Technology capacity aside – imagine educational settings where answering to calls, messaging and browsing become as commonplace as lifting a pencil….provided you can find one. An architectural setting without walls and with little timetabling, where learners digest and generate digital data seamlessly.

I’m building things in a million places at once but this seems to be the most popular – http://del.icio.us/mlearning

Great post – 1 per child ? why not five ?

*****

“…phones with extra features”? We’re not talking about the $50 rebate flip phone you’ve just upgraded to or the pink Moto your kiddo is craving for the holidays. We’re not talking about “talking” being the ultimate point. And we’re not suggesting that all school is about is “communication”, although it might be a better premise than worksheets in the coming decades. We’re talking about an entire industry — an entire culture — shifting from “phone” to “computing agent” (with phone capabilities, if you like, or Skype if you prefer). Walk into your local Cingular store. Read the marketing language. Phone is often the “extra feature”. And marketing gimmicks aside — “Go places, Google things” (Cingular billboard on I-35 from Dallas to Austin) — the digital horsepower and storage and connectivity embedded in the rising generation of handheld (phone) computers is something we MUST begin to consider when we write both curriculum and district/student handbooks.

Had the commentor written “as of today, phones are not computers, but I can see that being very different in a year or three,” I’d have smiled and nodded my head. But there seems to be a very limited view of what Will was talking about in terms of re-thinking what we mean by the cell phone. The phone is just the gateway. Just a tool. But man, that tool is evolving fast, while our schools continue to build moats and raised drawbridges and defensive ramparts to keep that “phone” from entering our sacred halls. Even if it turns out to not be a phone afterall.

Will, you said it best: “And the important piece to this is that it’s about culture, not about technology. It’s being mobile, being fast, being connected.” Sadly, it is this “being fast, being connected” part that may be even more off-putting to schools than the acceptance of phonesascomputers in the future. But I hope not.

This is the startup company that is engaged in testing games for a wide variety of cellphones. I don’t mean this as a commercial plug. A quick view shows that interactive gaming is already moving into cell phone territory. Educational uses? Probably coming soon to a creative startup company near you….

Good post, Will.
http://www.digitalchocolate.com/about/

*****

Here is a nippet:

“…phones with extra features”? We’re not talking about the $50 rebate flip phone you’ve just upgraded to or the pink Moto your kiddo is craving for the holidays. We’re not talking about “talking” being the ultimate point. And we’re not suggesting that all school is about is “communication”, although it might be a better premise than worksheets in the coming decades. We’re talking about an entire industry — an entire culture — shifting from “phone” to “computing agent” (with phone capabilities, if you like, or Skype if you prefer). Walk into your local Cingular store. Read the marketing language. Phone is often the “extra feature”. And marketing gimmicks aside — “Go places, Google things” (Cingular billboard on I-35 from Dallas to Austin) — the digital horsepower and storage and connectivity embedded in the rising generation of handheld (phone) computers is something we MUST begin to consider when we write both curriculum and district/student handbooks.

Had the commentor written “as of today, phones are not computers, but I can see that being very different in a year or three,” I’d have smiled and nodded my head. But there seems to be a very limited view of what Will was talking about in terms of re-thinking what we mean by the cell phone. The phone is just the gateway. Just a tool. But man, that tool is evolving fast, while our schools continue to build moats and raised drawbridges and defensive ramparts to keep that “phone” from entering our sacred halls. Even if it turns out to not be a phone afterall.

Will, you said it best: “And the important piece to this is that it’s about culture, not about technology. It’s being mobile, being fast, being connected.” Sadly, it is this “being fast, being connected” part that may be even more off-putting to schools than the acceptance of phonesascomputers in the future. But I hope not.

*****

Again, I truly appreciate you elevating the cellphone conversation, Will. A small step forward, but vital! And as Graham said in a comment above, the cellphone may not YET be a computer, but soon that will be a moot point. Hopefully our handbooks and pedagogical instincts will be ready when the shift is ever-present.

Cheers,
Christian
http://thinklab.typepad.com