Chances are by now you have heard of smartphones but have caught yourself wondering, “what makes a smartphone so smart?” Actually you are not alone. Tons of people are out there looking for more information on smartphones. Last month the single word “smartphones” was Googled over four million times. Which brings me to my next point, smartphones are becoming a mainstream part of our daily lives. You’ve probably seen it already. People feel attached to their smartphones, have to bring them with them to all their meetings, constantly carry them during both personal and business time, and have quickly adapted to the new technology. This opens up a whole new opportunity for deploying new types of educational opportunities. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, lets take a moment to really understand what a smartphone is.
Smartphones are mobile phones with computer like capabilities. Packed with Internet access, email capabilities, address books, and a whole lot more, cell phones have come a long way since their first debut. But be careful not to confuse these newest toys with sandbox devices. Sandbox devices are tools that come pre-loaded with things like calendars, calculators, and a notepad. What differentiates them from smartphones is that users can add (download and install) additional programs to smartphones and they seemingly become mini portable computers for the people who use them. That – and the ability to edit the content that sits on them – is what makes these phones “smart.”
Some of the more popular brand names include the Motorola Droid, Apple iPhone, and Google Nexus One. Yet the craze is extending to even some off-brand company names. If you are interested in checking out specific phones, PC World just compiled a list of the Top Ten Smartphones. Today, it’s hard to find a cell phone that doesn’t offer some sort of “smart” technology because it’s in such a high demand. The convenience of having information at our immediate access is phenomenal – so much so that thousands of programmers have jumped on the opportunity to build unique applications specific to these small machines.
As a result, you can find tons of games, databases, weather reporting programs, and even small encyclopedias on these things – each accessible not at the click of a mouse – but at a few presses of a free thumb. Think of the implications for learning. We can create programs, or applications (apps), that learners can access once for their initial learning and then use as a resource when out in the field. You could even create an app that allows your employees to use their smartphones from the field to instantly add information they learn to internal wikis. The app could then make that wiki searchable by other employees. This is a huge stride in our fight to provide support for informal learning.
Is this a phase? That’s highly doubtful. The market for these devices extends from the highly technical and professional all the way to the pre-teen socialite. The product crosses all demographics and thanks to decreasing costs – it sees no economic boundaries as well. Wikipedia claims that “Out of 1 billion camera phones to be shipped in 2008, Smartphones, the higher end of the market with full email support, will represent about 10% of the market or about 100 million units.”
But what is it that makes smartphones so appealing? As mentioned, smartphones give us the ability to not only carry our data around with us where ever we go, it also gives us the ability to edit that data any place – any time. Attempting to do the same with a bulky desktop computer or laptop is to cumbersome. Even some of the smallest peripherals don’t give us the same opportunities that smartphones do. Being able to carry around a device for communication, creation, recording, and editing simply compliments the need for today’s generation to do more and do it faster!
Best,
P.S. Interested in developing smartphone applications for your learners? Here are some resources I recommend that will give you an overview of what’s possible and get you comfortable enough to talk to your IT Department in their language.
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