The Downside to iPhones

How many people that have iPhones think about what would happen if they lose or have their phone stolen?  Do they have safegaurds in place to protect against the data that is stored on their phone?  I think this is one of the most overlooked aspects of smart phones is that we do not take precautions against in favor of quick and easy access.  If you are keeping personal information stored on your iphone, like being signed into web applications for easy posting, what could a person do if they had access to your iphone?  Is your work email set up on your iPhone without a password to access it?  Do you have apps installed that would help track your lost or stolen iPhone?  Most people I have a feeling would say no and have never thought about this ever happening, but the bigger question should be not if but when it will happen to you or someone you know.  Below are some links to some articles that everyone that has an iPhone should read in case you are unfortunate enough to lose or have your iPhone stolen espeically if you use it to access senstive information.

Here are some article to read incase it does not turn up - I would call the phone company as soon as possible.  How well they work, I do not know but know but if you have lost your iPhone or want to take precautions, this could help.

lost-iphone-lessons-learned

how-to-recover-from-a-lost-or-stolen-iphone

what_do_if_you_lost_your_iphone

lost-your-iphone-fear-not-video

what-happens-when-your-iphone-gets-stolen

6-ways-to-find-track-lost-stolen-iphone-free

six-things-i-learned-from-losing-my-iphone-3g

http://db.tidbits.com/article/10359

Why is technology important in schools?

Those that are in the field of education and more specificly educational technology were we work with teachers on integrating technology know that sometimes it is hard to quantify to a teacher about the usefulness of how technology can improve and enhance your classroom experience for thier students and themselves.  I have a co-worker who stated that basically "we need to enlighten teachers that technology should be the new way to do things instead of just one more thing".  If technology is just "neat" or is "one more thing" then what added value does this bring to the classroom for a teacher who is already short on time?  This is where having a wide array of choices but knowing exactly what might enhance a classroom is essential.  I will be doing a day long session on 20 sites that teachers should know and a large portion of that is developing a PLN (Personal Learning Network).  I could ramble on but one of the better post I have read on the value of a PLN can be found here in an article called "The Value of Educational Technology"  written by Dave Andrade.