Smart Phone Apps -- Not Just Momma Bell's Phone

Ways to learn continue to evolve.  Collaborative learning is now possible because of social networking and the new media.  New technologies accommodate different learning styles than pen and paper lessons, and smart phones put the potential for learning in the hands of many.   E-books are becoming more mainstream in 2011, and one of the newest tools being used today is the smart phone.

Your phone comes with the ability to record video, an easy way to record a dialog for your student.  They can then listen to it, practice and send you their practice session.  

If you don't want to use video, there are Apps that can be downloaded to turn a phone into a tape recorder.  Students can record their audio stories through a traditional recording on this.   

There are even Apps that capture a person’s vacation with photos, audio and writing.  One of the popular ones is (My Vacation).  There is a free lite version that will capture one trip.  To do more, pay $2.99 to ITunes.   

Even a humorous program like Talking Tom can provide a silly way for an ELL to practice speaking English and send a short story to their tutor via their Smart Phone.  The the basic version is free but can be enhanced if you pay.

While mobile phones have brought multiple ways to enhance to the tutoring experience, they are just tools.  It still takes well trained tutors matched with adults who want to learn, along with lots of repetition and practice combined with learner centered instruction to make a difference.

It is up to the tutor to partner with his student to make learning as interesting, easy and practical as possible.  As tutors develop lessons, they can use smart phones to record stories told or written by students.  Phones provide new ways for independent learning and practice.  As copy machines replaced carbon paper to copy student stories, phones can scan, photograph and share stories, lesson plans and examples of student work.  Once you have the scan you can email it as evidence of your lesson to the volunteer literacy program manager.  This can make it alot easier for a program to move from paper to electronic records.  We all know it has to be easy for volunteers to do the record keeping needed for a program to show progress to funders.

Tell us how you use your smart phone....