When we were at NECC earlier this month, the topic of cell phones as learning devices popped up several times.  While it isn’t practical right now in my elementary setting, if you are a secondary teacher, you might enjoy this Cellphones as Instructional Tools Webinar co-sponsored by Education Week and Sprint.  From the Web site:

This free event is scheduled for Thursday, July 23, at 4 p.m. Eastern time. 

Cellphones have been called “the new paper and pencil” or “the new laptop,” and they could be in the hands of as many as 10 million to 15 million schoolchildren in the next few years. For their instructional potential and ability to connect students to the Internet, mobile devices are quietly making their way into schools in the United States and abroad. What does your district, school, or classroom need to make this technology leap? Guests will discuss policy and implementation issues and offer practical curriculum ideas for every subject. 

Presenters: 

Elliot Soloway, professor, School of Information, School of Education, and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan
Liz Kolb, education technology instructor, University of Michigan and Madonna University; author, Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education
Ron Myers, principal, Trinity Meadows Intermediate School, Keller, Texas

Moderator: 

Elizabeth Rich, online editor of teachermagazine.org and Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook

Soloway gave a similar presentation in our district this spring, and I’ve browsed Kolb’s book and found it full of clever ideas and tricks (some of which would also work on desktops or laptops).  As some of you know, I got an iPhone last month after months of using cell phones for nothing but dialing and listening … and now I am a smartphone maniac.I think there are powerful educational uses, especially for easily distracted students who may find that a smaller screen helps them focus their attention.Enjoy!

As we continue to think about 21st-century learning and the potential role of ubiquitous computing devices like netbooks and mobile devices, the New York Times is reporting that doctors are becoming concerned about the potential negative impact of texting, from lost sleep due to late night texts to anxiety to sore thumbs.  It’s one in many articles that are emerging lately that urge us to temper progressive educational pedagogy with thoughtful reflection.

I’ve had it rolling in my head for a long time now that I wanted to modify Helene Blowers’ great public library Web 2.0 project, Learning 2.0, for the staff in my elementary school.  She set up a variety of Web 2.0 “things” for staff to explore and comment on.  Participants created a blog to track their thinking and give me the URL for the project’s blogroll.

My colleagues are busy, and I liked the idea of doing something where they could work at their own pace but still have a record of explorations.  I liked her sense of whimsy and letting folks play, and out of play, to make professional meaning.  And I wanted my colleagues to have that same sense of exploration and fun, and then to think about if and how those tools could fit into their classroom.  As I like to say, “Lead with the need.” 

Thanks to Helene’s Creative Commons license, I finally got around to putting it together and launched Exploring Elementary 2.0 with my staff today: a six-week self-paced exploration of Web 2.0 tools, with an eye on how to integrate those tools effectively in elementary school classrooms.  I pared down the initial 23 tasks to 17 so we could finish by our district’s June 1 cutoff for 07-08 PD and changed around a few of the tasks to better fit an elementary teacher’s needs.

And here’s what I think is really cool … let’s say you’re a media specialist out there and you know you want to be doing more PD and you know your staff wants to explore but neither of you have time to be in the same lab at the same time.

You can use this project, too!  The project can easily be adopted in your building with little effort on your part.  If you’re a media specialist, all you have to do is:

1. Arrange for your staff to receive PD credit for participating.  (My principal is giving 10 PD hours’ worth of credit.)
2. Sell the idea to your staff.
3. Collect their blog URLs and send them to me for the blogroll.
4. Track your staff’s progress via their blogs.
5. Turn in your district’s official paperwork when they’re done.

What’s in it for you? You get ready-made PD that’s all set to go.  Perfect if you need to announce one last initiative before the Board announces next year’s budget …

What’s in it for me? I work in a small building where the staff knows one another and quite well, so we get the benefit of a whole bunch of perspectives from which to draw inspiration.

So what do you say? Hope you’ll join me for this journey.  Drop me a line at slmamblog@gmail.com if you’re interested.

PS - Yes, this is similar to the California School Library Association’s project, though their tasks more closely mirror the original Learning 2.o project.