
The iPhone and Apps store has been garnishing a lot of attention, and with good reason. Apple is selling 350 Apps every second and has reached a total of three billion sold. Two that recently provide a good example of what is possible with these mobile tools are Dragon Dictation and UstreamBroadcaster. Dragon diction allows you to speak into you phone and it instantly converts you spoken words into text. This application works surprisingly well, and could become a nice alternative to touch typing. (BTW, the Google phone is rumored to have this capability built right into it.) The UstreamBroadcaster tool allows you to do live video broadcasts using Ustream and just your phone. This is an early technology, and there is room for improvement, but it is a glimpse into what is in store for the future. These two iPhone apps provide an example of the what the new handheld technologies can do and should provide the creative teacher with engaging ideas for activities to support student learning.