Picture on the Fly Challenge! RESULTS

Challenge Question:
Send pic representing "Progress?" or "Progress!" to able24system@photos.flickr.com By 04/30/09

Picture on the Fly Challenge!

Recently I posted about the Film on the Fly video challenge. It works by logging into the Film on the Fly homepage and signing up with your mobile phone number. On a designated day you receive a text message with an "assignment" to film on your cell phone. I love this idea! What a great way to engage students in "real time" learning. It can extend concepts and ideas in school-based learning to the real world outside of the classroom. The only problem with this challenge is that some students cannot use video recording on their cell phone. Therefore I am going to start a Picture on the Fly challenge. On April 28th I will send out a text message with a topic for a picture. Then you can take the picture with your cell phone and text it to the address given in the message. The photos will automatically show up in a slideshow on my blog and we will vote for the best representation of the topic! I am using Textmarks to send the text messages and Flickr mobile to house the pictures. Anyone is welcome to participate!

To SIGN UP for our challenge
Send a New Text Message to:
41411
In Message Type: picfly

Business & Economics Classes Can Go Mobile with Projects

Increasingly the business world has been including mobile marketing campaigns. For example, Little Caesars Pizza just ran a mobile marketing campaign where they asked people to text "Crazy" to 269411. H&M clothing stores are running a mobile marketing campaign that include slide shows of the latest clothing styles (link to the .mobi Swedish campaign site). This mobile campaign has a global reach, H&M's campaign spans 27 different countries! Another example is the fast food chain Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box has launched a mobile coupon option for it's customers. Jack in the Box smartly sends their coupons out at specific times a day to hit the lunch and dinner crowds.

How are companies delivering their coupons? One option is by using web resources such as Mobile Posse. Mobile Posse allows any mobile user to sign up for free coupons (while asking advertising to pay a small fee to allow Mobile Posse to distribute coupons at specific times on specific dates to their consumers who have signed up for free). When consumers receive their coupons on their cell phones they are given a special promotion code which they can use when they purchase the product.

How can Educators Simulate these Mobile Marketing Campaigns with their Students?
Economics, Social Studies, and Business Courses
Often students in economics or business classes are asked to simulate business campaigns; marketing, selling, and purchasing. Since mobile campaigns are part of the 21st century business world, it would be beneficial for students to develop their own mobile marketing campaigns. Below are a couple ways that secondary students could develop a mobile campaign...

1) Students can team up with local businesses and create mobile campaigns for them. Since most businesses do not currently have mobile marketing, this is a niche that the local middle or high schools could fill (for free!).

2) Students could create mobile campaigns for the school's activities. Such as marketing the pancake supper fundraiser for the volleyball team or marketing the Spring musical.

3) Students could develop their own product to sell and create a mobile campaign around their product.

4) Students could develop an activism campaign for a local non-profit organization.


What Tools Could They Use to Send Out the Mobile Marketing?
While most schools probably cannot afford to sign up with Mobile Posse to send out advertisements and marketing coupons, they could use other free web tools that couple with cell phones. Here are a couple ideas...
1) TxtBlaster
People can subscribe to the student's campaign with a simple SMS text message (and a Keyword). They will receive coupons and marketing information automatically when studnets send it from their TxtBlaster account. No pictures, but simple text messaging campaign.
2) TextMarks
People can subscribe to the student's campaign with a simple SMS text message (and a Keyword). They will receive coupons and marketing information automatically when studnets send it from their TextMarks account. No pictures, but simple text messaging campaign.
3) EveryWhereIGo
Students can create an entire mobile webiste devoted to the product. Automated text message coupons to customers.
4) Mofuse
Students can create an entire mobile webiste devoted to the product. In addition, MoFuse allows for tracking of hits to the site as well as easy additions (such as coupons of the week!). Also has QRcodes for each mobile website so customers can take a picture of the QRcode to get to the site (and use QRcodes as coupons).
5) Snappr
Students can use Snappr to create QRcodes as coupons or advertisements for the product/business.
6) Podlinez
Students can set up a unique phone number where people can call in and learn about a product, participate in a marketing sweepstakes, or even get a code for a coupon.

Mobile Phone Video Challenge...Film on the Fly

Yesterday I ran across a twitter post by Hall Davidson about a very interesting mobile phone video challenge sponsored by a local PBS station in California called Film on the Fly. On February 7th, 2009 the contest will send out a text message challenge (story) to anyone who signs up and ask them to create a mobile video of the topic in 20 hours or less! I myself cannot wait to participate and SEE the results! Of course this contest has me thinking about how classroom teachers could do this with their own students.

Since many students do not have camcorders in their cell phones, they could give a video or still photo option for the challenge. For example I could see a social studies teacher texting out part of a famous speech (such as "I have a dream") and asking their students to take pictures/video of things in the community that represent the major arguments or points in the speech. Students could take pictures of children of all races/creeds playing together to represent the "dream fulfilled" and at the same time could take pictures of signs that say "restricted" to represent the "unfulfilled dream".

The free resources that teachers could use to make this happen would include...
Storage Sites for the Media
drop.io to store all the media students collect. Since drop.io is password protected and can take all types of media it is perfect for this type of assignment.

Text Message Blast to Students
Sites such as txtBlaster, Textmarks, or Sendible would be great for creating an easy text message "blast" out to cell phones of the assignment.

Audio Blast to Students
If the teacher was worried about using text messaging because of potential charges on student's phones (although many do have unlimited text messaging now), they could use an audio blast with resources such as Dial2do or AbbyMe.

TXTBlaster...Create Keywords for Groups and Monitor Activity

Imagine being able to send text messages back and forth between yourself and your students, or yourself and your student's parents, or yourself and members of a committee. Imagine being able to have groups of students using text messages to communicate back and forth to each other about a class project and have it documented in one easy location for the teacher to monitor the group activity. Imagine students creating their own text messaging campaign, where they are the experts on a topic, and they can invite others to join in on their discussion through text messaging. All of this is possible with a resource called txtBlaster.

TxtBlaster is similar to Textmarks, it is a free, web-based resource that allows anyone to create a private or public group. Each group gets to create their own text messaging keyword, which they can give out to others to invite them to join the group. For example I just created a sample group with the texting keyword "kolb".
Therefore if you want to try it out...
Send a new text message from your cell phone
Send To: 25278
In Message: kolb

You should get a response from me and an option to join the group.

What I like about txtBlaster for education:
1) Private group options
2) No ads
3) Tracking of followers and group members
4) Sub-group options (so the teacher can create small subgroups of all her/his students when they are going group projects and monitor their texting activity from one account).
5) Lots of management options for control of the group
6) Database of all messages sent
7) Options for followers to send replies to group messages

Classroom Integration Ideas:
Texting brainstorming
Using the option to reply to the group or subgroups, students can brainstorm project ideas or homework readings outside of the classroom.

Texting Help Desk or Reference Line
Teachers can set up a text messaging help desk that could be run by former students who have already been successful with the curriculum. Media specialists could also run a reference desk through text messaging (similar to Southeastern Louisiana State Univ).

Text a Novel or Textbook
Since the text messages are collected in order of when they were sent, students could summarize a novel, write their own short novel, or collaborate on a textbook through text messaging with this tool.

Radio Show #5: Taking Advantage of Text Messaging on Student Cell Phones

Thank you to all who listened to the broadcast. The next broadcast will be Wed Dec. 3rd at 3:00. The topic (as per PeggyG's great suggestion) will be: What can we do with one cell phone per classroom?



Here is the transcript of the Chat:
Liz Kolb:Welcome! We will begin shortly.
Liz Kolb:Our topic today is taking advantage of text messaging on student cell phones for classroom learning.
Peggy_G:Hi Liz. Always excited to hear your show! So glad it's 30 mins now. :-)
Peggy_G:Kim-great to see you!
kcaise:hi Peggy!
Peggy_G:unlimited text messaging is a wonderful thing! essential for teens!
Liz Kolb:hi everyone
Liz Kolb:http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/34313179.html
Peggy_G:I learned that the hard way! You definitely need a partner to help monitor chat. :-)
kcaise:definitely - same here
Peggy_G:oops-clicked on the link and lost my chat window. :-(
Liz Kolb:http://www.ask500people.com/questions/should-high-schools-offer-courses-via-cell-phone
Peggy_G:what incredible examples of texting to meet real-life needs!
Peggy_G:such a good point about using textmessaging with hearing impaired students! Inclusion at it's best!
kcaise:just the ask500
Peggy_G:yes some links-not the last couple
Liz Kolb:Textmarks.com
Peggy_G:great! we can find them on your blog later :-)
Liz Kolb:ohdontforget.com
Liz Kolb:sendible.com
Liz Kolb:lastspotted.com
Liz Kolb:http://flagr.com
Liz Kolb:http://gpsed.com/
Liz Kolb:Textmarks.com
Peggy_G:mobile text messaging campaigns for businesses-great idea!
Peggy_G:students can become the experts-perfect angle for this site
Liz Kolb:http://www.zoozmobile.com/control/index.html
Liz Kolb:Phonezoo.com
Peggy_G:these suggestions are so valuable for districts facing the financial crunch of purchasing things like response systems (everyone is facing financial crunches)
kcaise:thanks everyone
kcaise:Thanks Liz
Peggy_G:Wonderful show (again!) Where should we share ideas for future shows?
Liz Kolb:Thanks everyone for joining...any suggestions for future topics?
Liz Kolb:@Peggy Here or on my blog
Peggy_G:ok-I'd love to hear more ideas about how to use cell phones in centers when you're just getting started with 1 cell phone-teacher's phone
Liz Kolb:Good suggestions...that will be my topic after Thanksgiving. I get that question a lot.
Peggy_G:anything that takes what teachers are already doing and shows how they could enhance it with cell phones outside of school :-)

Text Message Motivation for Teens at Boost Up

I recently came across a site called Boostup. The purpose of the site is to help motivate teens to graduate high school who are struggling because of various adversities. It is set up so anyone can send a boost to one of the teens through a variety of digital resources, one option being a text message. I think this is a good example of a positive use of student's digital "toys" in order to help others. Boostup turns the cell phone into a service device, a way to reach out and help others. Schools could set up "help lines" and "mentorship" programs via text messaging with the aid of resources such as Wiffiti (private interactive text messaging board that could be monitored) or Textmarks (create keywords for students and their mentors for private conversations or public displays of motivation and good wishes).

Text messaging could also be set up by teachers/schools as a way to reinforce positive behavior. For example when a student wins awards, solves a difficult problem, or just have a good day in school, the teacher could send out a text message highlighting the child's accomplishment to family, friends, and even commnity members on an approved list. In turn those who receive the text message could send a congratulatory message to the student---creating a positive reinforcment/boost campaign. This might be just what some struggling students need!

Marching Band, Vocal Music, Choral Groups...Create a Mobile Music Campaign!

Using the resource Mozes, anyone can create a free (for 180 days) mobile campaign. Mozes is similar to TextMarks. The real power of Mozes is that it targets musical groups. This resource has the potential to be a fantastic tool for school instrumental and vocal musical groups to publish and promote their original songs and musical pieces. Here is how...once teachers create an account with Mozes, they create a mobile "keyword" such as "huronband" or "choralsongs". The keyword is what anyone can type into their mobile phone and send to the standard Mozes number (66937). They will then receive a message from the musical group and will have the option to subscribe to new information about the group. For example the high school "show singers" could send out mass text messages updating their event schedule, or advertising a new DVD that they are trying to sell. Also, in the mobile message, the musical group can include a ringtone, video, or image (great for advertising the group's latest song or DVD cover). The teacher can exclusively hold the password to the account, so they could approve all mobile messages sent out. In addition, Mozes allows the teacher (and students) to keep track of the number of subscribers. The teacher can "moderate" subscribers, so they can select to accept or deny them access to the mobile campaign (again, this gives the teacher some control over who is getting the information). Subscribers can comment on the messages/media sent to them, which allows feedback for the students. But the nice thing is that the teacher can moderate comments before they show up on the class Mozes website. Finally, my favorite part of Mozes is that you can create unique and easy text message polls, quizzes, or messages w/individual replies for all subscribes.

Pros:
1) Lots of teacher moderation and privacy controls
2) You can send all types of media to subscribers
3) Easy to Subscribe and easy tracking of subscribers
4) Parents/community members can save the media and share with friends to "show off" their children's latest project!
5) Mobile web address
6) Mozes couples with Google video
7) You can have multiple key words (one for each class period, or one for each musical group)
8) Mozes lets you send out text message polls, surveys, quizzes, trivia facts to all subscribers!
9) Mozes allows for mass messages with unique and individual replies (such as asking if people would like tickets to a school event and how many they would like---thus virtual ticket sales).

Cons:
1) It is only free for 180 days...then it is a small fee to use the service :(
2) Text messaging charges may apply for some.

Classroom Application:
Vocal and Instrumental music
As I mention, I think the strongest application for this particular resource is through the school's music department. I know (and have worked with) many school musical groups enjoy publishing a CD of their latest songs and original work. Mozes, would be a great way to send ring tones of songs to parents and community members (which they can share with relatives and friends directly from their cell phones). It is also a nice way to send information about benefits, fund raisers, and upcoming events. Using the poll feature, after an event, students could gather feedback about the event itself.

Virtual Art Gallery
Since all different types of media can be sent to subscribers, the art department at schools may also find this service useful. They could set up a virtual art gallery, where parents, community members, and art connoisseurs can subscribe to their children's art class, and enjoy updates of the latest work. They could also include information on upcoming art displays throughout the community.

School Musical or other Events
The upcoming school musical could easily be promoted and tickets could be sold using Mozes. A short promotional video, ringtone, or musical poster could be sent out to subscribers at Mozes, giving them information on purchasing tickets. Subscribers, could then text back their ticket purchase requests, then the student (or teacher) in charge of the Mozes account could actually send them a virtual ticket (via cell) with the ticket number and seating information! I think this could easily be done with other events such as concerts, plays, and benefits.

Before and After school Pop Quizzes! ...The fun kind
Using the easy poll/survey feature of Mozes, the teacher could create a Mozes account to send out "pop quizzes" to their students anytime! It could be a fun extra credit activity to see how current students are on class information (first one to text the correct answer back wins...), to test them on how quickly they can find information for the upcoming unit, or to get them to search for knowledge in their everyday lives (such as a local historical landmark).

Trivia Share
Using the trivia feature of Mozes, different students could be assigned to send out interesting trivia facts or data about the current or upcoming unit (maybe an extension of the information they are learning in class). They could also use the trivia feature to study for their upcoming unit quiz or test.

Information Gathering
Students in a science or social studies class could create a Poll concerning a controversial issue (such as stem cell research or the 2008 election), and send it out to subscribers to collect opinion polling data on the issue.

MTV Generation, Mobile Journalism, and Election 2008

I just read on PicturePhoning that MTV's Choose or Lose campaign to get younger voters involved in politics has started a mobile journalism campaign. MTV has selected 51 student reporters (one for each state) to report on election coverage in their state and send updates to young voters tailed specifically for mobile devices. While MTV's Choose or Lose campaign is not new (it was around when I was in high school and that is almost 20 years ago), but I think it is significant to note that MTV has always been on the "pulse" of how to get youth involved in democratic citizenship and important issues. I think that social studies teachers could take note of this mobile campaign and have their own mobile campaign reporters for local elections such as school board, city council, or mayor. Students could be assigned to follow different candidates and create mobile updates on campaign activities. It would allow them to use their favorite "toy" for an educative purpose and get an insider's view of politics! Students could use free text message alert sites such as Textmarks.

The Youth Activists of the Future: Via Mobile Phone

A recent article in the Financial times, some Albanian youth have been using their mobile phones to gather evidence (photos/video) against the local police who have been corrupt and failing to help with the poverty and crime in Albania. The youth movement called Mjaft! or Enough!, which started in 2003 with 4 students has now grown into a full-fledged civic movement with 30 staffers who are armed with cell phones to communicate and document activity. The staffers can immediately text message their media to the over 50,000 subscribers instantly. I think this is the 21st Century version of CNN/National Geographic Reports, as a way to create an awareness of civil or human rights issues from around the world.

As I was reading the article I also realized that this is something that any student can do. Students in social studies or science classes studying human rights or global science concerns (such as poverty, homelessness, global warming, or other news worthy issues) can create their own "awareness" hot line through text messaging. This would allow students to learn how to be democratic citizens and advocate for a cause that is important to them. In the process they will learn about the science or social science involved in their particular issue. One site in particular that is very helpful to set this up would be Textmarks with their Text Alert option. And the nice thing about Textmarks is that it is Free to sign up and very easy to use. There are also no limits to how many people can sign up for your alerts, thus potentially students could reach people around the entire globe! Talk about a Flat World???!!

Mobile Voting! When?

As the 2008 election primaries and caucus have been occurring, I have been thinking about being able to use cell phones in the voting process. There is often a low turn-out of younger voters in many elections and I was thinking if we were able to vote by mobile phone than it may make a difference in the younger voter turn-out. I recently came across an article from last year about citizens in Pittsburgh being able to register to vote via cell phone. Cell phone voting and voter information is much more common in developing nations such as Kenya, where citizens are able to receive text message reminders on voting issues, where to vote, and when to vote. If I can renew my driver's license via the web in Michigan, than I'm not sure why we are not able to vote via cell phone (or at least a secure site on the Internet), I do think it would bring in more younger voters and allow social studies teachers to better introduce the democratic process to their students as they reach the legal voting age. If anyone knows of a state in the U.S. where mobile voting is allowed or being considered I would love to hear about it.

Mobile citizenship could be applied to teaching and learning. For example, in schools, social studies teachers could use a free site called TextMarks, which allows anyone to set up text alerts for groups. Text alerts would be a great way for students to research a political issue (such as Health Care) and then send out "alerts" to subscribers concerning updates, current bills in the legislative process, or even candidates views on the issue in upcoming elections.