I read a CNET report by Larry Magid who attended the 30th annual National Educational Computing Conference. One of the things that stood out for him was how the more innovative teachers were attempting to integrate mobile phones and various Web 2.0 technologies into education. This was despite the barriers such as anti-phone policies or Web filtering to prevent access to sites like Facebook. (Oh, and there was an amusing anecdote about Twitter use in that article too.)

I am guessing that for many of the attendees the use of such tools was news to them. It is the same in teachers in Singapore except that we do not have the same barriers. Yes, there are rules against using mobile phones, but these are for calls, and most do not (yet) have any restrictions to Web 2.0 sites.

Two things crossed my mind as I thought about what was happening in the USA and here. The first was that I hope that teachers here do not wait for a tool to be banned before thinking of ways to integrate them meaningfully for teaching and learning! The second was me wondering why teachers do not use their own personal experiences with phones, games, Facebook, etc., to think up of innovative and effective ways to teach.

I think that will be the approach that I will use in the coming semester: Think of what you and your students are already using and integrate that meaningfully into teaching.