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Mobile comes to the classroom

Posted: 05/06/10 by Mobile Future Team

This is Teacher Appreciation Week so it seems fitting to reflect not only on the teacher herself but also her indispensable aids: rulers, protractors, chalk, and – you guessed it – mobile service.

Virginia has become a leader in exploring ways to adapt mobile service to education. Two years ago, the state’s Department of Education launched an initiative called Learning without Boundaries [Link] in cooperation with Virginia Tech and Radford University. The program is examining the potential benefits of wireless hand-held technologies in schools.

School across the state have already picked up the challenge. For example, several elementary schools in Richmond are using handheld mobile devices since 2006 to help children learn phonics, spelling, letter recognition and writing. High school students use them to watch videos that complement classroom instruction.

Meanwhile, the school board in Chesterfield County near Richmond recently approved a five-year technology plan that includes $3 million for a mobile technology pilot program. Also moving forward in this area is the school district in Henrico County. As its school superintendent Patrick Russo told The Richmond Times-Dispatch [Link 2] earlier this year:

“As technology evolves, I think you will see [mobile devices] be part of the teaching process as well as a communication process between teachers and students.”

Is mobile improving the education system?

Posted: 02/26/10 by Mobile Future Team

Most schools around the country don't allow their students to use mobile while school is in session.

That's not the case for a Richmond, VA middle school.

Colonial Heights Middle school uses hand-held mobile devices to supplement the teacher and textbooks in a classroom. Instead of banning mobile technology, Colonial Heights is embracing it.

"This is their generation; this is aimed at their generation," sixth-grade teacher Richard Ridpath said. "They are a cell phone, iPod, Xbox generation. This is just meeting [students] where they are."

Ridpath uses mobile devices with video and interactive applications as a supplement to his more traditional lesson.

Chesterfield, VA Superintendant Marcus J. Newsome said:

"It the past, it seems as though [the cell phone] has been a tool that's been disruptive to the teaching and learning process, but if there's a way to turn it around to our advantage, we need to investigate."

Mobile learning used to be solely associated with online post-secondary education. As technology evolves and preconceptions are lessened, mobile education is beginning to apply to younger and younger students.

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Cavalier Green: Virginia celebrates Telework Day

Posted: 08/03/09 by Mobile Future Team

Virginia turns even greener than the Shenandoah today. Governor Tim Kaine issued an Executive Order establishing today as Telework Day to cut down on auto emissions.

We've written before about wireless' ability to contribute to a greener world (see here, here and here) and telework is an obvious area where mobile technology can make a difference.  

In 2008, gridlock cost the average rush-hour driver almost 40 hours a year in delays and wasted 2.9 billion gallons of gas.  At $2.50 per gallon, that works out to nearly $25 for every American.

Since the Northern Virginia area has some of the nation's worst traffic problems, telework is a common-sense option to save time and help the environment.  That makes expanding broadband adoption an even more important public goal.