This Mac News World article (Cell Phones make Headway in Education) makes it sound like colleges are giving away free iPhones or other smartphones to incoming freshmen. Off course it's not like they are handing out free iphones. It doesn't mention if there is a "supplies" charge. Even if there is not, college students pay a good chunk of cash on tuition. So there is a cost.
Still it's pretty cool, I guess, that schools are embracing technology and applications from the iPhone to perform certain tasks. As noted, in many ways the iPhone can replace functions of a laptop ( I'm sure Apple had that in mind), and the smart cell phone is a technology the way computers were a new technology in the previous generation.
Cell phones were previously a nuisance in the classroom, with them banned from many schools and classrooms. They were seen as a distraction, a source of leisure and entertainment, not something for learning and productivity. The iPhone and other smart phones provide something new. Educators are realizing that this technology can be something other than a distraction. Cell Phones can be educational tools.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)