Tag Archives: mobile

January 2, 2019 · 7:29 pm

A Year Without a Smartphone

I don’t know if you have heard, but VitaminWater is going to give one person a chance to win a 100,000 dollars if they can go without a smartphone for 365 days.

Yes, I have entered for the chance.

Have you? Could you go a year without your smartphone? I doubt I will be selected. To enter you have to post on social media how your life would be different for the year. As I write this, Instagram says there are 59.3k posts with the VitaminWater’s contest hashtag, #NoPhoneforaYear. So, I doubt my three entries will even be seen.

But it is an interesting question to ponder. Two of my entries were focused on writing more and being more involved as a father and husband. Common ideas from other people. My third entry was based on what I would miss…

Smartphones do enhance our lives. I listen to music. I take pictures all the time. In fact, I was going to do the 365 photo challenge again for 2019, but decided to wait till VitaminWater chose the person for their contest. I would miss the instant communication with my family. Even the quick text to let them know I love them. Yes, I even play games on my phone. I have played Puzzle and Dragons for 1661 days (this is why my oldest son doesn’t think I could make it a year without my phone).

When I told my students about the contest, one student said 100,000 dollars wasn’t enough money to give up their phone.

Now, I could reference all the articles and studies about the power of screens in our lives. This is a cultural debate, but also still a new development in our society. The iPhone is only 11 years old. Think about that… both the positive and negative of what smartphones have done for us.

But again, this post isn’t about that, either.

Would you live a year without a smartphone for 100,000 dollars? I think I can.

Would you live a year without a smartphone for your goals?

I’m trying. I’m not giving up my phone. But I am putting it down to write this blog. I am leaving it on my nightstand more. Yes, I have played Puzzle and Dragons today. I have texted my family. Took a crazy photo at lunch. But I am letting my life dictate my phone use. I’m not letting my phone dictate my life.

Would you live a year without a smartphone for your goals?

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November 6, 2012 · 9:28 am

Announcing App Series

When I was in high school our school purchased a new technology that was going to change how the classroom worked.  We could now pause, rewind, and even jump to certain parts of a film.  I don’t remember which year it actually happened, but we moved from film projectors to VHS and Laser disc players.

In college I had a class that covered how to troubleshoot overhead projectors, VCRs and other technologies we might encounter in the classroom.  The objective was to be able to quickly handle situations so that instruction time was not disrupted.

These technologies didn’t really change anything.  Yes, we loved movie day in English class.  It was interesting to see how they changed the story and we would have discussions about how we “saw” the character versus the actor in the movie. But I would often doodle or write poetry during instructional films in Chemistry. Which might explain why I got D the first quarter, but did end up with a solid B by the end of the year. What changed was simply how we watched film.

Jump forward with me to today.  Using an idea from Malcolm Gladwell, I think we are at a “tipping point” in Education.  Mobile devices are the catalyst for this change.  I don’t think this is going to happen today, or even next year, but I sense the change.  And I think it will take one bold school in this area to start the change reaction.  What education might look like after the tipping point is for another blog.

This blog is to announce that next week I am going to do a five post series on specific apps for mobile devices that personify the fun, creative, and educational aspects of mobile devices. If you want to get started on investigating the apps for yourself, below are the days and apps with links to their sites.

Monday: Pic Collage (and photography in general)

Tuesday: SCVNGR (gamification)

Wednesday: Snapguide and Tagwhat (sharing what you know)

Thursday: Coursebook (creating your own course of learning)

Friday: Aurasma (augmented reality)

Join me next week to learn more. You never know what new ideas might be generated.

 

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