What Makes a Good Phone for Education Pt1

Now that all the dust has settled with the iPhone, it is great to see the impact it has had on the Mobile industry. There are new innovative phones including the Nokia Xpress 5800, the Sony Ericsson Xperia and of course the G1 (see below). With all these new phones I thought it was about time to place a stick in the sand and start to look at what I think is essential for a phone for education.

1) Wifi

2) Flash enabled browser

3) Full QWERTY keyboard

4) Video capture

5) Media Player

6) Removable storage

7) Mini usb connection

8) 3.5mm A/V connection

I will now try and explain why I have chosen these.

The wifi is essential as data charges are still very high and I kind of guess there will always be a charge associated with it, which is only fair. But from a teaching point of view if the children use their phones for education, who pays for the data used? The easy way is to hook the phones onto the schools wifi network.

I have not just said browser, but carefully chosen the wording, flash enabled. There is only one mobile browser that is flash enabled and that is called skyfire. Unfortunately, it only available in the US and is in beta. Browsing the web without flash (this is a plugin and is downloaded automatically when you visit a site with flash content, normally sites that have video on them) is like looking through a pair of dirty glasses. You get some of the picture, but there are parts you just can't see.

We know children are good at using the standard phone keypad to text, but if you asked them to type in a web address, believe me I think that the novelty of being able to use the phone keypad would soon wear off. I think that the a virtual keyboard (like the iPhone) would be as good, if not better than a physical one that the Blackberry phones have.

From experience and talking with other teachers, video capture is just so good for children and creativity, enough said. Oh the iPhone doesn't have it!

The media player, well if you can create the content, you need to see it. Although I would add that the media player should be able to play all media, not just created on or for phones.

As you create more content, there is a real need for storage, but again I have been careful with the wording and added removable. This means like a memory card, similar to the ones used in digital cameras. If it's not removable, like the iPhone, then when you run out, that's it.

The mini usb connection is an industry standard that it used to connect devices together. But more importantly it can also be used as the charger connection. How good would that be to have a charger that could charge more than one type of phone, instead of having a Nokia charger and a Sony Ericsson charger etc.

Again the 3.5mm connection is also industry standard and will not only allow the children to use their standard headphones, but if they forget, any headphone will fit it. Again the school would only need to have one type of TV out cable that could be plugged into any of the children's phones, instead of them having to bring in their phone specific cables.

This is just the start of my thought and ranting. We could be looking at What makes a good Educational Phone for Education Pt52!

What do you think? Are all these needed or are there other things that need to be added to the list?

Phone in the Cloud?

I have just read an interesting blog, where somebody questioned the need to have 16Gb of storage on a phone. Their argument was what would they do with all that storage and with cloud computing, would you actually need it.

Cloud computing is all well and good if you have a fast (way above 3G or HSDPA) and reliable connection. This just doesn't happen at the moment, either here in New Zealand or from what I have read, the rest of the world.

I am a big believer in cloud computing and think it will be great for education as we get the technology to work for us (and the children) and not the other way round, which I believe it has been since the introduction of the PC. Just how much time do we spend upgrading, updating, securing etc and how much do we actually use it for some use. Having it in a cloud takes away the control and responsibility from the IT department and gives it back to the end user, who doesn't have to worry about the technicalities. They just need a fast connection and a browser, how simple is that.

A phone is a different piece of kit. The fact that it is mobile and is with you everywhere, actually cries out that you need local storage, just in case the network is not available. Memory is cheap and getting cheaper and why would I want to stream music and movies to my phone, when I can only do it in the major cities. We can take this cloud computing a little too far and be caught in the big wave of optimism over it. Use it for what you need use it for, but don't think that everything will be in the cloud, well not just yet!

Personally I have around 30Gb of music alone so I can't wait until they bring out a 64Gb phone so I can store all my music and some movies as well. 

Until the networks get faster we will always need some storage, particularly on mobile devices. 

When will we be ready?

This is a question that I ask myself regularly about mobile phones in the classroom. The rooms are ready, phones can last all day without a charge. The children are ready, see earlier posts regarding how they were recently used for speaches in our school. The phones are ready, they all now have a good quality browser and memory and this is not a problem as they can use the fantastic Operamini browser, which can be used on almost any phone. The real problem is when you ask the children about getting the web on their phones, they all say it is way too expensive. At the moment the best deal is with Vodafone NZ which has recently introduced a $1 a day for 10Mb on prepay. I won't even mention Telecom NZ as you would have to take out a second mortgage, just to browse Facebook.

What we have to face is that in the short term, phones with built in wifi will remain expensive and that the majority of children (who have a phone) are on prepay, it's good for them and definitely good for thier parents. So until the network operators come to the party and offer better prepaid data plans I am still  going to be asking "when will we be ready?"

1st in the Waikato

I feel so proud, one of my students came first in the Waikato, (Year 7, Girls, Speech Competition).
Now I'm not naive enough to think that it was all down to my teaching, and not in anyway related to the particular student, in questions own natural, innate ability but I can't help thinking that the increased access to Technology in the room this year did help. I believe that this access to Technology not only improved the winning speech but also contributed to improving the quality of all the speeches in my room. Last year not one of my students made the school final, this year 3 did and one well you already know about that.

Having access to 1:1 laptops, cellphones, video cameras, googledocs and Elgg (our private social network), ensured we had a successful learning programme from start to finish. Having the ability to prepare, practice, improve and assess class speeches really improved not only the outcome/finished product but the whole learning process.

We used our 1:1 EeePC's to research speech ideas on the internet via a Firefox browser.

Students own mobile phones to record initial ideas and gather thoughts.

Open Office documents to plan, design and write the speeches.
Open Office draw documents to produce cue cards.

Mobile phones/the microphone and web cam on their computer to record, practice and improve the delivery of speeches.

A digital camera to record students first attempt at their speech.

A blog on our schools social networking site (Elgg) to upload students first attempt of their speech from the class digital camera. These were then viewed by themselves and the rest of the class who then commented on each speech and gave guidelines for improvement (content and delivery) on the blog.

Finally we used googlespreadsheet to grade the final speeches during the class speech competition.

The class are presently in the process of using their mobile phones/class digital camera to record their final speech and place them in the eportfolio, Myfiles section on Elgg our social networking site to keep for prosperity and viewing by their family and friends.

Not all students want to place their final speech in their eportfolio. Not only do I believe this is how it should be 'their choice' but I'm really not worried if they chose not to. It was the learning that was important and that's all about the process not the outcome. Even though it's nice to be placed first in the Waikato it's even nicer to have access to Technology that can improve the learning for all the students in your room.

Mobile Phone Polices

I wonder if they had ball point pen policies in schools.

You know the type.

Ball point pens must be handled with care at all time. They must not be placed in your pocket just in case you are tempted to use them. On entering the school grounds all ball point pens must be flicked to the off position and their lids securely screwed on. Immediately on entering your homeroom all ball point pens must be placed in a tub on home room teachers desk. They may not be used unless specified by the teacher and only then strictly for the identified task as determined by the teacher. During this time period do not attempt to use them for any other writing activity or your ball point pen will be permanently removed. Leave your ball point pen in your homeroom at all times (You do not need to write in any other lessons). During break time all ball point pens must remain in the classroom to ensure they are not used inappropriately. Please ensure that when carrying your ball point pen too and from school, that it is flicked to the off position and kept out of sight until you have securely vacated the school grounds. Even then ensure it is used strictly for emergency purposes until you are safely within your home domain or it will be confiscated.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to step my classes mobile phone policy up to this level now after a couple of students used their mobiles inappropriately at break time but I have great issues with this and the other implied mobile phone rules above (substitute mobile for ball point pen, write/ing for learn/ing and lids for covers, above.)

My main concern besides the fact that I don't want to be responsible for a whole class of mobile phones getting lost, stolen and forgotten is that the mobile phone should be utilized as a tool. The mobile phone is a wonderful tool with many useful features that students can utilize in a whole array of learning contexts (calendar, calculator, internet, camera to name but a few) and our teachers are not the ones with the experience of when, where and how to use these tools.

Surely we should be teaching our students to use these tools appropriately, correct etiquette and appropriate usage should be the core curriculum not removal. Yes inevitably our student will make wrong choices and use them inappropriately but isn't this our greatest teaching moment.

How many of you never used your ball point pen to doodle in your workbook, when you were studying or had your mobile ring at an inappropriate time. How would you of liked it if you had your ball point pen and mobile removed.

Personally I'd rather my classes/school mobile policy read:-

Mobile phones must be used appropriately at all times. When in school you phone must be turned off and placed in your pocket until you require to use it to aid your learning. At which point you must request access to it's use from the specified teacher and identify it's purpose. Your phone must not be removed from your pocket and turned on until agreement is reached between you and the teacher taking the lesson. Once you have finished using the phone for your requested purpose it must be turned off again and placed securely back in your pocket. If you need to use your phone again a new request must be made. If your phone is used at anytime while on the school grounds without requesting permission from the supervising member of staff it will be confiscated.

Admittedly I'm not too sure about what to do with the mobile phones at break time as they don't really need them for learning but I for one don't want to be responsible for lost, stolen and forgotten mobile phones. It would just be my luck that one of my bus students forgets to take their mobile from the tub on my desk and misses an important call/pick up point.

But at least for a week or two I'll just have to enforce the above ball point pen policy until they learn to use their tools appropriately and are aware of the rules of correct etiquette and appropriate usage.

A Day With The Iphone

Well I had the opportunity to spend a day with an iphone, after a friend offered to leave theirs with me. Actually it wasn't theirs, they had been loaned it by Vodafone, which was great as I didn't have to worry about the data charges.

The user interface (UI) and aesthetics were just outstanding and made my P990 look and feel like a brick. It immediately found the school wireless and connected seamlessly, without any technical input required. The browser was outstanding and everything I had hoped it would be and it was quick between applications. I liked the maps function, but you really have to have a need for it to use it. The ipod sounded great and despite what some forums are saying, it connected to our Exchange server with no problems at all. What I did like was that all your email sub folders were also displayed, unlike on my p990 using the Dataviz Activesync application. The contacts and calendar also worked well and when I could also play the Flight of the Conchords from the Youtube site on a great looking screen I was hooked. Everybody I showed loved the look and feel and the kids thought it was fantastic, although they all thought it was very expensive.

At this point you are probably thinking that I went out and got one the next day. Well when I gave it back and then played with my phone I realised that, not only were there things it didn't have, but that if I did get one ,the step up in technology would be really small, compared to the one I had made going from my Nokia 6600 to the Sony Ericsson p990.

I know I will get one, but the urgency is no longer as high as it was. It's a great phone, but not that great to get tied into a 2 year contract (pay $849 for the handset and $40 a month on their cheapest plan) or pay a whopping $1129 just for the handset to Vodafone or in fact anybody.

Three Things

Three things the iphone will need to have before I buy one are...
I'm not talking about the obvious things that the majority of New Zealanders are complaining about at the moment i.e a cheap price and a decent data plan but the much more important things to me and Education 1) a camera capable of recording video (let's be honest a phones a phone, it's not really until you add a camera/video recording facilities that it becomes a useful tool for education). 2) A flash enabled browser. The second most important feature that changes a normal everyday phone into an Educational tool is no doubt a decent browser. Why wouldn't one want one with flash? 3) HSDPA capabilities so that I can use my phone as a modem to connect to my lap top (well because that's what I do).
Oh well looks like I might be waiting a while then.
It's made me realise one thing though as I first suspected the iphone is not revolutionary not any more revolutionary that is than my P990i and a whole heap of other phones which are much more educationary (Educationally capable that is). So the question is if we're here for the learning revolution do we need to bring our iphones with us. What three things will an iphone need to have before you or your students buy one I wonder?

Mobile phones should be made compulsory in schools

Mark, myself and (A) the technician have spent the best part of this week working out movie making and publishing options for the classes Asus EeePC"s (and I mean the best part, you know the bit between 11 and 3 when the suns shining and you really should be doing something else).
But I have to ask myself WHY? WHY? have we spent what seems like an eternity working out options to convert low quality ogg webcam images to mpg format so that they can be directly uploaded to Elgg (our private social net work) or manipulated by a video editor to produce low quality movies.
The simple answer is because we needed to be able to upload our interviews with our grandparents to Elgg, because we need to be able to manipulate sound and edit movies later in the year. And yes I know now we can all do it because we've all got web cams on our Asus's and an inbuilt microphones. But WHY? oh WHY? aren't we just using our mobiles. Mobiles that don't need a program to convert the files, mobiles that have better sound and image quality, in built editors and their own personal technician (owner) WHY? because the general consensus is mobiles should be banned in schools. Banned I ask you? The one thing that I can guarantee you, in 10 years from now will be proven to have made a significant improvement in students learning is banned. Never mind banned it's about time we started making mobile phones compulsory in Schools.

Camp Week

A whole week without computers but as I sit planning my lessons for tomorrow I can't help thinking - an opportunity missed. Why couldn't the students upload their pictures immediately, post their reflections each night, check out the weather and where they were going each day. Beats me they all had their mobiles and PSP's with them. Maybe next year but I fear we might still be waiting for those elusive data charges to come down for a year or two yet.