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So yes, I bought it, took it back and bought it again. But I’m keeping my Dell Streak now. It’s great. And this is my last post on mobile phones – well, this month anyway…

Usually new mobile phones are known about well in advance of their launch. Everything from specs to early reviews are made available in order to create a buzz around the product. For example, a couple of years ago I was sent an LG Shine and encouraged (although not instructed) to take photos of it and blog about it. With the Dell Streak, however, apart from a great video at jkkmobile I stumbled across on the night before it was released in the UK, I’d heard nothing about it!

Full specs of the device can be found here, but the highlights are that it’s an Android tablet/smartphone hybrid with a 5″ screen. Yes, five inch!

Let’s just get past the two (related) questions I’ve been asked most frequently over the last couple of weeks:

1. Is it too big?
2. Don’t you feel a bit stupid putting it to your ear to, you know, make phone calls?

My responses:

1. It’s certainly on the upper limit of what counts as a phone size wise. Some, undoubtedly, will find it too big. But given that I tended to use my iPhone more for Twitter and other internet based activities than for phone calls, I don’t!
2. It’s not Dom Joly size and I don’t really suffer from self esteem issues anyway. As for people who think that phones should only be able to make phone calls, get back in your cave please…

Things I really like:

• The whole experience and speed of the device makes it über-slick
• Spotify, Dropbox and other official apps are better (to my mind) than their iPhone counterparts
• The size of the screen makes everything… just better
• It’s really quite thin
• Several virtual desktops means you can organize your stuff
• I don’t have to jail break it to set it up the way I want it
• Widgets provide real-time updates
• The camera is legendary and the in-phone editing functions are actually useful
• It’s got a ‘gorilla glass’ screen – check out this video showing it being torture-tested!

Things I’m not so keen on:

• The placement of headphone socket
• Volume buttons alter up or down depending on orientation (confusing!)
• You can’t delete things (e.g. emails) by swiping
• It’s not running the latest version of Android (v1.6)
• Proprietary power/ sync cable
• Current lack of third party support (eg cases, speakers, other add ons)
• The quality of sound recording when shooting video isn’t gerat

Stuff other reviews might not tell you:

• As with the iPhone, music stops playing when you remove the headphones
• Sometimes tasks don’t shut by themselves and drain your battery (a force close app is pretty much essential)
• It’s not really possible to use the Streak with one hand whilst walking for texting, etc.
• With Android apps you’ve got 24 hours to get a refund if you don’t like it or it didn’t perform as you expected
• The power cable is similar to the iPhone’s in that the USB end plugs into the power cable

10 apps that are awesome on the Streak:

1. Dropbox
2. Fring (for Skype & instant messaging apps)
3. Google Listen (podcasts through Google Reader)
4. Handcent SMS (iPhone-like text messages)
5. Opera Mini (web browser)
6. Profiles (change between ‘Normal’, ‘Night’, ‘Outdoor’, etc.)
7. Quick Addroid (add stuff to your Google Calendar quickly)
8. Realplayer
9. SlideScreen (really classy home screen replacement)
10. Spotify

I’m happy to answer any questions you’ve got – including making another video, so ask away!

Posted: June 22nd, 2010
Categories: Technology
Tags: Android, apps, cellphone, Dell Streak, Doug Belshaw, mobile, review, tablet, video, YouTube
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I’ve seen people use a tube map metaphor for their resumé (e.g. here and here) and always wanted to have a go. Here’s my first effort – what do you think?

(click to enlarge)

I created it using Keynote 09. Feel free to download the file and create your own!

Posted: April 24th, 2010
Categories: infographics
Tags: design, Doug Belshaw, infographics, london underground, resumé
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Inspired by the wonderful infographic-style resumés of graphic designers on display at FastCompany and Cool Infographics, I decided to have a go at my own. For best results, click through to view it full-size!

Before you ask, I used Keynote, part of iWork 09. It’s a wonderful drawing package!

Posted: January 16th, 2010
Categories: infographics
Tags: Doug Belshaw, infographic, resumé
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Last year I simply listed the ‘top’ 25 posts on this blog from the previous year in Top 25: the Best of Belshaw 2008. This year, I’ve gone one step further: I’ve created a book!

It’s available as a free download as an e-book or to purchase (as cost price) as a physical book from Lulu.com:

And yes, it’s uncopyrighted as well.

Free copies

I’ve ordered 10 copies and am going to be giving them away for free to the following (UK-based) people who have helped and inspired me this year (in alphabetical order):

1. Dai Barnes (for his help with EdTechRoundUp)
2. Lisa Stevens (for being a cheerful, caring sort of person)
3. Nick Dennis (for being my partner-in-crime on various projects)
4. Stuart Ridout (for his help with the upcoming #movemeon book)
5. Tom Barrett (for being a truly inspirational educator and collaborator)

Over and above these I’ll be giving some to members of my family, so I’ll have 2 spare to give away. If you’d like one of these, please leave a comment below explaining why!  Thanks to those who requested a copy in the comments below – the two that were up for grabs are going to Daniel Dainty & Julian Wood!

Posted: December 10th, 2009
Categories: Everything Else
Tags: blog, book, Dai Barnes, Doug Belshaw, ebook, Lisa Stevens, Lulu.com, Nick Dennis, self-publishing, Stuart Ridout, Tom Barrett
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I’ve just typed ‘Director of E-Learning’ (in quotes) into Google. The results left me surprised, pleased and dismayed all at once…

I was surprised that Laura Walker’s blog post of her (successful) expression of interest in the ‘Director of E-Learning position at her school was in first place. I was pleased for her, and for Dan Stucke – another Director of E-Learning – whose blog post also featured on the front page.

But… where am I? It sounds a bit egotistical, I know, but I was kind of expecting to be there too. Where’s the link to my Director of E-Learning interview blog post? Some may construe this blog post as a blatant attempt to point out to Google that I’m a Director of E-Learning too, thank you very much and to get my name on that front page.

You’d be right.

Posted: August 28th, 2009
Categories: Education
Tags: Dan Stucke, Director of E-Learning, Doug Belshaw, Education, Google, Laura Walker
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I’ve been tagged in another meme, this time the ’7 Things You May Not Know About Me’ one by Alev Elci. As I participated in the ’5 Things’ meme back on teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk in 2006 here, I’ll cheat by just adding two.

6. I have a rather dry sense of humour. More like Martini Extra Dry, in fact…

7. I’m not great at geography. Unlike my wife Hannah, who has top-down maps of places in her head, I can still get lost using a combination of my Sat-Nav and GPS feature of Google Maps on my iPhone. On the other hand, at any given time I could probably tell you pretty accurately which way is North, South, East or West. Bizarre.

Posted: January 4th, 2009
Categories: Everything Else
Tags: About Me, Doug Belshaw, meme
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Nick Dennis and I are at the Schools History Project Conference this weekend. We’re doing a couple of sessions entitled Skype Captain and the World of Tomorrow: using new technologies to promote collaboration beyond the classroom. The page which goes with our session is at:

dougbelshaw.com/blog/shp

If all goes well, we’re planning to broadcast the second session (10.30am BST, Sunday 6th July 2008) live over the Internet via UStream. The broadcast will appear in the box below and at this URL and will be recorded for later viewing.

Posted: July 6th, 2008
Categories: Education
Tags: Conference, Doug Belshaw, edte.ch, educational technology, Nick Dennis, presentation, SHP, UStream
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Years ago, before I saw the light and used Macs, I used to subscribe to PC Pro. There was a guy who wrote for that magazine called Davey Winder whose short bio simply read ‘lives in rural isolation thanks to the Internet’. I can remember thinking that must be great. Now I’m living the dream:

Obviously I’m not going to link to a Google Map showing exactly where we live. I don’t want to give the SWAT teams too easy a time…

Home broadband will be installed in a few weeks’ time due to issues I won’t go into, but for the meantime I’m very happy with mobile broadband access on a pay-as-you-go basis via the 3 network. I’m sharing the connection obtained through HSDPA with Hannah courtesy of our Macbooks’ Airport feature.

Life Chez Belshaw is peachy. No non-human/animal/bird created noise. Rolling fields. A 19th century mill within our grounds. What more could I ask for?

Posted: June 28th, 2008
Categories: Everything Else
Tags: 3 Network, Broadband Internet access, Davey Winder, Doug Belshaw, Google Map, home, HSDPA, Internet
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If you normally get content from dougbelshaw.com via the RSS feed or emails, you might want to stop by the actual site. I’ve given it a bit of a facelift:

Why did I do this? Well the reason I did it today is because I’ve been off work due to illness. I must have a bug or something as I feel rough. The reason I decided to make it look the way it does is for the following reasons:

• teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk had 3 columns and I found it helpful to be able to have two sidebars – more useful content near the top of the page!
• It now features the avatar I use in most places online (a South Park character I created here)
• My Twitter updates are now even more prominent. That’s significant as I spend a good deal of time interacting with people in my network. Now I just need a place to integrate the conversations, rather than just my side of them…

Please do feel free to give me some feedback on the redesign. I am aware, for instance, that it takes a while to load the page. Is that a big issue?

Posted: May 15th, 2008
Categories: Everything Else
Tags: blog, Doug Belshaw, redesign, Twitter
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Enough is enough. I think it was Clay Burrell who (via Twitter) initially pointed me towards this quotation by Gandhi: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Unhappily, teachers in many UK schools (and further afield) are forced into a kind of cognitive dissonance as a result of official mobile phone bans being flouted by almost every student in the school. In fact, it’s more than that. Teachers are made to feel guilty when they encourage students to use the technology they have for learning.

Andrew Field and I had a brief Twitter conversation about this situation recently. As a result, Andrew started a thread on the EffectiveICT.co.uk Forum to discuss the issue. I’d like to bring more people (i.e. YOU) into the discussion, especially if you’ve got any links to good and forward-thinking Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs)!

A brief search for AUPs relating to mobile devices brings up the following problematical example:

Mobile phones must not be used during the college day, including break and lunchtimes. Phones must be switched off during the day. If any student is found using a mobile phone at any time during the college day it will be confiscated until the end of the day

Of course, one can see why this particular college, like many educational institutions, has gone down this road. They’re protecting their own back; it’s the reason why networks often blacklist sites that teachers want to use for perfectly sound pedagogical reasons.

But then, there’s the rub. As Andrew Field pointed out, if the Internet connection’s already filtered, why lock pupils out of wireless networks and the like when they’re using their own devices? He cites using an iPod touch for accessing online content through the wi-fi connection in his department. There’s no reason why I couldn’t do the same – give out the password to students.

A big stumbling block is insurance, I suppose. But then, I’m only supposing. What exactly is the legal situation? Surely if a student damages their mobile phone/MP3 player in school it’s covered by their parents’ home insurance in the same way it would be on their way to and from school? Andrew quotes the following from Halifax insurance:

Personal Belongings
For those items that are normally worn or carried in everyday day life Halifax Home Insurance offer Personal Belongings cover away from the home both in the UK and abroad. This cover complements their unlimited sum insured contents insurance* and provides cover for items such as jewellery, money, credit cards and mobile phones.**

* Inner limits apply to certain areas of contents cover, including; money restrictions, single article & high risk item limits and contents left in the open. High risk items are subject to a £2000 limit per item. Details are available within the policy and schedule.
** Aggregate limits of between £2,500 and £10,000 apply. Individual limits apply to mobile phones, money, credit cards and pedal cycles.

I wonder if there’s anyone reading this who has links with those in the industry who could give a definitive answer?

Becta provide some reasonably helpful (general) advice on the subject, stating that an AUP should not stand alone, but instead be part of a ‘safe ICT learning environment’, including:

• an infrastructure of whole-school awareness, designated responsibilities, policies and procedures
• an effective range of technological tools
• a comprehensive internet safety education programme for the whole school community.

I agree. Unhelpfully, they state that there “are many sample acceptable use policies available, both online and via local authorities, which schools can use as a basis for their own policies” – but then fail to link to any.

To their credit, however, they have a PDF document from 2006 on E-safety which could provide an excellent platform to spark a discussion within your school. It covers everything from the potential dangers of online access, to the responsibilities for those with various (already extant) roles within the organization. It’s focus, nevertheless, is on prevention of abuse rather than enabling and opening-up as much as possible!

Diagrams are powerful tools when trying to effect change. This one, from the PDF mentioned above, demonstrates a sound (if slightly conservative) process. As technologies change, so must AUPs and, most importantly, the whole organization’s response. ICT lessons, as many teachers of the subject have realised, cannot simply be focused on learning how to use Microsoft Office and the like. They need to prepare students for the 21st century online world.

We need to create responsible users of the Internet and mobile devices. Yes, there are risks. Yes, there might be financial and other costs to the school. But isn’t it worth it in the long run?

Update:

Liz Kolb replied to this post via Twitter providing a handy link to some AUPs:

Posted: May 7th, 2008
Categories: Technology
Tags: Andrew Field, AUP, BECTA, Clay Burrell, dangers, Doug Belshaw, edte.ch, Education2, EffectiveICT.co.uk, ICT, Internet, iPod, mobile devices, mobile phones, MP3 players, online, policies, pupils, schools, students, Technology, Twitter, wi-fi
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