I finally took the plunge and joined the group of Smartphone users. Of course, I had been using a laptop when many were tied to their desktops. In January we got an ipad which made travelling with technology that much easier until I got my Smartphone.  Last week I purchased an iPhone 5 and it has revolutionized my life – not just because it is an iPhone – but because of all its capabilities as a smartphone. 

Each day I have my phone I learn something new about what I can do with it.  I have had to build in at least 30 minutes each day just for exploration.  Here are a few things that I have been exploring:

• Apps – where does one begin?  Well I asked friends to share their favorite apps and so far that has been successful on finding apps to explore. I know that learning how to use apps and finding out about new apps as they are made available is going to be a constant learning curve.
• Contacts – who knew there were so many ways you could add or synch your contacts. I am just using my contact from e-mail and associating them all from that location.  I figure this is the best place.
• Settings – because of all the options and choices here it is easy to see why it is called a Smartphone.  You can change ring tones, font size, manage content shared with apps and a whole lot more.  When in doubt on how to change something I tend to go look in Settings first.

Of course, I am still exploring and learning about all I can do with my phone and this is just on a personal level. 

I then started thinking about the learning curve for educators in the classroom. Since I teach in a virtual world I can now access my course from anywhere, but what impact can  happen in a face-to-face or blended learning environment?   How does mobile technology change the classroom?  What resources are available to educators on managing and using more technology that is mobile in the classroom?  

The following two infographics pictured some data that I could relate with - Amazing Facts about Students Learning Via Smartphones  and There is An Infographic for Mobile Learning.  Then I started thinking what is out there as far as resources and I came across Mobile Learning: Resource Roundup – a collection of resources gathered by Edutopia.  This has a number of different resources that cover a variety of topics such as apps, digital texts, and cell phones in the classrooms. 

So what other resources are there for considering and thinking about Mobile Learning in the Classroom?  Do you have any resources to share?  Please comment and share.