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Podcasting and classroom-response systems are among the more than 100 uses of cellphones that educator Liz Kolb has collected, and in some cases invented, for her book Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education, published in October.

One key to the cellphone's usefulness is the wealth of Web-based services that have cropped up recently, not necessarily marketed for schools but generally free in their basic versions. "Of course, they all have premium upgrades, or if they don't have upgrades, you see ads," Ms. Kolb cautioned.

In addition, Web-based organizers are available to bail out disorganized adolescents. For example, Soshiku, a service launched in September 2008 by Montana 17-year-old Andrew Schaper, lets users log their school assignments via e-mail or text messages. Students, including partners in joint projects, can arrange to receive "assignment due" notices to their cellphones or e-mail accounts.

"Mobile citizen journalism" is another popular trend that schools can harness, Ms. Kolb said, though she did not know of any school newspapers doing it extensively yet. "Schools can definitely set up their own mobile journalism text-messaging numbers," so students who are traveling can phone in reports and images, especially if they find themselves in the midst of breaking news.

Even with standard cellphones, she said, educators must make sure that all students understand the price structure of their calling plans, including the number of text messages that they can send and receive at no additional charge.

easy, efficient, and turbo-effective literacy, research, and information management

It's made using Screencast-o-matic.com's free online service - which is also valuable for teaching. Think of applications for English Language Learners, special needs students, and visual/aural learners, for example.

The following screencast tutorial should be useful for every reader and thinker who doesn't know about it. Students of all ages, it should rock your world; and teachers, throw a bit of imagination at it and it might transform your practice a bit.

Online learning tools and technologies are becoming less frustrating (for authoring, teaching, and learning) and more powerful. Instructional content development can increasingly be done by content experts, faculty, instructional designers, and trainers. As a result, online content is becoming easier to maintain. Social interaction and social presence tools such as discussion forums, social networking and resource sharing, IM, and Twitter are increasingly being used to provide formal and informal support that has been missing too long from self-paced instruction. I am extremely optimistic about the convergence of "traditional" instruction and support with technology-based instruction and support. —Patti Shank, Learning Peaks, USA

In 2009 learning professionals will start to move beyond using Web 2.0 only for "rogue," informal learning projects and start making proactive plans for how to apply emerging technologies as part of organization-wide learning strategy. In a recent Chapman Alliance survey, 39 percent of learning professionals say they don't use Web 2.0 tools at all; 41 percent say they use them for "rogue" projects (under the radar screen); and only 20 percent indicate they have a plan for using them on a regular basis for learning. Early adopters such as Sun Microsystems and the Peace Corp have made changes that move Web 2.0 tools to the front-end of the learning path, while still using structured learning (LMS and courseware) as critical components of their learning platforms. —Bryan Chapman, Chief Learning Strategist and Industry Analyst, Chapman Alliance, USA