Final+Project

= Is the iPhone all we really need? = As schools today have become more and more saturated with cell phones around campus, teachers have two options. They can choose to ban them from the classroom only furthering the distance between teachers and technology, or they can choose to welcome what the iPhone can offer and improve the students daily classroom experience. As of now, school wide policies do not ban the use of cell phones inside the classroom, but individual teachers have the choice as to allow students to use them or not. Most teachers these days restrict the use of cell phones in their classrooms and will go to the length of taking them from students if they are caught using them. So this brings up a problem. When students graduate high school and step out into the real world, are they told they can’t use their cell phones? Maybe while driving, yes, but in most cases, we are all doing just the opposite. The days of using our cell phones simply for making calls, is a thing of our past. I personally, make every attempt to give my students real-world applications for what they are learning and what to expect. So why would I restrict them from using a piece of technology that is already such a major part of their world. I would much rather provide an environment where responsibilities are reinforced and learning is enriched. The iPhone is a device that takes the technology our students are already carrying around and provides a medium to create learning that is interactive and real to our students and their future. But in order to really explore the capabilities of this device, one should understand the history behind the creation of the phone.
 * Options **

media type="youtube" key="JcnXOhrmDB8" height="344" width="425" align="center" As most of us are aware, the “official discovery” of the telephone happened in March of 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. This was obviously a crude model of what we have come to consider the telephone and involved many wires, switchboards and had very limited capabilities. Since my technology deals with cell phones, let us skip ahead almost 100 years to the advent of cellular technology. The first cell phones were designed for use in the car in 1947. It was discovered then that small cells could be used to increase the capabilities for these car phones. Jump ahead even farther to 1968 when the FCC agreed to let certain companies begin the exploration of cell use on a wider range. Motorola and AT&T made prototypes for cell phones in 1977 at which time demand for the units outweighed the cellular capabilities. It was determined that the cell phone was something that people really wanted and the possibilities went beyond just a “car phone.” By 1986 the first real “mass marketing” of cell phones had begun. The “first cell phones” were huge in size by today’s standards. They were clunky, expensive and did not hold a charge. As technology increased, so did the capabilities of the cell phone. By 1999, most Americans were considering subscribing to a cell phone plan for at least one cell phone per family. By 2007, 250 million Americans owned a cell phone with the age range of those owners roughly between 10-99 years. Cell phones are everywhere and in fact, I think it is harder to find someone who does not own a cell phone. It appears that cell phones are beginning to replace the traditional landlines and companies, such as AT&T are rushing to find ways to maintain profits with the decrease in landline usage.
 * History **

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Now let's consider the computer evolution. In 1946 the first computers were being developed. These computers were huge, often the size of a room, required tons of electricity to make them run and were used mainly for the military. They were programmed with the use of tape and punch cards. Keyboards were used to inscribe data onto these mediums. Personal computers were a long way off. In the 1960’s people began to recognize the application of computers for businesses. Some schools were beginning to utilize their basic functions but there were none in classrooms yet. These computers were still somewhat large, still used punch cards and tapes and were not even equipped with word processing programs. By 1971, Intel “developed” the first PC and companies began writing instructional software. By the late 1970’s, Apple donated millions of its Apple I PCs to schools. Their main usage was to teach very basic programming and typing. In the late 1980’s, college students were starting to see the need to own a computer for word-processing and gaming. There were some applications for balancing a checkbook and keeping records, but no real Internet usage yet. Apple seemed to be on the cutting edge of college computer owners. Apple made deals with university bookstores that helped to make the Apple computer affordable for college students. Internet usage became more readily available in 1995 and has not stopped since. The Internet seems to have kicked both computer usage and applications into hyper drive. Computers are becoming faster and smaller at the same time. Personal computers are quickly giving way to laptops and even smaller computers such as notebooks and now, to some extent, iPhones. Apple computers and PCs still are fighting for dominance in both the education and business world. At the moment, PCs seem to dominate the business market where Apples have a strong hold on the home/school industries.

So what does the phone and computer have to do with technology in the classroom? Well, the iPhone is much more than just a phone and one technology wrapped into a small device. It combines three devices in one: a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device. All that and more makes it the best phone you’ll ever use. First, being a revolutionary phone. With the Multi-Touch interface on iPhone, you can make a call simply by tapping a name or number in your contacts or favorites list, your call log, or just about anywhere. Visual Voicemail lets you select and listen to messages in whatever order you want – just like email. Next is the widescreen iPod. iPhone shows off your content – music, movies, TV shows, and more – on a beautiful 3.5-inch display. Add to your collection by downloading music and video wirelessly from the iTunes store. Scroll through songs and play lists with the touch of a finger. Even browse your album artwork using Cover Flow. Lastly is the breakthrough Internet. iPhone uses fast 3G and Wi-Fi wireless connections to deliver rich HTML email, Maps with GPS, and Safari – the most advanced web browser on a mobile device. It has Google and Yahoo! search built in. And since iPhone multitasks, you can make a phone call while emailing a photo or surfing the web over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. It opens a whole new world of applications. iPhone comes with some amazing applications. And you can choose from thousands more on the App Store and download them with a tap. Your iPhone gets even better with every new app. Play games. Be more productive. Keep yourself entertained. No matter what you want to do on iPhone, there’s an app for that.

Whether you want to define a word, learn the name of a bone, practice your French, or prep for the SAT, iPhone has the smartest apps around. Here are a number of apps that can be used directly in the classroom or in the comfort of the home.
 * Applications[[image:students_netters20090819.png width="166" height="285" align="right"]] **

__Tools for School__. iPhone has apps to help with every subject. If you’re headed to Chemistry, [|Periodic] gives you a complete, pocketsize reference to the periodic table of elements that you can organize by name, atomic number, chemical series, symbol, or phase. Bring the [|New Oxford American Dictionary] to English class, and you’ll never be at a loss for words. Or download [|Grafly] and impress your math class with amazing 2D and 3D interactive graphs of equations you can view from any angle.

__Get an A in organization__. When homework starts piling up, download apps to help you stay on track. View assignments by day, week, or course with [|iHomework]. Check off assignments once you’ve turned them in, and monitor your progress by typing in your grade. If you need to ask for extra time, you can find your teacher’s contact information here, too. For more detailed homework projects, download [|Assignments] and add a recording to any entry. __A body of knowledge__. The best-selling Netter’s Anatomy textbook is now a lot easier to carry around. With [|Netter’s Anatomy Flash Cards], you have instant access to over 300 annotated images of muscles, bones, vessels, viscera, and joints. Tap to test your knowledge in quiz mode, or pinch to get a closer look. __Punch in numbers__. The Calculator app on iPhone isn’t just one calculator, it’s two. Rotate iPhone and it switches to a scientific calculator that’s easy as π to use.

__Learn in a flash__. With [|Mental Case], you can create flash cards on your Mac and sync them to your iPhone, or choose from over 16 million flash cards to download from FlashcardExchange.com. Then study on the go with a full-screen slideshow. __Be well-read__. Put an entire library in your pocket. Download [|Shakespeare] and keep the complete works of history’s greatest playwright with you always. Or explore bookshelves full of timeless [|Classics] from Treasure Island to Paradise Lost. Flick up and down to view your collection, or tap to turn the page.

__Record a lecture__. If you missed something the first time, you won’t miss it a second time when you record class lectures with Voice Memo. Play them back as a study guide, then share with classmates via MMS or email. __Parlez-vous franҫais__? Turn iPhone into your own personal language lab. [|French 101] is an entertaining way to learn the language or brush up on your skills. Play games, study flash cards, and take fun quizzes to improve your vocabulary. Then repeat after a native speaker to learn the correct pronunciation. Want to be trilingual? Add [|Spanish 101], tambien.

__Ace the entrance exam__. Download a few apps to help you get into your dream school. Raise your SAT score with [|411 Prep: SAT Math] and [|Kaplan SAT Flashcubes]. Improve your vocabulary with [|AA+ English Vocabulary Study Cards]. Graduate school hopefuls: Download [|Kaplan GRE Exam]. If you’re looking forward to law school, try [|LSAT Express]. And if your sights are set on a great business school, get busy with [|GMAT Express].

__Fit in a cram session__. Figure out what you just read with [|CliffsNotes To Go]. These trustworthy notes are filled with comprehensive reviews for many of literature’s greatest works. Review plot summaries and character analyses, then test your progress with multiple-choice quizzes. If you find yourself running short on time, study on the go with audio CramCasts, or take advantage of the Cram Plan to help boost your study sessions. Personally, I think every new teacher should consider investing in an iPhone. Aside from the fact that it is possibly something we can write off, it also has the features of many things that new teachers need in the classroom. The applications that are included can easily be implemented on a regular basis in the classroom, and thousands more are available either free or less than a few dollars. Every teacher needs a digital camera, a way to make videos, and a way to record pod casts. The iPhone has them all. When a student asks a question you don’t know the answer to, a quick Google search with instant Internet access will help you out. Not to mention access to videos on sites such as youtube.com or other blocked, yet still appropriate Internet sites. The cool thing is that if you link your iPhone to your laptop, the Internet capabilities will apply to them as well! Instead of investing in a CD player, the new teacher can invest in a cheap iPod music dock and download all her music to her iPhone. I could see using the GPS application for teaching students about maps and calculating routes and distances. There is even the capability to cut, copy and paste. The tech savvy teacher with a wiki or blog can use this function to update her site. Although there is not word application, yet, this is probably because there is no external keyboard that is standard… yet. There is the scientific notation graphing calculator as well as a dictionary and many, many other features. There is a large number of standard apps that come preloaded on the iPhone, and currently over 150,000 others available.

The ethics behind this technology would be the same for being in a computer lab or Internet access in the classroom, and in the case of the iPhone, cell phone use. Students will be tempted to surf the net, explore Facebook as well as text each other, and communicate when they are not supposed to. Students could also be tempted to cheat and plagiarize much in the same way the use of Internet and laptops would. However, I believe it also creates an opportunity to guide the students in the proper usage of the technology, involving when and where to use it. Students could be lead to a contract or code of honor to follow where they promise not to surf while in class or promise not to distract others. I am not so naive to think that some still will not, but what a great opportunity to allow those who do not to lead the others who might be tempted. A completely new social norm could be created. I would prefer to go in with the bar held extremely high and give the students and opportunity to step up. I think perhaps naively, that if we introduce what we expect, why we expect it, and implement a code of conduct that is modeled by the teachers, students will understand and conform.
 * Ethics **

On the other hand, since students will not have access to keyboards, students will continue to have to physically write their in-class reports. This could be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. For the students, it would be a bad thing since they would then need to retype anything they had written during class in order to submit it to the teacher. I think the teacher could adapt the class so this would not occur using class time to practice other skills or write papers to be turned in immediately. On the good side, the teachers would be able to give the students extra practice writing by hand, in effect preparing them for the high learning tests such as AP English and History. Again, with the right teacher, this could be considered a good thing. I think the lack of keyboard could present a problem and interfaces into how the technology will change in the future a few paragraphs down.

When talking about ethics, one must also consider what would happen if these devices were lost, stolen or broken. What would be the consequence? And what if a student “borrowed” another student’s iPhone only to compromise their entries onto a wiki page. There is also the possibility that it may be used for inappropriate things on sites such as YouTube and Facebook. Again, I think a strict code of conduct may help reduce these negative effects, but parents still will need to be made aware of the possibilities. The school would need to be very clear from the beginning of such a program what the expectations are. Teachers as well as parents and students all need to be educated on the iPhone uses and proper usages inside and outside of the classroom. A combined effort can make a program like this effective. Of course, there is always the possibility of leaving them locked up in the classroom every night, coming out only for classroom use, but that seems like a waste of potential.

media type="youtube" key="hYFIvNOrQ5A" height="344" width="425" align="center" I know that a program like this often comes down to money and the willingness of teachers and administrators to adapt, but I really believe Apple has the right idea on where technology is headed, especially in education. With the latest release of the iPad, it’s revolutionizing all other devices out there. The future has just arrived!! All of the built-in apps on iPad were designed from the ground up to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen and advanced capabilities of iPad. And they work in any orientation. So you can do things with these apps that you can’t do on any other device. The difference is the only thing people will have to carry around anymore will be this little cell phone. The contents of their computers, the web capabilities and the instant access to information anywhere will always be at their fingertips. The iPhone will be their personal assistant. Now all of these possibilities are at a fraction of the price of some laptops. With iPhone, Apple combined innovative hardware features with the world's most advanced mobile operating system to redefine what a mobile phone can do. Applications work together seamlessly and they sync with your computer - whether you're on a Mac or a PC. From its revolutionary Multi-Touch display to its intelligent keyboard to its smart sensors, iPhone is years ahead of any other mobile phone.
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