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.

PixelPipe: Cross-Post Media to Multiple Places from One Text Message

I enjoy being about to post pictures, videos, and text directly from my cell phone to public and private spaces on the Internet. What I love about this is the fact that students do not have to bring their cell phones into the classroom in order to collect and store data. A few of my favorite places to post cell phone media include Flickr, my Blogger Blog, Photobucket, my gmail, YouTube, Twitter, and Drop.io. While I normally have to send separate messages if I want to post one piece of media or text to all of these sites, using PixelPipe I can now send one message and have it post to many different places on the Internet. PixelPipe allows you to create a free account, where you receive a mobile address. You (the teacher) can give out the mobile address to all your students, while you maintain control of the settings and passwords in the account! Next you can set up your PixelPipe account to post to as many web resources as you would like (including email). It is very easy to set up and get started. Everything sent to PixelPipe is automatically backed-up in the private PixelPipe account (along with times and links to the websites where the media was posted).

While playing with PixelPipe I immediately thought of iReporting and how students could document their local news reporting in multiple places (just as real reporters do). Not only is PixelPipe a great way to report the news, but also a free and easy way to back up data collections in multiple places.

Students Become iReporters at Inauguration!

News organizations are eager for those perfect inauguration pictures and videos! There are many opportunities for students to snap a few pictures (or take some video) and possible get them published through a popular news organization. A great opportunity for students to take advantage of their cell phones and turn them into data collecting tools for journalism!

I just read a great post from Andy Carvin, about the students at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts who are documenting their inaugural experiences via their own cell phones. They have a mobile Flickr account, a YouTube account, a Twitter account and a blog where they are sending their pictures, videos, and text messages about their inaugural experiences. What could be more authentic social studies, data collection, and data analysis than this!!???

Here are a few places that inauguration student goers can send their media and participate as iReporters...

1) CBS News (CBS EyeMobile)
Send to: eye@cbseyemobile.com

2) CNN iReport
Send to: iReport@cnn.com

3) The New York Times
Send to: pix@nyt.com with your full name and the location where the picture was taken

4) PBS Newshour Speak Out Podcast for Student Reactions
Call in: to the Gabcast number and record your reaction to the Inauguration (call Lizzy Berryman, Director of the Teacher Center, at 703.998.2182 to get the Gabcast number and pin).

5) NPR Inauguration Report
Send Videos: Upload your video to your own YouTube account and tag it either inaug09 or dctrip09.
Send Pictures: Using your Flickr account, upload pictures and tag them inaug09 or dctrip09.
Send Text: Send a text message to 66937. Begin the message with the phrase #inaug09 or #dctrip09. You can include a ZIP code or one of the location tags

6) Photobucket Obama Album
Send Videos and Pictures to your Photobucket account. Then post to the collective album here.

Teacher Using Mobile Blogging with Students

Australian Teacher Steve Collis has been mobile blogging with his students for the past year!! His students have been using an international resource called Utterli (used to be Utterz) for their mobile blogging. Utterli works in over 25 different countries. Utterli allows mobile posting of audio, image, text, or video from any basic cell phone. The posts can automatically show up on just about any blog site or in an Utterli account.

Steve has helped to conduct two projects with his students. The first project, grade 11 students creating mobile audio reflections on Wordsworth, where the students would go out "into nature" and reflect on Wordsworth's poetry.


The second project, grade 9 students documented Australians geographical and biological environment. The students went outside and using their cell phones took pictures of plants, animals, or landscape in Australia.


Before the projects began Steve sent home permission forms for the parents to let them know what was happening with the project and cell phones. Steve has also created some tutorials on "how to" do these mobile postings in Utterli on his blog.

Create your own QRcode for ANY subject area

VOTE! If you have a QRcode reader on your cell phon (download one for free here), than take a picture of this code to vote in my poll! If your phone does not support QRcodes, than take apicture of the code and send it to Snappr@Snappr.net.

Snappr is a free resource that allows anyone to easily create their own QRcodes or 2Dcode (Quick Response). In case you are unsure about QRcodes, I wrote an earlier post about what exactly are QRcodes. What I like about Snappr is that it is incredibly easy to create a QRcode for a variety of outcomes. For example you can create a QRcode to connect with an MP3file (great way to promote the school band performances). Or you could create a QRcode for voting (such as the one above). Take a picture of the code, then you will instantly be able to vote via cell phone. The voting results immediately show up in my private Snappr account. Snappr also allows you to create a QRcode for any webpage, social network (for example a QRcode could become a business card with your social networking ID, contacts, email...etc). Another option is to create a QRcode for an image on the Internet (great for art students to display their artwork). Finally business students can create QRcodes for advertisements or coupons (or trade code).

A Few Classroom Integration Ideas
Homework/Syllabus
The teacher could create a QRcode for the weekly homework assignments, for class readings, or the syllabus. It could be a great way to save on paper.

Vocal or Instrumental Music
Music classes could create links to MP3 files of their latest musical pieces. This way parents could instantly load the latest music onto their cell phones.

Resume/CV
Studnets in a business course that are creating resume's and business cards could develop a QRcode for them.

Tickets for Events
Schools could create a QRcode for the tickets at the spring musical, that have automatic seat assignments. That way attendees only have to show their QRcode to get in.

Voting
Students could instantly participate in polls and surveys by taking a picture with their cell phone!

History/Science/English...Reviews
Students could create a QRcode for an image and when people take a picture of it, they will immediately learn all about the significance of the image. For example taking a picture of a famous person or a scientific phenonmenon. Then receiving a message about that person or phenonmen. Great for Review!

Novels
Studnets could write a novel and then associate a QRcode with it, so that anyone could read the novel by taking a picture with their cell phone.


How do I get a QRcode reader on my cell phone?
While Snappr allows you to download the QRcode reader on most cell phones (not all cell phones can read QRcodes). Another great option for anyone who does not want to download an application to their cell phone OR who does not have a cell phone with a QRcode reader is to use the MMS option. You can take a picture of the code on your cell phone and send it to Snappr@Snappr.net. This option really allows for more accessibility with cell phones and reading QRcodes (especially in the U.S.)

Fully Integrated Mobile Blogs are Easy for Teachers with MoFuse!

In the past I have posted about a resource called Feedm8, where you can make anything with an RSS feed into a legible mobile website. Feedm8 does this by giving the site a mobile address. While I do like Feedm8, I have taken another look at a free site called MoFuse. Similar to Feedm8, converts any blog into a website that is viewable on any cell phone with Internet service. My mobile address for this site is http://cellphonesinlearning.mofuse.mobi (feel free to try it out on your phone).

While I do like having the easy mobile web address that is automatically updated as I update my web-based blog, MoFuse also has a wide variety of other options for mobile websites. Here are a few...
1) Analytic
Tracking the number of viewers, subscribers, devices used to access the mobile page. It looks and works just like Google Analytics, but for mobile sites. You can even add chicklets to show your mobile subscribers.

2) QRcodes
MoFuse automatically creates a QRcode for your website.

3) iPhone Capability
MoFuse creates a mobile site that is viewable on iPhones as well as basic phones. All access!

4) Editing
MoFuse allows you to use their web-based editor to create new pages in your site, edit your homepage, add links...all of which will only show up on the mobile site and not your web-based blog site.

5) Business Options
MoFuse has an automatic "re-direct" option (which is something that I pay money to have for my web-based site). This allows anyone who has multiple mobile web addresses to have them all sent to one place.

6) Make Money
While schools are non-profit and not creating mobile websites to make big bucks, MoFuse does allow integration with Google Adsense if teachers/administrators find a viable reason to use it (fund raising anyone??).

7) Site Demographics
You can create keywords to drive mobile web-users to your site.

8) Privacy Options
Your site can be public or private. Great for schools to have these options.

9) Click to Call
I have not seen this option before, but I like it! You can create a link to call any number on your cell phone. For example I can put a link on the mobile page (from the MoFuse editor) that says "Call Me" and when clicked it will automatically dial the number. I see this integrating well with resouces such as Podlinez (where you can get a unique number for anything, and when it is called get more information----homework hotline???).


Classroom Integration Ideas
There are many more options on MoFuse than I have listed so it is worth checking out. I see many different ways that this resource could be integrated into classroom curricula. Here are a few short ideas...
1) Journalism
Publish the school web-based newspaper on mobile phones and track subscribers. Sell Ads.
2) School Activities
Advertise the school musical, sell tickets, and get up-to-date information.
3) Class web pages
Teachers could create the site and then put their students in charge of updating the mobile website. Parents could access information, sign up for classroom volunteering.
4) Business/Econ Classes
Create and advertise a product, track subscribers, hits, and even sell the product.

21st Century Skills: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?

I just saw a very interesting report called Ready to Innovate which was sponsored by the Conference Board. The report asks the question, Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce? The report surveyed both educators and business leaders about what are important 21st Century skills pertaining to "creativity." What is interesting is that in many skill areas educators and the business leaders were in total disagreement. I put each category in a different color so you could see how they were ranked by the two different groups in the study.

School Superintendents are emphasizing

1. Problem Solving
2. Integration of Knowledge Across Different Disciplines
3. Ability to Identify New Patterns of Behavior of New Combination of Actions
4. Originality and Inventiveness in Work
5. Ability to Communicate New Ideas to Others
6. The Ability to Originate New Ideas
7. Tolerance of Ambiguity
8. Ability to Take Risks
9. Problem Identification or Articulation
10. Fundamental Curiosity
11. Comfort with the Notion of No-Right Answer

While Business Leaders are looking for

1. Problem Identification or Articulation
2. Ability to Identify New Patterns of Behavior of New Combination of Actions
3. Integration of Knowledge Across Different Disciplines
4. The Ability to Originate New Ideas
5. Comfort with the Notion of No-Right Answer
6. Fundamental Curiosity
7. Originality and Inventiveness in Work
8. Problem Solving
9. Ability to Take Risks
10. Tolerance of Ambiguity
11. Ability to Communicate New Ideas to Others

I am often fascinated at how much educators ignore their student's future opportunities in the workforce when selecting tools, lesson ideas, and assessments. I am guilty of this myself! I cannot tell you how many ridiculous tests, quizzes, and busy work assignments I gave my students, such as "read the chapter and answer the questions at the end!". I often did this because I was an exhausted teacher who worked very hard, and at times didn't have the energy to align standards to real-world work skills and expectations. The more I have learned about 21st Century Skills, the less I focused on traditional methods of assessment and the more I focused on the skills that my students (or in my case now, my preservice students) will need in the future. Therefore instead of tests, quizzes, and lots of long research papers (although there is a need for all forms of assessment, I am not saying we should not use these, I just found alternatives that work better for my own students) I found alternative options that get them ready for teaching in the 21st Century world. Here are a few examples of assignments that I have my education technology preservice students do...

1) Create and conduct their own webinars and virtual courses, so they know how to teach in a virtual school (more and more of these are popping up in every state and they need good teachers).
2) Write an article for a professional education publication, and submit it for publishing.
3) Learn what tools are important in their students lives and in the future of society. Develop and teach lessons that integrate these tools.
4) Become part of the professional education community through edublogging, online lists and publication, and twitter.

What do you think? Do you think we should expect educators to align teaching with future workforce skill and knowledge expectations? And what about the issue of standardize testing? How could that play a role?

I definitely have more questions than answers...

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.