There's an App for that

Currently most all of our students hold in their hands a device that has more computing power than we the US used to send a man to the moon in 1969.  This is not that that our students are blessed with untold wealth and technology, but that smartphones are so prevalent.  Presently over 33% of the world own a smartphone and it accounts for over 50% of main access to the internet.

The United States, like the rest of the world, has gone mobile. Over 51% of digital media is accessed via a mobile device and the average smartphone owner in the US spends 87 hours per month viewing their mobile device.  Mobile devices are the primary means of internet access for Black and Hispanic populations as well as for most lower-income families.  After 5pm, mobile technology, including tablets such as the iPad, is the most common means for individuals to access the internet.

Given this information it seems odd that most colleges not only lag behind the adoption of this technology, but actively adopt policies that discourage their use.  Phones are thought of as distractions instead of tools.  However, each smartphone is effectively a Swiss-army everything tool that gives the user flexibility like no other educational tool in the past. Most phones today standardly offer students:

• Camera
• Sound recorder
• Video camera and editing
• GPS device
• PDA
• Scanner
• Compass

They also offer the means to distribute digital files to the internet.  This means that they can otherwise capture or collect information from almost anywhere and share it with their class through a LMS or social media site.

The question is not, “Can they do this?”

The question is, “How can we use this ability for effective pedagogical purposes?”