What is a Smartphone?

A PDA stands for personal digital assistant and it was originally used to manage personal information of the user.  These devices have come a long way from what they once were in the early nineties when they were first developed and calculators, the internet, and phones have even been added.  In the more recent years, the Smartphone has been the most recent extension of PDA’s.   A huge part of what has made the Smartphone successful is the applications that can be used on the device.  Applications are used to perform specific tasks on PDA devices.   A classroom is a great place to put these applications to good use for educational purposes. 

How to use Applications and Ideas for the Classroom:

Flashcards+:

On your smart phone, go to the application store and search for “Flashcards +.”  Once you have found it, click on it and tell it to install.  This is a free app, and should only need you to have a user name and password for the app store you happen to be using.  Once the application is downloaded and it is opened up, you have the option to create new decks.  Now instead of wasting hours upon hours creating note cards, this simple app can be used.  In science, when there are a lot of terms that need to be memorized, this app would be a great a great tool.  What is nice about it is that multiple “decks” can be created so that there is not one huge pile with multiple subjects.  Each subject can be sorted on the main screen and easily accessible. 

When to use in the Classroom:

Another great thing about this app is that there is a version for a smart phone and an iPad, so if ones classroom is equipped with a classroom set of iPads, that would be a good version to use.  One example of how this could be used in the elementary school classroom is when learning about different mountain ranges and volcanoes.  On the front of the cards could be the name of the mountain range and on the back could be all of the facts about the mountain including the location, wildlife, and types of rocks.  This will help student put the bigger picture together of where certain wildlife exists in the world and also where different rocks are located.  This app could be a tool used when students have free time and are looking for something to use. 

For information click here.

Poll Everywhere:

To begin, go to polleverywhere.com and register for an account.  Once you are registered, follow these steps:

1. Click “Create new poll”
2. Add the question into the poll
3. Decide whether you want the question to be open ended or multiple choice
1. If the answer is multiple choice, add in the choices for the students. 
2. There is also an option to add photos to the answers if that is needed
3. Once the poll is created, a screen will pop up that shows the users how to cast their vote. 

On the website, it also shows how to grade the student’s response. 

Click here to watch a video introducing the website.

When to use in the classroom:

This is a resource that could always be used in the classroom.  Poll Everywhere could be used to periodically check for understanding while teaching a lesson.  When you have taught a segment to the class and you want to know if they have understood you, then you could have them answer poll questions.  To reduce embarrassment for those who got the question wrong, hide who sent what answer.  Once all students in the class have voted, you will have immediate results of how well the students understood what you wanted them to.  As a teacher, if you notice the students didn’t quite catch on, it gives you the opportunity to go back and review.  While this is a great resource for assessment, it can also be used as a casual poll too.  An example would be if students have earned a free hour for good behavior and you want them to decide as a class what they should do.  You could set up a poll and have the students respond with what they would ideally like to do. 

Google Sky Map:

To obtain this app, search in a selected app store for “Google Sky Map.”  Once it is located, download it and open it up on the phone.  To save time in the classroom, download the app onto the phones before the class needs to use it.  Wait until it is dark outside and take the phones outside and hold them up to the sky.  What’s nice about the app is that there is no need to create an account and once the app is open, the map of the sky shows up.  The map shows everything from stars and constellations to spiral galaxies.  If you click on the screen, options show up to block out certain parts of the sky that you might not want to see.  If you decide that you want your class to learn the locations of only the stars, you have the option to block out every other part. 

When to use in the classroom:

This is a great tool to use when teaching an astronomy lesson and it also allows you to teach the lesson in chunks.  You could begin by going over bright stars and the constellations that they are located within.  Once the student knows the constellations on paper, you could have them go outside and try and use the phone to locate them in the sky.  It would be incredibly hard for the students to find the constellations without help, so this is a great tool to help them.  Depending on how far in depth the lessons will go beyond starts, constellations, and planets will determine how much more of the app will be used. 

Links:

Click below to read an article about how 10 different schools are incorporating smart phones into their classrooms in different ways.

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2011/12/11/10-innovative-schools-allowing-smartphones-in-the-classroom/ 

Click here for a presentation about how cell phones have evolved and different ways to incorporate them into the classroom. 

Click here for another Wiki page with links to great apps to use in the classroom. 

Click here for a Wiki page that provides apps that would help students that are classified as special education. 

Click here (click Wiki home when page opens) for a list of ways to incorporate the iPad into a traditional classroom and how to use it.