Current Events: Anytime, Anywhere Via Cell (No Mobile Internet Required)

There are some great FREE resources online that couple with cell phones to allow people to keep up with current events and happenings. While the lucky ones who have purchased mobile Internet can use their mobile browsers to connect with web-based resources, many cannot afford that luxury. As a result there are some great alternatives. Below I highlight a few of them:

Rocketron
Phone Call
Just call 1-408-907-2323 (no online sign up necessary) and you can hear news feeds from many different sources.



Udefn
SMS Text Message
Udefn is a text messaging service where you can sign up for different bots. One of which is an RSS feed for the webpage(s) of your choice. You can text a keyword (that you create) to get information from the RSS feed(s).



Dial2do
Phone Call
Dial2do has many great features. One of them (Make Your Own Command) allows anyone to call in to their number (you need to sign up for an account first) and you can listen to any RSS news feed.



Lexy
Phone Call
Lexy is on-demand radio. You can call in to Lexy (no sign up required) 415-692-4933 and select which radio show you would like to listen to. You can also sign up and create a play list that you can hear when you call in to Lexy. Some of the news resources include NPR, NOVA (PBS), Local News, Foreign Language Programs, Front Page from the New York Times, and 60 Second Science.


Alerts.com
SMS Text Message
Anyone can create an account at Alerts.com and set up news alerts to be sent to their mobile phone. You will automatically receive alerts as news occurs.



These are all a few of the wonderful resources for students to use anytime, anywhere, anyplace to keep up with current events in all the content areas. Depending on their mobile plans they can select to use text messaging or calling minutes to stay up to date on the latest content-specific current events. Students no longer need to read a newspaper, or watch the evening news to know what is happening in the world.

BASIC Cell Phones Can Be Assistive Technologies

While we are starting to see cell phones and software being developed specially for the blind and deaf, I wanted to take a few minutes and explore how BASIC cell phones (without the costly software) can be assistive devices for hearing impaired and visually impaired students. I am NOT an expert on assistive technologies, but I have been hearing from more teachers on how their special needs students are benefiting from cell phone technology, so I wanted to share what I have learned.

For the Visually Impaired
A VI teacher in one of my courses (Julie Burger) shared with me that her VI students often are the last to get to experience new technologies because the technologies need to be modified for the visually impaired. For example digital resources often need to be modified for screen readers. However, Julie became very excited about the possibilities of cell phones in learning because she realized that this would be one time that her VI students could be on the forefront of technologies (possibly even being able to introduce their new mobile tool discoveries with their classmates without disabilities). A basic cell phone offers the ability for visually impaired to do the following;

1. Listen to any webpage
2. Listen to newscasts and podcasts
3. Send Speech to Text emails
4. Send Speech to Text Blog posts
5. Send Speech to Text Group posts (to places like Yahoo Groups)
6. Send Speech to Text Calendar appointments and meetings
7. Receive Voicemail reminders
8. Listen to text messages

Hearing Impaired Students
While VI students can take advantage of speech to text, and text to speech options in cell phones, HI students can take advantage of these same options on a basic cell phone but in the opposite directions. For examples, HI students can type in text and it can be sent to other students/teachers cell phones as a audio message. A basic cell phone offers the following options for hearing impaired students to better participate in their everyday class activities:

1. Send text messages that can become audio web-based posts (such as podcasts)
2. Send text messages that can become audio Voicemail
3. Receive an audio Voicemail message that can be transcribed into a text message
4. Read podcasts/audio broadcasts on their cell phone
   

The following are some free applications that couple with basic cell phones for students with assistive needs. The best part of these resources is that they can be used by any student (Univerisal Design), and they are a great way for teachers to be inclusive when developing assignments, group projects, or even basic class activities.

Free Mobile Resources for VI and HI Learners
Jott (Speech to Text Translation, emails, appointments)
Jott Feeds (Listen to text-based webpages)
Rocketron (Listen to news feeds)
Rminder (Text to Speech reminders)
PingMe (Text Message Reminders for groups and individuals)
Text4deaf (2-way text messaging, keeps tracks of texts, sends to individuals/groups) (Thanks to
Karen Montgomery for showing me this resource!)
ChaCha or Mymiamia for Google Searches (Text Message for HI students)
Dial2do (Speech to Text)
YouMail & GrandCentral (Transcriptions of VoiceMail)
Sendible (Text-Based Evites)
Voki (Text to Speech Avatars)
Hey Cosmos (Text Message to Speech Surveys and Quizzes)
Google Voice (Voicemail with Speech to Text Transcription)
Phonevite (Voice Message surveys, quizzes, and feedback)

I know a few others also are researching and using cell phones as assitive tools, please share your ideas and resources.

Rocketron...Listen To News On Your Phone...On Demand

If you call 408.907.2323, you can hear the latest news anywhere, anyplace, at anytime. This is a resource called Rocketron. You do not have to create an online account to use the resource, just call the number. Once you call, you can set up your account or just listen to the latest news. The entire service is voice activated, so you ask for the news you would like to hear such as "political news" or "sports". You can also ask for "main menu" at anytime to get a list of all the news feeds. In the past I have used Jott (Jott Feeds) for the ability to listen to news over my cell phone, this is a more convenient option since I do not have to create an account in Jott or set up the feeds myself, Rocketron does this for me.

Learning Connections
Assistive for VI students
Immediately I thought of visually impaired students. This would be an easy way for them to access news feeds on-demand and to learn about current events.

Current Events
Students in a social studies or business class could listen to their current events on-the-go (since we know students prefer to learn anytime, anywhere, and anyplace). While waiting at the bus stop, or in line for food, they could listen to national, business, or political news and be ready for a current events discussion the next class day. Additonally, they learn how to use their cell phone to get important and pressing news and information.