about how Social Networking must have changed the whole dynamic and communications at college. How the internet and WWW is so much more now (it was just text, newsgroups, email, and some FTP back then). Text messaging, smartphones and apps, streaming media, online research, online help groups, online class resources...it's just amazing.


What are your thoughts?

Related:

Android Smartphone and Apps I use as an educator

Cloud File Sync/Storage Services

Social Media in Education

Unfettered by Stuff - or "Why I don't lug stuff home every night"

What's in your bag? What's in my educator bag - conferences, etc.

I’m a physics teacher, so I don’t need to carry much to and from school (I have everything in the cloud). 

I only carry my smart phone (Droid Incredible 2) with me. Everything else is synced through Dropbox between my home and school computers.

At school, if I am going to a meeting or training, I either use my smart phone or Google CR-48 Chromebook while in the building. The CR-48 battery lasts forever and it’s very light.

If I’m going out of the building to a conference or training, I do use a bag that will have the following things in it:

- HP TouchPad (in it’s case)
- Livescribe Pen and Pad  
- regular pen and a small pad/post it notes combo
- charger for my smart phone and TouchPad (although I’ve only needed the TouchPad charger for multi-day events). I also have an external battery for my phone that I sometimes bring.
- business cards
- water
- tissues
- chap stick
- If I’m presenting at a conference, I usually bring the Chromebook and my remote.

I always have my Swiss Army Flash knife on my key ring. It has a knife, screwdriver, pen, LED light, scissors, and a 4GB flash drive. Between this and my Droid I2 I rarely need anything else.

I have a simple bag I got from the school that I put everything in.

If mobile/traveling for training and conferences:

tablet or laptop and charger
CD/flash drive with apps and utilities
pad and pen
dry erase markers
remote control
VGA cable
post it notes
water, snack, gum, chapstick, tissues
smartphone cable/charger
Mimio - turns any whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard.


What do you have in your bag?

Related Articles:

Cloud File Sync and Backup Services

HP TouchPad

Smartphone and Apps I Use as Educator

Mimio Teach system

Google Chromebook

Livescribe Pen

Unfettered by Stuff - or Why I don't lug things home everynight

Technology I use on a Daily Basis - updated for this year

Fun and useful things to do with your smartphone camera

Here's a list of some fun and useful things to do with your smartphone camera:

1. Remember where you’re parked at the airport or any crowded lot. Photograph the nearest parking location sign.

2. Take a picture of your hotel, building address, room number, and the nearest street sign.

3. Take a photo of your child every day as a safety precaution when you’re traveling.

4. Capture a whiteboard after a meeting.

5. Document damage after a car accident.

6. Document your home and belongings as proof for your insurance company in the event of a loss.

7. Snap a picture of the takeout menu and business hours of your favorite restaurant.

8. Shoot a photo of a flyer for an upcoming event or item for sale.

9. If you lend out CDs, DVDs and books to friends, take pictures and label them with your friends’ names.

10.Take a picture of something you’re about to disassemble, then use it as a reference when you’re putting it back together.

11. Entertain kids with a photo scavenger hunt, with a list of things to take pictures of.

12. Photograph yourself when you don’t have a mirror.

Some education related things:

1. Take a picture of things you wrote on the board for one class so you use the exact same thing for the next class or post it on your class website for future reference. I let the students do this too. 

2. Take a picture of a memo on a bulletin board, handout, etc.

3. Take a picture of lab setups for future use or to include in lab instructions. My students do this and include the pictures in their lab reports. 

4. Take a picture of your room set up at the end of the year so you make sure everything gets back after summer cleaning.

5. Document anything you need documented. Take a picture of things instead of writing things down.

You can save the photos on your camera phone, export them to your computer, upload them to a website, or even use Evernote to save and organize them. Evernote can even search the text inside an image.

I have Sugarsync set up on my Android smartphone to automatically backup all my photos and videos and sync them to my computer.



What are your ideas?

Great infographic - what's going on inside your smartphone

It seems that everyone has a smartphone these days (not really, but the number keeps going up). The folks at MyCricket have put together a great infographic that explains how a smartphone works, from the processor, to sending and receiving calls, to the accelerometer and more.

This is just plain interesting, but can also be used in class to get students interested in science and engineering or to relate topics you are teaching to their smartphone.

What's Going on Inside Your Phone

Android Smartphone and Apps I use as an educator

I recently got an Android SmartPhone (HTC Droid Incredible 2) and have been exploring the Android Market looking for apps.

I really like Android. It's easy to use, powerful, has tons of apps, and HTC's Sense UI is really nice. The browser is also really great, supports multiple browser windows and has Flash and Air. Android has great notifications and multi-tasking too (although no one, not even Apple, can beat webOS's notifications and multi-tasking - it's too bad HP is pretty much shutting down webOS.)

In the past, I've written about educational apps for the Palm/HP smartphones running webOS. Today, I'd like to share some cool apps for Android. All of these apps allow me to use my smartphone as a mobile computer and pretty much do anything on it that I can do on my desktop or laptop.

For anyone who uses Google's applications, Android is a dream because it comes with them all and they work great. There are also great apps for all of the other services I use.



1. Google - search, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Google Plus, Docs, Google Tasks, Blogger, Maps, Google Voice, Voice Search, Translate, Music, goo.gl, YouTube, and much more. They all work great, with Docs having full editing features and Translate even translating spoken word. I use lots of Google apps so this makes my life much easier and more productive.



2. Evernote - a must have app and service for pretty much everyone - teachers, students, administrators, mom's, dad's, business people, etc. The Android App is excellent and you can sync your notebooks to your phone for offline access. Take notes, clip web sites, upload files, upload and search photos, share notebooks, and much more.



3. Email - I have my Gmail account, Optimum account, and School email all set up, along with the Gmail account for my grad school.



4. QuickOffice - access, view, and edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel files.Free version comes with phone and can view documents. Pro version adds editing for a fee.



5. Cloud Storage apps - Dropbox, SugarSync, and Zumodrive - access, upload, download all your files and data.



6. Kindle - access my books on my phone. Great for research or relaxation. Syncs with my Amazon account so I can start off where I left off on my TouchPad.



7. TweetDeck - I love Twitter as a learning and sharing tool and the TweetDeck app on Android is great. Works just like the desktop/web version.



8. Web Browser - the web browser is excellent on Android. It supports multiple web pages open at once and has Adobe Flash and Air. I have yet to meet a website that I couldn't view in it's entirety. It's also very fast. I can access all kinds of web services and sites using the browser, including PowerTeacher, our district's SIS.


I've used a PDA since the Palm IIIxe in 2000, moving up through a Palm T3, Palm TX, Palm Centro Smarpthone, Palm Pre+ Smartphone and now an Android smartphone. I love the ability to access information and data, and connect with others, and get work done, all with a device I carry in my pocket.


Check out Android Central for tips, resources, device and app reviews, news, help, and more on Android.


Related:

Technology I use on a Daily Basis - updated for this year

Unfettered by Stuff or "Why I Don't Lug Stuff Home Everynight"

My History with Technology - amazing how it's changed

MY HISTORY WITH COMPUTERS AND TECH - An Interesting Trip Down Memory Lane 

I was looking through some things this weekend and found a picture of the first computer we ever owned at home - a Radio Shack Tandy Color Computer. It got me thinking about how fast and how much technology has changed and how the future will be incredible.



The first computer I ever used as a TRS-80 computer in 7th grade math class (1982). It was monochrome with text only and a 5.25" floppy drive (along with a cassette drive). There were some great math and critical thinking games on it and students would be able to use it if they finished classwork or as a reward. My father brought home a DEC terminal from his job when working on his Master's in Chemistry, which was very cool to see a computer connect to another. Then, we got the Color Computer, which connected to your TV or a color monitor and had cassettes and cartridges. The graphics were minimal, but the word processor wasn't bad and there were some fun games. Plus, you could program in BASIC. I even used it as part of a science fair project on computers and their future applications.

Around this time, a friend of mine's father wrote a short screenplay about Star Wars, called Return to Hoth, that took place after Empire Strikes back. We were the actors and we made models and turned their basement into an ice cave. It was an amazing process. We had a computer engineer who helped create some effects and computer effects for the space craft and it's amazing looking back now on how basic the effects were, but how much it took to create them back then. (I'm working to upload the movie to YouTube but the quality needs to be enhanced a little after 3 decades).

In high school we had Apple IIe's and I took a BASIC programming class. In college, it was all PCs, starting with 8086 processors. I worked part time in my department's (mechanical engineering) computer lab and I remember how cool it was when we got the 286 processor computers. We used WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and CADKey computer aided design software. Some of my friends had their own computers, but not many, and it was interesting to see how they had to keep swapping floppy discs to run some software. We all had email and used the internet for email, newsgroups, and FTP, but it was minimal unless you were a computer science major. I remember how you'd print out something and then have to go pick it up from the print room. I keep thinking how cool it would have been to have a laptop and smartphone back in college.

After college, I worked as an engineer for ten years before becoming an educator. I always used a Windows computer (3, 95, and onward) for a majority of my work. I still remember, in 1995, starting to use the internet and how it seemed so cool, but the business applications were still limited. Then it exploded and the internet became a very important resource for us. I did use a UNIX workstation while at Sikorsky for the CAD system they used (CATIA).

My first computer that I bought myself was a Pentium II Gateway PC that cost over $2,000. It had a small hard drive, modem, and a Zip drive. I still remember how slow it was and how slow the internet was on a dial up connection. I also remember the day I got Cable Broadband at my home (I was one of the first in the area to sign up). It was amazing how fast it was and it was so cool to not have to wait for it to connect.

Since then, I've only bought laptops. I've gone from a Pentium III to my current Core i5 and CR-48. My current smartphone (Palm Pre+) has more power than my original computers. It's amazing how far, and how fast we've come. And, as computers get more powerful, it makes it easier and faster to develop even better computers, and so on.

I was also thinking about cell phones, PDA's and smartphones. My first cell phone was a Motorola Flip, then StarTac, then a couple other ones, then a Palm Centro, and now a Palm Pre+. The first cell phone I used was a big one with a pack that I used when I worked part time doing deliveries in college. The early cell phones could make calls. Period. Then we could store contacts, then play games, and then really slow, poor internet browsing, and now they can do almost anything. My first PDA was a Palm IIIxe with a 16MHz processor, monochrome display, and 8MB of memory. I then moved on to a Palm T3, Lifedrive and then TX. It was great because the T3 onward could view and edit Office files, along with keeping track of your data. The TX and Lifedrive even had WiFi. Then I switched to the Palm Centro, combining my cellphone and PDA into one.

My students are still shocked when I mention what I had as technology and how much and how fast things have changed. From the days of playing basic games and writing very simple BASIC programs in 7th and 8th grade, to the incredible Web 2.0 resources of today, computers and educational resources have changed dramatically. Basic word processing and text based spreadsheets to interactive, online resources and apps. Slow, bulky, minimal application desktops to do-everything smartphones. It's amazing.

What are your memories of your early experiences with technology?


Here's an image with some of my computers, PDA's and cell phones:

HP Announces three new webOS devices

Yesterday, HP announced 3 new webOS devices. HP purchased Palm last year and has been working to release webOS, an excellent mobile operating system (IMHO) on new hardware. These three new devices are due out in the Spring.

Currently, there are 5 devices running webOS: Pre, Pixi, Pre+, Pixi+ and Pre 2. The new devices are a huge leap forward in hardware, and will be running webOS 2.0 or later.

The three new devices are:

Veer - mini smartphone - this smartphone, running webOS, is the size of a credit card. Early reviews show it is very usable and many people have said that smaller smartphones are needed.


Pre3 - The Pre3 takes webOS to new levels. 1.4GHz processor, improved version of webOS, larger screen and excellent hardware specs. It has a vertical slider keyboard, 5MP camera, front facing camera for video chat, and more. I have the Pre+ and absolutely love it. The Pre3 is even better and I can't wait to get one.


Touchpad - the first webOS tablet. It is beautiful looking, with some minor changes to the OS to make it work better on a tablet. Multitasking, inductive charging, Synergy, and so much more. This is going to be a great device for schools.


webOS is a pretty incredible mobile operating system. It has true multitasking with Card View, Synergy (all your data is backed up and pulled together from multiple sources onto your device), great apps, and is easy to work with. Notifications pop up on the bottom of the screen and do not interrupt what you are working on. webOS is great for individuals, education, and businesses.




The Touchstone charger that currently exists will work with the Veer and Pre3. A new Touchstone is available for the Touchpad also. The Touchstone is an inductive charger, meaning there is no plug to put into the phone. Simply sit the phone or tablet on the device and it starts charging. You can also program what you want the device to display when it is docked.



With the new devices, you will be able to easily work together with them. If your phone is docked, you can answer a call or text on the tablet. If you want to continue your work from one device to the other, you can simply tap the two devices together and they will transfer what you were working on.

webOS is a great operating system. Palm had problems with hardware and marketing, but HP has come out with incredible hardware and has the scope to really push webOS to the masses. HP also mentioned that webOS will be coming to printers, PCs and much more in the future.




For more information, details, reviews, and specs, visit the following sites:

1. http://www.precentral.net/ - the place to find out news, information and reviews on webOS products and software.

2. http://www.palm.com/us/ - HP/Palm's home site for webOS devices, apps and accessories.

3. http://h41112.www4.hp.com/promo/webos/us/en/index.html - HP webOS site

4. What HP/Palm Got Right (that Apple didn't)


Related Articles:

HP Buys Palm - What could that mean for education?

Educational Apps for Palm webOS

webOS vs. iPhone

Review of Palm Pre+ and Pixi+

Most used apps on my Palm Pre+ and what I use them for 

Most Used Apps on my Palm Pre+ and what I use them for

I have a Palm Pre+ smartphone running webOS on Verizon. I love it. I've been a Palm user since my Palm IIIxe I got in 2000. Then I got the T3, Lifedrive, TX, and then Centro. I got my Pre+ last February when it came out on Verizon. I've always used these devices to keep my self organized and connected. I thought I'd share how I use it in my daily life as a teacher.

While Palm and webOS don't have tens of thousands of apps like Apple and Android, they have a lot of great apps and they are very useful. Since HP purchased Palm, there are new hardware devices coming and many more apps on the way. I am able to do everything I need to do with my Pre+.

The Pre+ has 16GB of onboard storage, a 3.1 inch multi-touch screen, WiFi, Bluetooth and a slide out physical keyboard. (The Pixi is Palm's other phone and it has a slightly smaller screen and a permanent keyboard (like Blackberry)).

I use my phone all day long at work and home for multiple things. I start out in the morning checking email, reviewing my schedule and calendar. Then I check my lesson plans, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, and more throughout the day. I take notes in meetings, review presentation materials, and much more. Here are the main apps I use each day:

Calendar (built in): my calendar on my Pre+ syncs with my Google Calendar account. This way, anything I put into either my phone or on my computer is synced (effortlessly over the air). I can even add other calendars, including my wife's Google Calendar and my Outlook calendar from school.

Web Browser (built in): I use my web browser to check the news, surf the web, look up sites I want to use for school, access my bank account, and even access our school student info system, PowerTeacher. The web browser displays web pages just as if you were on a computer and then you can easily zoom in using the multi-touch screen features.

Email (built in): the email app on the Pre+ is very good. I have my home email from Optimum Online, my Gmail account, and my school Outlook account all synced to my phone. I can see all of them as one inbox, or separate. I can keep in touch with friends, family, and students anywhere. I answered a student's homework question while at the store the other evening.

ZumoDrive: Zumodrive is a file sync/storage/backup service that works great for smartphones. Your computer thinks that they Zumodrive system is another hard drive on your computer. With the smartphone, you can access all of your files and even stream music or video files from your computer onto your phone.

Twee: Twee is an excellent Twitter client. I can see my feeds, retweet with the official retweet or add my own comments, send and receive direct messages, search, and much more. I use Twitter as a part of my Personal Learning Network and especially for #edchat.

Facebook: Palm developed this app for Facebook and it is very good. I can see News, Status Updates, pictures, search and more. It's a great way to stay in touch with people while on the go.

Evernote: I use Evernote for my lesson plans, class notes, meeting notes, to clip things from the internet, and much more. The app lets me access and edit my notes (or create new ones) from anywhere. If you've never used Evernote, you really need to try it out. Evernote homepage.

Physics Reference: I teach physics, so having a comprehensive physics reference with me is very useful. It is easy to use and has all the information I need to refresh my memory, or look up information.

Weather Channel: Do I need a jacket or umbrella today?

Web Sites as Apps, using the Web Browser:

There are many web sites that I use as apps. I've save a bookmark of the site to my phone as an icon on the app screen. That makes it easier to access.

Yankees homepage - have to keep up with my team.

Google Reader - Google's mobile site for it's Reader app is very easy to use and well designed. I can check all of my feeds from here, read the entire article, star it to save it for later, and much more.

Dropbox and Sugarsync: I access the mobile sites for these two file share/sync/backup services and can access my files on my phone using DocsToGo. I've reviewed PowerPoint files and Word documents while in a waiting room, in a meeting, or sitting on the couch at home.

Google Mobile Apps - I can access pretty much all of Google's apps from my smartphone, including Docs, Maps, News, IGoogle, Calendar, Notebook, Blogger, and Tasks. I use all of these extensively and having access to them on my phone makes my life easier, organized and efficient. m.google.com on your phone.

And of course there are a ton of games and other apps to keep you busy or having fun.

Smartphones are great educational tools and with more and more students getting them, we should be using them in the classroom. If I'm using it, why can't they?

Related Articles:

Review of the Palm Pre+ and Palm Pixi+

Palm Apps for webOS for Education

Palm webOS resources:

Palm's website

PreCentral - great info, reviews, app listings and reviews, tips, and more.

What smartphone do you have and what are your favorite apps.

Own a smartphone? Here's were you can find some great info and help.

The Smartphone Experts network is a network of web sites about each of the different types of smart phones. The sites have news articles, reviews, tips, discussions, and more about each one.

If you have a smartphone, you should check out the site for your phone and subscribe to the feeds. The tips, tricks, and info that I have learned is great. You can also find solutions to issues or problems you may have.

Android Central - for Google Android phones, like the T-Mobile G1, Droid, HTC and more.

Crackberry.com - for Blackberry phones

Nokia Experts - for Nokia phones

The iPhone Blog - for Apple iPhones

Precentral - for the Palm Pre, Pre+, Pixi and Pixi+

Treocentral - for Palm Treo's and Centro's

WM Experts - for phones running Windows Mobile, like the Palm Treo Pro and HTC phones.

These sites are great resources for smartphone owners.

Palm Pre + - now at Verizon

The Palm Pre+, Palm's latest version of it's webOS based Smart phone will be available at Verizon on January 25th., along with the Pixi+. UPDATED - they are now at Verizon!

Both phones have great features including multi-tasking, personal information management, web browsers, automatic over the air sync, smart notifications, 3D games, merging of calendars and more. Flash for mobile browsers will debut on the Pre+ in February.

The Palm Pre and Pixi are top-of-the line smart phones and should be considered for educational uses. Here is an article with a list of just some of the educational apps for the Pre. http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/palm-apps-for-education.html

One of the things I hate right now in education is that so many people are talking about the iPhone and iTouch. We should not always look at one manufacturer for equipment. Palm, Blackberry, and Android are all great devices that can be used in education. Here is an article about keeping schools Operating System and Hardware independent.

http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/06/operating-systems-and-web-based-apps.html

I believe that schools should not require any specific device. We should be looking at systems that allow all students to use them no matter what computer or phone brand they use. Many students already have smart phones and could use them. If schools make things platform dependent, it leaves many students out in the cold. Everything I do is web based and all documents are on Google Docs or are PDF files so that no matter what system a student has, they can read and access the files.

For more info on the Pre+ and Pixi+, go to Palm's Website.

Palm Apps for Education

(Treo 755p, Treo Pro, Pre, Centro, Pixi)

(cross posted at http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/26176)

The iPhone and it's apps always seem to be discussed on the web. I don't use an iPhone, and most of my colleagues and students don't have them either. There are plenty of Blackberry's, T-Mobile G1's and Palm smartphones around though. Since I use Palm phones, I decided to showcase some applications on Palm phones that are useful in education.

Palm's two new phones are the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi, which both run on Palm's new operating system, WebOS. One of the unique features about WebOS is the ability to multi-task using cards (similar to windows on a PC). While WebOS only has about 700 apps and another 350 homebrew (unofficial) apps, there is one application that is very useful. Classic allows WebOS phones to use most of the 20,000 PalmOS apps that exist.

PalmOS was Palm's older operating system that ran on the popular Palm Centro and Treo smartphones. There are millions of Centro's and Treo's out there and Palm's PDA's (TX, LifeDrive, and others) and there were tons of educational applications and lesson plans written for Palm devices.

Basic Applications: contacts, email, web browser, text messaging, camera, phone, tasks, media players, note taking, and lots more, including Evernote, Twitter, Facebook and Google.

Educational or useful in Education: (both platforms)

Dictionary

Thesaurus

Docs to Go (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel)

Calculators

Teacher and Student organizers

WebOS Resources: (Palm Pre and Pixi)

Precentral - single best resource for Palm Pre and Pixi and WebOS

Homebrew apps for WebOS - over 300 including conversion calculators, organizing tools, and periodic table.

World Atlas

World Factbook (information about countries)

Classtracker (student grade and assignment tracker)

Scientific Calculator

Stopwatch/timer

Word of the Day - great resource for helping students learn new words and strengthen vocabulary

Periodic table

Unit Conversions - converts units

WebOS has hundreds of applications, many useful for education. Every week, more and more applications arrive in the app catalog, so there is always something new to check out.

The web browser in WebOS is excellent, rendering web pages like you were on a desktop computer. This allows teachers and students to access all of the great web pages and web based applications that exist for education. Adobe is also bringing Flash to WebOS soon so Palm Pre and Pixi owners will have the ability to see Flash content right on their device.

PalmOS Resources: (can run on WebOS with Classic installed on Pre or Pixi)

Centro, Treo, TX, T3, E2, Lifedrive

Listing of Palm educational applications - dictionary, unit conversions, calculators, translators, and more

Educational Applications for Palm - maps, productivity, games, and more

Due Yesterday - student organization, due dates, homework tracking and more

Student Mate - student homework and assignment tracking

K12 Handhelds - site has listings of Palm OS software for education, organized by category. The site also has ideas on how to use Palm OS devices in education.

Inspiration for Palm OS - graphic organizer and visual planner.

PalmGear - PalmOS applications

Handango - PalmOS applications

Teacher's HandyPack - includes time table, lesson planner, teacher planner, and student and class manager

Gradekeeper - electronic grade book. Sync's to desktop.

Applications for Palm OS range from calculators, conversions, periodic tables, study tools, flash card tools, quizzes, student organizers, teacher tools, language translators and much, much more.

Many of the PalmOS applications also have desktop counterparts (like Gradekeeper) and you can sync your handheld's information to the desktop. This acts as both a backup and it is easier to view and edit information on a desktop vs. a handheld.

This is only a small sampling of the thousands of applications available for WebOS and PalmOS. So you can see that Palm and WebOS have lots of applications that can be used in the classroom or for educational purposes. Android (Google's mobile phone application) and Blackberry do too.

I don't believe in schools requiring students to use any one product or software type because it becomes a defacto endorsement of the product and limits student choice. Instead, I think schools should use platform-independent tools (web based) or have lessons that allow student choice in which applications they use for class work.

Smartphones are a great educational tool. They are mini computers with the ability to do almost anything a student needs to do - write a paper, web research, graphing calculators, and much more. Schools shouldn't be outlawing cell phones and smartphones, they should be figuring out how to leverage them as learning tools.

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Operating Systems and Web Based Apps

Palm Pre

What do you think? What educational applications do you have for your smartphone?

Smartphone Camera

I keep finding more uses for my smartphone camera. Today I took a picture of a magazine article so that I could read it later, took a picture of a memo on the wall so I wouldn't have to copy down the info, and even took a picture of a website on a computer screen, again so I wouldn't have to write it down.

I then use an application called "BugMe" for Palm OS that takes a screen shot, in this case of the picture, and allows me to annotate it and even set a reminder alarm.

You can do much of this with any camera phone or smartphone. Put that camera to good use.

Smartphones - what a great invention!

I love my smart phone. I have a Palm Centro, running Garnet (Palm) OS and on Verizon's network. It is the single most useful technology gadget I have.

First, it is a phone and it works well. What I like most is that as I update my contacts on Palm Desktop, it sync's to my phone. That makes editing, and backing up information, very easy. In fact, all of the PIM (Personal Information Management) data is backed up on my computer and is editable through the Palm Desktop software.

This leads into the next part of the device that I love - the PIM. The Calendar and Task lists keep me organized. You are able to set reminder timers for both of these, which comes in very handy. The other PIM function I love is the Memo's function. This is basically a very simple text editor that allows you to create individual memos and categorize them. I have over 1600 memo's that I use for reference notes, lesson plans, financial information, account information, medical records, and more. You can even make them private and secured with a password.

Some other things I use my smartphone for include web surfing, email, test messaging, and viewing and editing Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files. I can also view pdf files. I have a microSD card that has all of my files from school. I use Microsoft Hot Sync and software on the phone to sync the files on my classroom computer, with the smartphone, and then my home computer. This makes my life easy by allowing me access to the files at any time, without having to have them hosted on a web site.

The other feature that I use alot now is the camera. I take pictures of magazine articles, papers, white board notes. and other things as reminders, and a way of keeping a permanent electronic record of things. The resolution is pretty good, so it works well. There are also some online services that will take the picture you to and they can convert it to text.

The phone also has Goggle maps so that I don't get lost, an MP3 player to listen to my music, games, reference information, and even a video player that allows me to load DVD movies onto the phone to watch. The small screen is actually pretty nice to watch on, and this is a nice way to pass the time when working as a paramedic and sitting at post in an ambulance.

Today's smartphones have a lot of power, features, and applications and are extremely useful devices. I'm not sure how I managed in the past without one.

I have a Palm Centro, but most other smartphones have similar features and applications. Some run on multiple networks, like Blackberry and Palm, and others are only on a certain network, like Apple. Before you purchase one, do some research and see which one that seems to work best for you.

Disclosure - While I do own stock in Palm (not a lot though), I am not trying to sell this to anyone. I tell people that a smartphone is a very personal thing and their own personal preference is what should lead them to which smartphone to purchase. Apple's iPhone, Palm, and Blackberry's are the most popular and all of them are very useful. I found Palm's to be the best fit for me and what I do. People who need a really outstanding email system usually go for Blackberry, and people who are looking to do more multi-media tasks look at the iPhone.

To each his own.