Mobile Technology

(Photo Credit: World Bank Photo Collection)

Whether you’re a casual motorcycle rider or a hardcore biker, your smartphone can make your riding experience even better. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 93,000 people were injured in a motorcycle-related accident in 2012, a 15% increase from 2011. Texting while driving demonstrates a lack of responsibility, but using a smartphone to enhance the safety of your motorcycle? Smart move.

High-Tech Helmets

Motorcycle helmets are quickly becoming more high-tech. Recently, Reevu, Skully and Nuviz revealed modern helmets that have GPS, cell phone, rear-view camera and music player capabilities. The Skully Operating System integrated in the Skully AR-1 connects to an iPhone or Android smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing drivers to send texts and take calls through voice commands—no need to take your eyes off the road. Skully announced that the AR-1 will be released sometime in 2014. However, if you just can’t wait for the release of the AR-1, BikeBandit carries Bluetooth communications systems and other helmets with advanced technology, including advanced ventilation systems and carbon fiber construction.

Tap2Pass

Current technology enables smartphones to help keep us safe from the moment we start our engines to the moment we’re back home. It’s now possible to turn a smartphone into an automatic garage door opener. The company Flash2Pass created the Tap2Pass receiver. This receiver communicates with a smartphone through the Tap2Pass app. The system can be installed on up to 7 phones, essentially giving every member of your family with a smartphone his or her own garage door remote. The four digit PIN offers an extra layer of security in case the smartphone is lost or stolen. Tap2Pass works with both iPhone and Android smartphones.

Vehicle-to-Pedestrian and Vehicle-to-Motorcycle Safety Technologies

Although still in the testing phase, vehicle-to-pedestrian and vehicle-to-motorcycle technologies will soon become a possibility, thanks to Honda. With dedicated short-range communications technology, a smartphone can detect nearby pedestrians and motorcycles and alert both parties of a possible collision using auditory and visual warnings. In other words, the driver’s smartphone communicates with the pedestrian’s smartphone to predict the chance of an accident. An app specifically designed for V2P technology will be able to determine a pedestrian’s position, direction and speed. And get this: the app will even tell drivers if a pedestrian is texting, listening to music or on a phone call.

Spot Connect

This handy little device turns your smartphone into a satellite communicator, something that comes in handy when you’ve lost all cell phone connection and are stranded in the middle of nowhere. Spot Connect assists you in reaching friends, family, service providers, and, of course, emergency personnel. Notable functions include SOS mode, which discloses your GPS location to the GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center, and a Help Mode that sends custom or predefined messages to your chosen contact group. Spot Connect isn’t just for emergency situations, however. It also enables you to share your motorcycle adventures with family and friends on Google Maps. They’ll be able to see your ride progress and know exactly where you’re located.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

(Photo Credit: Black Blue Dog)

The best learning experiences are the result of a dedicated educator, a student’s curiosity to learn and a supportive environment that values academics. Using technology as a resource can enhance these learning experiences and academic environments, whether lessons are learned in a school or at home.

You’re not just the parent of a homeschooler; you are also a teacher. You want to inspire your child to think critically and stay motivated. Technology can cultivate new ways of thinking and new ideas. Android or Apple tablets can specifically serve as creative tools and interactive textbooks. Tablet materials and apps can customize the learning experience and tailor materials to suit the learning style(s) and meet the needs of a student.

Online Textbooks & iTunes U in Class

Enrich learning experiences at home with electronic textbooks on a tablet. Services like iTunes U provide customized, hands-on lessons for homeschooled teens of all levels. Texts and photos come to life when you use electronic textbooks. Think back to the days when you turned pages and used a marker or highlighter to note sections in printed textbooks. The postmodern student can learn by swiping a screen, engaging in interactive animations and even rotating a 3-D object. Highlight notes with a finger. Zoom in on a diagram. Create digital study cards. The tablet is a space-saving, all-in-one learning device that functions as any type of textbook, a note taker and study partner. Keeping learning materials on a mobile device can be handy for your student to study anywhere. Homework can be done on a car trip or at a friend’s house.

As a home educator, you can also use online educational apps to organize lesson plans and learning materials for a course in one central location. Build courses using the iTunes U Course Manager, and your student can listen to an audio lecture, watch a presentation and organize coursework notes. Then your student can complete assignments and share what he or she learns using any of the thousands of academic-oriented apps available, tablets and popular smartphones. Help your teen engender a multimedia presentation using special effects in Keynote or a visual web journal using multi-touch editing. A tablet-based learning curriculum is a dramatic improvement from the days of overhead projectors and plastic report covers and binders.

Smartphone Social Apps

While tablets enhance learning, reserve the smartphone for socialization and fun. A blog post by Heather Sanders from The Pioneer Woman writes that as a home educator and mom, she welcomes smartphones as a communication tool that “can help students expand their specific hobbies or areas of interests.” Her daughter Emelie turns to smartphone app Tumblr as her virtual inspiration board and Feedly as her blog reader. She uses Instagram and Snapchat to share videos and photos with friends. The Kik instant message app also keeps her in touch with international friends. Sanders’ other daughter, Meredith, likes Wattpad for writing books and reading stories from other authors. You can even use the smartphone as a study break or incentive. For example, if your teen aces an exam let her chat with friends on her phone or stream media from Netflix as a reward for meeting her goal.

With the sophisticated advances in technology, postmodern homeschooling can be a rewarding experience for both the teacher and student.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison