The iPhone and K-12 Schools

It was about 3 weeks ago that I finally took the financial plunge to acquire an iPhone. Being the "digital junky" that I am it was only a matter of time before I got my hands on this innovative device. Let me see that the iPhone has definitely set the bar very high in terms of expectations for future phones.

Apple in my eyes has set the new benchmark for mobile phones.

Being an educator I can see a whole new world of benefits for schools, educators and district leaders. I can see this device take the place of the many "Laptop per child" initiatives. This device can do everything a laptop can do and would allow 24 hour communication between student and teacher or student and school. Obviously there are some legal concerns to consider but if done correctly it would allow for continuous learning to occur in and outside of school.

I am thinking of a student who doesn't have internet at home, he picks up his iPhone to log on to the internet to do some basic research online. That same student may text message his teacher with a question about the homework. I am thinking the school could send out messages to its students about snow days, or school sporting event schedules, etc. The school could even send out reminders for SAT registration and so on. There could be a hotline for students to text message to warn adults about potential problems. Teachers or the school could have a site with downloadable podcasts for the students on various topics along with videos that they could watch on their iPhones to support learning.

I would love to work with Apple and its education team on developing a model environment that could be reproduced in any educational setting. I would use my school as a potential learning environment. Just provide me with 25 iPhones, and 25 iMacs in a classroom and I will take it from there. One last thought the students could have a digital portfolio on their waist. They could show a mentor, parent or friend what they have been creating in class because of the total integration of iLife '08 with the iPhone.

I think you can see my point the possibilities are endless.

Steve Jobs, give me a call, shoot me an email, or text message me on my iPhone if you would like to expand your market. :)

Living the Dream!
Anibal Soler, Jr.
www.anibalsoler.com