During the Mobile lab I tried several different tools. I also read a lot about the use of cell phones in the classroom.
While I see the point many people are making about embracing the technology students are already using I don't feel it applies to my class as much as the older grades. Many of the articles focus their data on 12-17 year olds. I teach 8-9 year olds. Many of my students do not have cell phones so this type of mobile learning would not be best.
I learned about Ipad apps, in the Ipad lab, and found several Apps that we I can use in the classroom, which seem more relevant to the third grade curriculum than the apps we currently have. The Startracker App will support our Space Unit nicely. My class just went to the planetarium and now t with this App they can take a longer and more personalized look at constellations. The Deluxe Moon Review is another great App that I found on the Ipad Lab, which supports our Space Unit well. Students will enjoy the strong graphics and individualized look at the moon. Another App I found on the lab is the Addimania App will be great for math practice. It is very similar to a game we already play using playing cards and mini whiteboards.
I feel that mobile learning is definitely something to embrace in some form depending on the age group you are teaching. There is much to support the use of mobile tools in the classroom. It's just finding the right ones for your situation that is a challenge. We currently use a laptop cart on an almost daily basis. Students use the laptops for everything from word processing, to watching videos, to communicating with the teacher and their peers through blogs and email. It would be great if we could have a set of flip cams in the classroom to use for podcasting and video diaries for our inquiry units. I would really like to see my class learn to podcast as another means to show their understanding of various topics.
I am a member of Web 2.0 already and find the many of the discussions to be spot on for my classroom. I am looking at the one on Smartboard use in the classroom. I find I use the Smartboard as a white board too often and not often enough as an interactive student tool. This discussion has some good points and ideas for using the Smartboard more effectively.
I also created a Poll Everywhere for my class and sent it to them via a link because they do not have mobile devices for answering the poll. Since I am away from the classroom I am awaiting results of the poll. The poll I created relates to our upcoming unit of inquiry on Culture.