Week 5

- How indispensable are mobile computing devices in your life? Are they an "extension" of who you are?
- How can mobile computing devices be used in disadvantaged or underdeveloped environments?

My cell phone goes with me everywhere. I wake up to the alarm that I set on it and then check it- responding to any text messages I may have gotten in the night. Then I have breakfast and take a shower and check it again to make sure nothing has changed in the world since I took my shower. After I’ve packed my stuff I double check to make sure I have it with me and put it in my pocket for easy access during my commute and then I head to class. During class I check to make sure it’s on vibrate and then use it a clock to let me know how many minutes left till class is out. After class I use it to call work and make sure everything is going smoothly until I get there and then go to the Library. At the Library I have the shelf location text messaged to me from the computer so I can find the book I’m looking for. Then, I might receive a tweet or two from my friends in Europe about what they’re doing that night.

Basically, I’m trying to emphasize that I am attached to my cell phone and it doesn’t even have the Internet. In the Fall I’m going to be getting an iPhone with a camera and internet and I can only imagine that my obsession with staying connected via mobile device will turn into a full fledged addiction. My cell phone keeps me connected with my family, with my coworkers, with my peers and with my social life. It helps me coordinate when I get up and when I move from place to place. I haven’t owned a watch in years. To expect any level of involvement less than this from my students would be absurd and completely hypocritical. Cell phones should be allowed in school because they are allowed in life and they are not going away any time soon. A student using their cell phone in class should not insult teachers, they’re not doing it to be disrespectful. They’re doing it because it’s a part of who they are, an extension of themselves. To take that part away would be cruel.