Yodio is a service that allows you to create digital storybooks or narrated photo albums using your phone. Take a picture, upload it to Yodio, call in your narration and you are almost done. Some of the world language teachers at my school are using Yodio for PBA activities with their classes. The students were directed to choose a picture or pictures and then describe it using the target language. One of the teachers provided class time for students to get the project started. These students used their cell phones to call into their Yodio accounts and record the narration for the picture. You can use any kind of phone with Yodio, it does not have to be a cell phone. Another teacher had the students complete the project at home. Yodio is a free service that provides a very nice platform for world langauge teachers to record students speaking in the target language for practice or for formal assessments. The Yodio below is one the teacher created to demonstrate to the class what she wanted.
What can you do with your cell phone? Do you use it to read the news, tweet, check your e-mail, make phone calls? Working with mobile market research requires us to understand the capabilities and limitations of today's cell phones.
I've been using a Web-enabled Blackberry Storm phone since last year. Having this phone in my purse lessened my need to carry around my laptop and Palm PDA. I use my cell phone to check my e-mail, check my projects, take pictures, grab links, compare prices, check in for flights, listen to US radio stations, record audio notes, and access Twitter & YouTube. Owning a Web-enabled device is a luxury, but experts say most people will own a phone with some sort of wireless Internet plan in the near future.
Advertisers and marketers are already in this medium, creating mobile-formatted pages and commercial content specifically for cell phone browsers. There is room for improvement in how this content is being accessed and delivered.
I have developed reliable research methodologies to adapt with consumers' online and mobile worlds. Information can be captured from cell phones very effectively, so let's work with that...
Consumers carry their cell phones even when they are not carrying their laptops. Conducting research with cell phones is an excellent way to capture information from consumers who are on-the-go.
When my clients need insights from consumer experiences at a specific location, away from a computer, sometimes it's not enough bring consumers into a focus group room or a discussion board. Mobile research methodologies bridge that gap because consumers can respond whereever they are, whenever they want.
The first thing I've described to my clients about mobile research is how any phone can do it. Consumers do not need a Web-enabled phone to participate in a mobile research study. The beauty of mobile research is that we can use the text messaging, camera, and e-mail functions found on most of today's phones to gather rich insights from consumers' everyday lives.
I adjust basic incentives on a market research study to compensate consumers for participating in a mobile component; depending on the project, extra compensation may not be needed. Consumers usually enjoy participating in mobile research, because it involves little or no travel and it allows maximum flexibility with their schedules. Let me know if you have any questions about conducting qualitative mobile research.
Note: I'm currently seeking a client or two who are interested to conduct innovative mobile or online research re: Super Bowl commercials for February 10, 2010. Please let me know if you or someone you know have a product that would like to be involved. (I will post an update on this opportunity when it is no longer available.)
Please subscribe or bookmark this page if you would like to read more of my posts.
On Black Friday, anyone who calls 888-376-4336 and does a Google Search by voice, will see their results displayed on either the Reuters sign or the NASDAQ sign in Times Square. So, if you say something like “new Jonas Brothers CD,” the display will come up with a giant Google Map complete with signs showing you where you can find that. Also included is the embarrassment that everyone in Times Square has just seen what ridiculous thing you are searching for.
“Outside the classroom learners are building up new rich media literacies as they create their own habitus of learning in everyday life. We propose that schools should, and ultimately must, recognise and embrace this change. However, we are aware that such a perspective provides a challenge to our conceptions of where the boundaries of formal education are positioned.” Bachmair, Pachler and Cook state that ”Educationally, knowledge and media are cultural resources, which are no longer controlled and governed by the school.” Our schools should not be a place that students are rendered unable to engage with the culture in which they exist. Educators should instead be embracing these devices and their capacity to improve the learning agendas set within the formal environment of a school.
I do think that student's phones are an integral part of their world and this phenomenon is only going to increase in scope. Educators need to accept this and decide what is the best way to deal with this cultural shift.
Some friends sent me some doomsday emails today about the renewed risk linking mobile phones with brain tumours based on a recent program from the US TV personality, Dr. Mehmet Oz. I found a great article here from ABC news, and the top preacutionary tips offered which make a lot of sense, are as follows:
Top Five Ways to Reduce Radiation Exposure from your Mobile Phone
Adults should use a headset or speaker phone, and children should really not be using cellphones that heavily. Corded headsets emit almost no radio frequencies ("RF") and moving the phone 4 inches away from your head reduces RF exposure 1,000 times. Children have thinner skulls, so RF exposure is greater.
Stay off the phone if the signal is poor. Fewer signal bars mean the phone has to work harder to get a signal, so it may emit more radiation .
Don't talk when you're driving or in an elevator. In addition to the dangers of being distracted, people who are behind the wheel may face an increased RF exposure risk because the phone signal must move to several wireless towers.
Avoid wearing wireless ear pieces if you are not having a conversation on your mobile. The wireless ear piece is still searching for a signals. It's best to remove the ear piece between conversations. Or just ditch them entirely...they make you look daft.
Don't keep cell phones in your pocket or attached to your belt. A recent study found that cell phone radiation has a negative impact on the health of sperm. The only people I know who do this are American men - its an affliction, and turns out not only does it look terrible, but its also bad for you.
The service Voice on the Go allows you to read and respond to email and text messages using your voice. The service works with any phone and is free for the first 60 days. You can upload your contact list to the service. You can also update your social networks and calendar by using your voice. Follow this link to watch a video demonstration.
Just when you though Google was working the kinks out of the Google Voice beta...I get one of these transcriptions in my inbox. Enjoy:
"I think that putting Jonathan, Reference your reference. In section would be good and we can this Sunday. Brown house are. I have park on the shareholder done with a while and then and maybe another one. On a personal level that you can think of. I don't know. Maybe joe. I'll father or somebody to Hello friends and you know and then go ahead other written references available upon request. Call me and tell me what you think or for additional written or a additional references available upon request. Give me a call. Tell me what you think your mother. It does site. Go."You see why I am so scared to get a Google Voice number?
Poll: Will an Android Army Chip Away at iPhone Share?
Android-based phones aren't exactly new -- and none so far has proved to be the iPhone killer. But more are hitting the market every day. And Verizon has launched its Droid with a $100 million campaign positioning it as the anti-iPhone. THIS WEEK'S POLL QUESTION: Will the onslaught of Android-based phones, including Verizon's much-hyped Droid, eat into the iPhone's dominance? VOTE & COMMENT at http://adage.com/poll?poll_id=188
According to a post on the NJPSA website a new law in Louisiana requires school districts to develop policies to monitor all electronic communication between teachers and students using non-school issued electronic devices. These policies have to be in place by November 15th. Parents also have the option of requiring that no communication takes place between their child and a teacher using personal electronic devices.
I imagine some terrible events must have occurred in Louisiana for the state legislature to take such action. I wonder if the problem was wide spread or if it was a few bad apples that caused the problems.
Further on in the article it states:
Similar policies exist in many school districts across the country, and at least one other state has considered such legislation in recent years. But critics question the measures, saying they will likely restrict appropriate communication between teachers and students and discourage the use of new technologies.
I do think there should be policies regarding student-teacher communication. Currently I use my school email account and school computer to send text messages to student's cell phones. The reason I do not use my own cell phone is I do not want students to have my cell phone number.
I know of a teacher who chaperoned an overnight class trip and was responsible for a group of about 15 students. He took each student's cell phone number and created a distribution list so that he could send out one text message and reach the whole group at once. During the day they were at a large zoo and the students were allowed to roam unsupervised with at least one other student. He told them he would periodically send out a text message and require them to meet at a certain location in a specified amount of time. If the students did not show up at the required time they had to spend the rest of the day under the direct supervision of the teacher. I thought this was a brilliant use of a cell phone. If one of my own children went on that trip I would have wanted them to be in this teacher's group. Not only could the teacher contact the students, but the students could contact the teacher if they ran into any trouble. Will the Louisiana law stifle this type of creative use of personal electronic devices?
I would like to see local school boards and school districts decide how to handle this problem instead of it being mandated from the state legislature.
