NECC Reflections 2008: It's in Your Pocket: Teaching Spectacularly with Cell Phones

It's in Your Pocket: Teaching Spectacularly with Cell Phones
Hall Davidson, Discovery

Hall Davidson, spectacular as always, gave a wonderful talk about what we can do with cell phones. I admit, I did not know about many of the things he demonstrated. A few that may be new or not:
· GCast.com – podcast from your phone
· Polleverywhere.com – live poll using the internet, chart or text, fascinating!
· Text 34381 and receive nutrition information back (e.g. McDonald’s Big Mac)
· YouTube now accepts videos from cell phones
· Jott.com – transcribe voice to text (rti, etc.)
· Favorite quote: “Our non-working lives have been ruined by cell phones, why shouldn’t kids’ lives be ruined, too? Send them a quiz!!”

My reflections:
· I love the idea of using these tools and yes, almost all our students have a cell phone
· Big question: Who pays for this?? I can see parents looking at their cell phone bills after a few days of texting in poll results, etc.
· Really would have to have clear rules as to when you use them and when you don’t