The iPhone and other smartphones are gaining the attention of education professionals for their potential as learning tools. Cell phones have long been considered classroom distractions, but the ability of smartphones to run a wide variety of applications opens the door to greater possibilities.
So-called smartphones -- such as the iPhone, which in the U.S. is authorized to run on the AT&T (NYSE: T) Latest News about AT&T network New HP LaserJet P4014n Printer Starting at $699 after $100 instant savings. -- offer myriad new capabilities, including Web access, e-mail and access to educational software. "The time is approaching when these little devices will be as much a part of education as a bookbag," write the authors of a report last year by the nonprofit New Media Consortium, which studies emerging technologies likely to have an impact on teaching.
A well-equipped cell phone with a foldout keyboard could even supplant a laptop in classrooms, says Bill Davidson, senior vice-president for global marketing at Qualcomm, which makes cell-phone software and chips.
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