From the Archives: All About Phones

During the first months of ProfHacker, in 2009, Julie wrote a post introducing us all to Using Super Smartphones for Productivity.

Given how fast technology changes, and how nearly ubiquitous smartphones are today, that post has already acquired a kind of antique charm.

Over the subsequent years we’ve written quite a bit about using your phone productively, as you’ll see in this Archive collection.

Our Favorite Apps for your Phone

• I reviewed CamScanner in Turn Your Phone Into a Scanner. Lincoln likes the scanning app DocScanner.
• Mark explains Editing Google Docs on the Go
• Billie explains how to Catalogue Your Books with Book Catalogue
• I described the recently added Dropbox Camera Upload feature, which automatically uploads pictures you take on your phone to your Dropbox account.
• Brian recently reviewed Launch Center Pro for iOS devices
• Mark has reviewed a number of note-taking apps including Evernote for Android, Diigo’s Android Power Note App, and Catch (formerly 3Banana).
• You can Turn Your Phone Into a Flashlight
• Want to find out which apps you actually use on your phone? Mark removed all his apps and then paid attention to which ones he missed, as described in 5 Android Apps I Can’t Live Without (and Why).

Phones in the Classroom

• In Five Tips for Dealing with Gadgets in the Classroom, Jason reminds us that Students are not the only abusers of mobile technology. Faculty/staff will frequently forget to silence their phones, or will take calls during meetings–sometimes even during class! Faculty/staff will keep their heads buried in their Blackberry or smartphone during meetings. Look to your own behavior so that you can model decent social norms, and, when you run meetings, set expectations around mobile technology.
• Ryan’s course syllabi include a section on digital etiquette, including the need to turn phones off.
• In When Cell Phones Are the Book: some observations on e-readers, I discuss how some of my students use phones as e-readers for course materials.

Phone Alternatives

• Sometimes you want an alternative to using your cell phone, especially when traveling.
• Although a few things have changed since Ryan’s 2010 Introduction to Google Voice (it’s no longer in beta, for instance) his post explains some of the useful ways to use this service, especially in providing a contact number for students.
• Ryan explains how to Call Internationally for Free with Facetime/Skype/G+ and guest author Jason Mittell calls Skype the “killer app for living abroad” in ProfHacking Abroad: Software for Living Abroad.
• Even domestically, you may find yourself in an area without cell reception, as Ryan explains how he and his wife used Google Voice in the hospital during the birth of one of their children.
• Adeline explains how you can use WhatsApp to Get Rid of Your Text Messaging Plan

Keeping it On

• George explains why he uses Portable Power for Portable Devices and Erin discusses Extending Your Smartphone’s Battery Life.

Turning it Off

• In Airplane Mode vs No Bars: Focus Near the End of the Semester , Jason discusses how turning off his phone enhances his focus as a parent.

Taking it to the Next Level

• Anastasia discusses Building with MIT’s Google App Inventor a tool for prototyping Android apps built upon the Google App Inventor beta, which Amy wrote about in 2010. Anastasia notes that Perhaps most importantly for the classroom, the engagement with the concepts of programming in an easy to rearrange interface looks like it will have great potential for courses that want to engage with digital development skills without getting deep into the syntax and logic of coding.
• Anastasia also wrote about Learning Mobile Design with TouchDevelop, a development tool for Windows phones that she learned about at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit.

[Creative Commons licensed image by flickr user sometoast]