First off, I just changed over to a smartphone about a month ago, and I LOVE IT. I can’t believe how much can be done with one. Oh, I had a good idea and that’s why I wanted to change over, but I never realized how much I could put into it. I want to incorporate as much of my regular day and school day affairs into my smartphone.
Will it replace my PC, not a chance, because my PC has more of everything that my smartphone. Better graphics, bigger hard drive, more RAM, better sound, and the list goes on. I can do a lot of things with my smartphone, but I see it more as a valuable extension to my PC.
The smartphones have a lot of great features, but it is still limited as far as its processing and storage goes. My smartphone, sorry, ANY smartphone out on the market right now is still more powerful than my first real PC. It was a Magnavox with a 386 processor, 40 megs of hard drive, and 1 meg of ram. Smartphones are a lot bigger than that. With that, smartphones are expected to do a lot more than my old computer. One of the biggest limitations I have found with my smartphone is battery power. As much as it can do, it really eats up the juice. There are apps out the that help you conserve power, but I still find myself plugging it in once or twice a day, but I REALLY use it. Another limitation is being able to type out documents. Sure it can be done, but face it, it’s a lot easier using a full keyboard.
Comparing the smartphone to a net book, I would take the smartphone first. The smartphone has many more uses like having a phone, better portability, and I believe has more applications. There only advantage I can see to a net book is bigger keyboard, bigger view (than a smartphone), and you can plug in a flash drive. My answer to that is Dropbox. I can put whatever I want in Dropbox and transfer it over.
I have found a number of apps to use in the classroom. Here’s the list.
· My Favorite -- Student Clicker
Here are some places to find more:
I have let some of the kids try out some of the apps. 50 States is a basic quiz of the states plus information about each one. Math Attack is more complicated than what you would think. The problems can be set to be harder than your basic math problems. Flashcard Helpers is just what it says. You enter a question, then on the other side you have the answer.
I would really like to try out the Student Clicker. I just don’t have enough kids to try it on. I think it would work just as well as the clickers we have in our classrooms’ now.
My daughter who is in the 8th grade has a smartphone, only because when I went to upgrade my phone they had a buy one get one free special, but it has been a wonderful investment. Last September she had a pulmonary embolism and was diagnosed with a genetic clotting disorder so she has to take blood thinner. We found an app that lets her track her levels and that really helps her understand and feel in control. She also sets an alarm to make sure she takes her meds on time.
ReplyDeleteI also believe as more and more students get smartphones, we will be able to use them in the classroom for clickers as you already mentioned, for communication (text, email, apps like facebook and edumodo) and for attendance (in a small classroom that may not seem very important, but at the collegiate level when you have classes with 90, 160 and 220 that is a tremendous aid). My kids also enjoy the learning tools when we travel or waiting for an appointment. Once you have it and start using it, you just don't know how useful they can be. And I agree, they don't replace the computer but they do make it possible to be more mobile and not tied to a building or office. You can sit outside and read articles on the web or watch a documentary and I have been amazed by the quality of the video on my phone.
Thanks, Ken, for the list of Android Apps You'll Love. I have added it to my list of resources so that when I join the world with a smartphone, I will know what apps to add! Looks like some really useful ones!
ReplyDeleteI want to play the Math attack!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your smart phone experience. I want one but I do not have one yet. I agree that smart phones will not replace computers but work together with them.
ReplyDeleteI too switched over to a smart phone about a month ago. I have decided to go back to my old phone. I would rather have a new tablet.
ReplyDeleteI was just on Jeremy's blog, saw your comment and had to come here after: Angry Bird makes waiting room moments shorter :)
ReplyDeleteOddly I've had that app for almost a year now, mostly the kids would play with it, but now that I've gotten a taste of it, it's quite addicting :)
Ok, all the apps you mentioned are great. I have a math quiz app that my daughter uses and she loves it. She's more enthused about learning her adding, subtracting and multiplication (kind of odd since she's just in 1st grade and I didn't do multiplying until 3rd grade). The youngest one totally loves the portable devices and they're all "mine". She's at the mine stage to begin with :)
I can't go back to a regular phone. I love having the GPS and Google Maps/Places. Esp. when going to London. It beats whipping out a map right after I got off the tube!