Bring Your Own Cell Phone:
Collaborative activities for the classroom
Lin Muilenburg, Ph.D.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Cell Phones + One Computer
With one classroom computer to share
results, there are endless collaborative
activities you can develop using:
Text
 PIX
 FLIX
 Phlogs

Group Mail
 Phone
Conferences
 And more!

Texting
… using short message service (SMS) is
a great way to engage learners!
Cell Phones for Research
Half of the room try…
Googl SMS = text to 46645. Get a text reply to
proper search queries:
Weather 02045 (4 seconds)
Web mitosis (6 seconds)
ChaCha = text to 242242. Text a question. Get
a text reply. Voice your question to 1-800-2chacha and get a text reply!
Cell Phones as SRS (“clickers”)
POLL #1 1/3 of the room
Start a text message
Answer this poll
Note: Poll Everywhere free account allows 30
responses per poll, but unlimited # of polls.
Take out your cell phone…
POLL #2 – 1/3 the room
 SMS to this number: 221541
 Type code then answer question: 37607
Name one advantage of using cell phones for
education in the K12 classroom.
POLL #3 – 1/3 the room
 SMS to this number: 221546
 Type code then answer question: 37607
Name one disadvantage of using cell phones for
education in the K12 classroom.
Group Mail & Chats
… send a mass message to a group
And/or conduct synchronous discussions
Tools for Group Mail and Chats
 Send GM -- Subscribers choose to receive
SMS, email, or voice recording. Have to sign
up. Only "senders" can send messages. 30
people on free account.
 Today's meet — http://today.io/2055
Online chat room. Unfortunately Twitter feed
for participation by mobile is glitchy.
Tools for Group Mail and Chats
 Celly (23559) — http://cel.ly/c/mLearning
To register by cell phone text @mLearning to
23559. Post at website or by SMS to 23559 (or
simply reply to a Celly SMS).
 Posterous — post by web or pre-registered email:
http://mobilelearn.posterous.com or
mobilelearn@posterous.com
Note that SMS works if you register mobile number
as an email address: 4104744323@sms.att.net
Send Email to a Mobile Number
 AT&T: number@txt.att.net
 Qwest: number@qwestmp.com
 Nextel:
number@messaging.nextel.com
 T-Mobile: number@tmomail.net
 Alltel:
number@message.alltel.com
 Verizon: number@vtext.com
 Metro PCS:
number@mymetropcs.com
 Sprint: number@pm.sprint.com
 Virgin Mobile:
number@vmobl.com
 U.S. Cellular:
number@email.uscc.net
 Powertel: number@ptel.com
 Suncom:
number@tms.suncom.com
You can send an SMS to an email address.
PIX
… sending pictures via
multimedia message service (MMS)
PIX! Take out your cell phones
Choose a photo you already have or take a
picture of a neighbor (with permission).
Send photo via MMS or email to:
lymuilenburg.mlearning@blogger.com
Text a short caption in the subject line such
as “my dog Fluffy” or “Mary texting”
SEND your PIX
See the results at:
http://mlearningmorethantalk.blogspot.com/
Phone Conferencing
… record conferences for later analysis;
post audio files to your blog or website
Cell Phone Conferencing
 Use a conference hosting website such as
www.AlwaysFreeConferencing.com or
www.FreeConferencePro.com
 Set up an account in advance
 Provide users with the phone number, written
directions, and time to call in
 Provide specific discussion guidelines
 Run a practice session to get the sillies out
Cell Phone Conferencing
 If you plan to use your recordings in class, be sure to
allow time for the files to become available on the
website
 Sample Discussion Question: “Are you for or against the
use of cell phones for education in the K12 classroom
and WHY?”
 www.AlwaysFreeConferencing.com
 When you set up your account they email these
directions
FLIX
… sending videos via
multimedia message service (MMS)
Take out your cell phones
Shoot a 2 second video of a neighbor saying:
“My name is ______ and I’m from _____.”
Send the video via MMS or email to:
moral45should@photos.flickr.com
We can see the uploaded videos at my Flickr
account
Note: Video editing/mixing can be done online
with free Web 2.0 tools.
Phonecasts and Phlogs
… stream live to the web or make recordings from your cell
phone and post to your blog
Using iPadio to record
 Set up an account at www.ipadio.com
 Call the ipadio phone number 1-866-488-3946
 Enter your pin when prompted then speak
 You are streaming live to the internet
 You can play the recording from the website, download
the MP3, or embed it in your blog
 Geotag your recordings on Google Maps
See the results at:
http://mlearningmorethantalk.blogspot.com/2010/02/phlogging-with-ipadio.html
QR Codes
… a 2-dimensional barcode
(mostly) for Smart Phones
Create your own QR Code
 Using the QR Code generator such as RedLaser or Kaywa
you can create your own QR codes
http://www.redlaser.com
http://qrcode.kaywa.com
 Differentiate with colored QR Codes using
http://www.qrstuff.com
 QR Codes can containthese (and more):
-URL
-telephone number
-Contact info (Vcard)
-SMS message
-Event (Vcalendar)
-Social Media
-Email message
-Google Maps location
Final check on our
PIX and FLIX uploads
Call for Chapters:
The Handbook of Mobile Learning
Zane Berge & Lin Muilenburg, Editors
Questions?