Without a doubt the number one device present within all forms of my teaching and daily life is my Mobile Phone. While I still utilise a Laptop & Tablet devices when the appropriate situations arise, I simply cannot go past the true portability of todays mobile phones. Currently my device of choice is an iPhone 5, however regardless of the device in which you choose we truly are carrying around devices of immense power and importance. In all seriousness I would rather lose my wallet than my phone.
So with this in mind I thought It would be interesting to track a 24 hour period and see if I could handle a full day using nothing more than my mobile phone. Could I handle it? Was it possible?
0600 – Wake Up
Given my phone is used as my alarm clock, the first thing I do everyday is interact with my mobile device. At present I have been using the app “Freaky Alarm” which gamifies the wake up experience providing you with a set of puzzles and brain riddles. Solve them to turn the alarm off. You can even take it one step further by adding a photo trigger for your alarm (like your letterbox). This means you have to actually take that same photo again in order to shut your alarm off.
0615 – Emails & Social Media
Within the first 15 minutes of being woken up I have checked my emails, which include my tasks for the day. I have also checked any social media usually Twitter and Facebook. The mailbox app makes it possible for me to easily task manage emails by snoozing them and having them return at more timely periods throughout the day or week.
0630 – Driving
At this stage of the day I hit the road on a 120km drive to Boort. During the drive I use the Podcasts App to listen to a host of inspiring educational content such as The Edtech Crew, Google Educast & The #PhysEd Podcast.
0750 – Arrive at School
Once I arrived at school I checked Google Drive and read & contributed to the daily bulletin. At 8am the Sunrise app sent me push notifications to alert me of the day’s events on the school calendar. While getting ready for the first classes for the day, I enjoyed some exciting content from Zite and browsed a couple of online resources through the Google Chrome app. Finally I printed a test protocol & recording sheet for the PC Recovery test using AirPrint from my device.
0900 – First Class
During Year 12 Information Technology, I showed a couple of videos about database design on YouTube and used Airplay and the Apple TV unit to share them with the entire class. I also utilised Easy Attendance to record attendance details.
1026 – Second Class
My Year 12 Physical Education class were commencing the Beep Test and as such we utilised the Bleep Test Pro app for conducting and recording the results. We also used Fitness Tests with students able to easily identify the procedures, norms and setup for the Vertical Jump and Illinois agility run test.
1130 – Third Class
Used the app Skitch to capture an annotate a diagram a student had created. This was then shared direct to the Apple TV via Airplay for all to see. Finally I captured some learning evidence within the Easy Portfolio app for storage and use within the report writing process.
1300 – Lunch
During lunch my iPhone stayed in my pocket as I ate and relaxed before my next classes. I did however scan and email a copy of an order using the CamScanner+ App. I also chose to look at my Wunderlist App to see what tasks needed to be completed after lunch.
1400 – Planning Time
During this time I utilised Google Drive to plan and prepare a few activities for the following days classes. I was also busy replacing broken student LCD screens in our 1:1 laptop program. The repair details were logged in a spreadsheet inside of Google drive.
1530 – Staff Meeting
In tonights staff meeting I utilised the Evernote app to record any important notes into the necessary notebooks. These notebooks are then shareable and searchable from all devices. I also used Siri to set a reminder for 8am the next day when I arrived at school.
1630 – The Trip Home
On the way home I finished off an episode of the Edtechcrew podcast and listened to my offline playlists on Spotify.
1800 – Exercise Time
On this particular day I used the Endomondo app and my heart rate monitor to go for a 3km run before tea. Although this doesn’t happen as often a I would like it certainly helps wind down after a full on day of activity.
1900 – Relaxing
By this stage I had caught up with a few friends via Facebook and moved over to the Flipboard app for a nice streamlined read of my Social Media Feeds. Instant Heart Rate also alerted me to check my pulse, as it does every couple of days. I logged my results in between a game of Rayman Run.
2230 – Days End
Set my Freaky Alarm and read for 15 minutes via the Kindle app
So with 24 hours quickly elapsing what is certainly clear is the incredible capacity of todays mobile devices. Not only did I get everything done I needed to throughout the day with a high level of mobility, but at no point did I feel as though I was suffering for my choice of device.
So with this in mind I encourage you to take up the 24hour challenge and see if you can successfully operate using nothing more than a mobile device. I would love to hear how you go in the comments below. Good luck.
Filed under: apps | Tagged: apps, devices, education, mobile, mrrobbo, pe, physical, teacher, teaching | 2 Comments »
