Mobile Learning..."Ughs and Ahas!"

First and foremost, this is a topic I am very interested in learning more about.  I personally do not have cell phones in my classroom because I teach at the elementary level, but I have friends who are middle school and high school teachers and "cell phone use in the classroom" is a topic that continually comes up.  I honestly feel that if I taught at the middle school or high school, I would allow the students to use cell phones in the classroom.  I feel it's similar to anything with kids; either they are going to use it for its intended use in front of you, or they are going to use the cell phones for other uses when you (the teacher) are not looking. 
This is a comment I posted on Classroom 2.0 Cell Phones in Education.

 Comment by Lindsay Annelin

As a fifth grade teacher, I do not deal with cell phones in the classroom like middle school and high school educators.  However, that being said, I agree with cell phone usage in the classroom, guidelines need to be in place and cell phones should be allowed and for academic use only.  I know in speaking to other teachers, they incorporate mobile technology in the classroom, such as posing a multiple choice question and having students text the answer.  The teacher is then able to show student results in a pie chart or graph and go over the answer.  I feel like this is an excellent way to keep students engaged and use interactive learning with mobile devices.

"Ugh!"
The main issue that kids run into regarding cell phone use in the classroom or on a "byod" lesson in general, is that some kids may not have cell phones.  I would be curious to see how many of my fifth graders already own cell phones or some sort of technology device in order to access the internet in the classroom.  I was also wondering how many teens own cell phones and have access to them for classroom use.  This is a pie chart that one teacher created based on eighth grade students who have access to cell phones in the classroom.  I encourage you to check out the following site: http://teach.com/education-technology/cell-phones-in-school/

I found from this data, that 95% of students surveyed, own a cell phone!  55% own cell phones with access to the internet and 40% own cell phones that are able to text.  Only 5% do not own cell phones at all.  I would have thought this number would have been higher and am pleasantly surprised by the results. 

My wonders are the following (and it would also be interesting to look at progress over the years) if cell phones "enhance" learning in the classroom or if they are looked at as a "disruption."  As with any technology tool, what it comes down to, is how it is used in the classroom and explicit guidelines from the teacher and lessons on how to use a cell phone for educational purposes.  My gut tells me that mobile learning would enhance learning overall because the students, as with any technology device, would likely be more engaged and interested in the topic.  I know I would!

"Aha!"
I actually just got an iPad for my classroom, thanks to our PTO and spent some time exploring with the kids and downloading apps for educational purposes (with student input, which encouraged ownership and enthusiasm).  As of last week, I drew sticks to choose a student to get fifteen minutes of uninterrupted Ipad time with the app of their choice.  Ipod/Ipad Apps is the perfect resource in order to take advantage of even more educational apps for children.  This chart lists the apps in alphabetical order, the price, what curriculum it fits.  This is very helpful to me and I hope it will also be helpful to you as a mobile device user.  Another helpful function that this Google chart displays is what grade level the app would be appropriate for and a brief description of each app.  Wow...you have to check it out!  I will be adding many more apps to our classroom iPad, as well as my personal iPad and iPhone for my own daughter. 

In the classroom, we downloaded the "Planets" free app as we are just completing our unit on the Solar System.  What is so great about this particular app and what the kids absolutely loved, is that the images are in 3D!  Our elementary school does not allow cell phones in the classroom and I don't think many of my students have mobile phones.  However, if they did and if our school allowed them, I would use this app for many lessons on the solar system and will make sure to do so on the iPad. 

There are literally thousands of ways to use the iPad in the classroom and I am so thrilled to finally have one for educational use and the kids can't wait to get their hands on the awesome technology tool!  I also look forward to connecting it to my computer and projecting the images from the iPad on the screen for all to see.  I will definitely use this as a teaching tool for the rest of the year and continue learning and exploring all I can do with the new iPad in my classroom.