apcampbell

Marco was just asking me about the use of cellphones in EFL classes here in Japan. All of our students carry them, many of which have G3 internet capability, excellent cameras for video and still shots, English-Japanese dictionaries, and some even store and play mp3 files - did someone say ‘podcast’?

The theme this year at JALT CALL 2006 is ‘Designing CALL for Wired and Wireless Environments’, so what better time to really explore the use of these tools in the classroom than now? Last spring, some of my students used their cell phone cameras to take photos on certain themes and email them directly to Flickr accounts, which they later used to post to their blogs and to construct an interactive gallery, ultimately aiding their attempt build an online presence and small social network. They absolutely loved it. Of all the feedback I got from that semester, using Flickr was the activity they found most enjoyable and educational.

So, in 2006, I want to learn more about what can be done to enhance language learning with mobile phones in and outside the classroom, so as to keep my students stimulated and having fun while striving toward greater fluency. Might we use a combo of video, photos, text messaging, mobile Skype conversation and voice mail; mixing it all together with weblogs and subscription feeds?

Does anyone know of other second language educators using mobile phones in their classes?