This answer won't post on K-12, so I am answering you on another forum that I know you use.
Why Cell Phones? I think, since I am editing a book on global use of technologies, that there are many countries looking for what a way is to get involved in technology, that will give them the most bang for their buck. Admittedly, I often just do the new technology because I can't escape it. My friend Ray Rose, of Concord.org and Andy, entice me to wander into the new uses of technology, by demonstration, by involving me in the study of it, or by making the idea of it so interesting I could not resist. There is something about mentored help that makes you leap the hurdles of faith. Think a minute.. you are not driving the same car that you learned to drive with.. and you certainly are not going to wait until they " get it right!". I had a Palm for a long time, that I did not use. I bought it, but then I had to buy something else and then I had to be on line. I put it in the closet. The stepping up to new use takes a lot of patience when there is no tech support for some of us. But Ray Rose and another friend copied all of the notes that were in a meeting ,and offered to beam them to me. Well, my Palm was at home. At a meeting in Poptech, similar technologies were used to create a network that beamed us all in so we had email access, and information for all on smart tags. Also at NCSA, the Supercomputing conference we had smart tags for all kind of reasons. Same technologies, different use. The information you get is what attracted me. In countries with few landlines.. the leapfrog was phenomenal. Gender use did not seem to matter. Making Mistakes Sometimes I make the wrong purchase. I have a minitelevision that I thought would be helpful for long flights , ... the points inbetween. But I found that most of the airports have a kind of TV, and that it was a nuisance more than an interesting tool. The point is it is not , an intelligent tool. With my phone now, I can text message, but I don't very often, I can take pictures on the spot and transmit them. i can access the news, and .. so much more. More importantly, if it is an airline that I am on and I am held up I can consult with them, and reach the people meeting me, and vice versa. Being Involved in Knowledgenetworks Helps I was involved in the www.cilt.org project based look at the new technologies and we studied the cell phone, variations of it from many angles. I also have been working in Europe where the cell phone has leapfrogged over land lines. I dragged my computer to Mykonos, but had to go to an Internet cafe to use the computer. No telephone land lines My goose was cooked. Meanwhile my friends were happily textmessaging friends in Italy and so on. Every day I had to go out in the hot sun, ( But the island is beautiful) to go to the Internet cafe. So sometimes the shift has a reason. I used to be able to use AOL from around the world but there are new sophisticated ways that access through phone lines can be denied in various countries. Really interesting was the use of more sophisticated versions of handhelds. I invite you to peruse SRI's resources at http://ubiqcomputing.org/ubiq_initiatives_hand.html. Being with the Big Dogs I attended an NSCA all hands meeting. It was about this kind of technology. I had a headache at first there was so much to learn. Everyone else seemed to know it all but gradually as the lectures went on , i learned more and more. I found applications that made me happy and I began to write, explore, and use new technologies. I did not have money to investigate the MIT crickets, but I saw demonstrations. I did not have the money to invest in individual clickers,.. an off stream use of the possibilities, but I really liked the idea that each child in the class could have a device that would let them participate, both for my understanding of their knowledge and my ability to understand ,if they got what I was teaching. So I became a convert. Never got invited to the vendor meetings like most teachers. Didn't matter. I had been involved in the research, saw the possibilities of use, knew the limits of my funding . I only wished for a carton of 30 to take to schools to help teachers cross over the nuisance line with them. But the researchers often have such a wonderful technology environment that they did not judge this to be a good use of funds in the project. I guess I call it the test drive the device.. and I would have had a powerpoint to explain it. Research Tidbits I made my project idea up anyway, cited the research, created the powerpoint and went to the Georgia Technology Conference. What a dissapointment . I can read crowds.. most of the people in my sessions, who were evaluating me, were sitting with their arms crossed. I could hear one of the people in the audience saying, " That gal must be teched in the head if she thinks that people are going to use devices like that." I did not get a resounding accolade from the audience. It hurt my feelings.. but that's life. But a researcher, at the end of my unappreciated talk, asked for my research to put in her database. That cheered me up a little . My evaluations were dismal. Consumer Acceptance Later that year, the ad about pictures on phones came out and there was a mad rush by consumers to use the picture phones. Textmessaging has always been an interest of the very young. I imagine that I can't do it well because I have to use my glasses to see the position of the letters. I am told that after a while, like on the keyboard, the placement is mental and you don't have to look. But I am not there. Meanwhile there are new things to think about. http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/artman/publish/article_369.shtml It's an interview with the inventor of Cellphedia, which is a kind of cell phone version of WikepediaEnd Notes Perhaps the problem is in accepting new learning for all of us. Readings to probe.( Contributed to me by Ray Rose) Look at: http://www.concord.org/publications/newsletter/2005-spring/ubiquitous.html http://www.concord.org/publications/newsletter/2005-spring/anycomputer.html http://www.concord.org/publications/newsletter/2004-fall/monday.html http://www.concord.org/publications/newsletter/2002-fall/probeware.html and for fun.... http://www.concord.org/publications/newsletter/2005-spring/future.html Be aware of the fact that the US does not have the lead in technology in everything, particularly in the cell phone era. Have you read "Smart Mobs". And, there is more.. I copied this to some of the researchers whom I worked with. Maybe they will contribute information. Bonnie Bracey Outreach GLEF.org http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/bbracey My communities http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/summitforchildren http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/gendergap CyberEd Resources : ICT's and Education (owner) Games and Education (owner) Science without Frontiers STEM Initiatives K-12 (owner) http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/bbracey Portal Work http://edreform.net/ Technology Applications for learning in the portal applications.edreform.net Technology Applications for Learning The Technology Applications for Learning Network is a catalog of technology applications for learning. http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/STEM _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
