Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

There has been much talk about how effective mobile devices are in a classroom setting. Since the start of 2009, industry experts have been spreading the word that smartphones should play a role in the classroom. From developing mobile educational software to testing its usage in the classroom, here is how this trend is received around the world.

• The Mobile Learning Environment is an educational tool used to turn smartphones into personal computers. Currently implemented in two Texas classrooms, it includes programs that let students map concepts, animate their drawings, surf relevant parts of the Internet and integrate their lessons and assignments. It also includes mini versions of Microsoft Word and Excel.

• Digital Millennial conducted a study of four North Carolina schools in low-income neighborhoods, where 9th and 10th-grade math students were given smartphones by HTC. The devices operated Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software and special programs to help students with algebra studies. The students used the phones to record, share, and discuss their work, including posting videos on a private networking site. The study found that students with smartphones performed 25 percent better on the final algebra exam at the end of the school year, than did students without the smartphones in similar classes.

• The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina created The Birds and the Bees Text Line, a center that sends instant text messages to sex-related questions posed by teenagers. As epidemiologists claim sex education in the classroom is often ineffective, the program was created as a solution to provide teens with advice from a faceless, non-judgmental expert.

• Beginning March 2009, the government of Tajikistan banned the use of mobile phones in all educational facilities in the country, including schools and universities, to both students and teachers. Perhaps this was a response to the overwhelming impact of protesters who used Twitter to share with the world and speak out against the happenings on war in Iran.

• As we mentioned previously, Purdue students are experimenting with a social "backchannel" platform, called Hotseat, that integrates Twitter, Facebook, and SMS text messaging to make comments in real-time during class. It's being pilot tested in two courses. Professor Sugato Chakravarty, whose personal finance course is one of the pilot tests, said, “I’m seeing students interact more with the course and ask relevant questions.”Implementing smartphones in classrooms is the next step in tomorrow's technology.

Smartphones have already become our dominant communication device. Decades ago educators were skeptical at how the PC would play a role in education. This generation of millenials' conversations will accelerate faster than ever. It is up to instructors and educators to navigate these budding conversations to mature levels of thinking and questioning, as higher education aims to do.

Janice Momoko Chow is a freelance strategist and writer in New York City.  She writes Momoko Mashups, a blog about ideas and inspiration for tomorrow.