Allowing mobile phones in schools have been debated by various educators for some time now. Some argue that the phones are only a means of distraction, with pupils focusing more on texting and browsing social networks than on their teachers. Others, however, see it differently.

Personal Digital Assistants (abbreviated PDAs) like the iPod Touch, can be a handy tool when looking from an academic and educational perspective with productivity in mind. These devices can organise the student’s personal information such as to-do lists, assignments and even access the school’s website, thus helping the students to perform better – perfect for those a little less organised.

PDAs are hand-held and easy to fit in a pocket or backpack, thus making it more popular and convenient than a laptop whilst possessing the same qualities: access to a spectrum of resource materials only a search away.

There are a number of fun, educational apps and tools available to help improve students’ knowledge in any educational field. Athletes can track their nutritional intake and physical activities to see whether they reach their fitness goals. Science students can store and graph data collected via experiments done, while Math students can turn their phone into a graphing calculator. English students can record essays and Foreign Language students never again have to carry another heavy dictionary after installing a digital dictionary on their hand-held device. Another great initiative worth mentioning is the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign (in North Carolina) who introduced the Birds and the Bees text line. Through this campaign they respond to sex-related questions via text sent by anonymous teenagers.

According to a recent study PDAs can improve the performance of students struggling with mathematics. In the study, the group of kids who used the interactive app created solely for this purpose performed 25% better on the final Algebra exam than those without the extra support given by the app. At the recent BETT conference, the world’s biggest educational technology show, it was said that “schools need to adapt and prepare for the 21st century, for more pupils are rejecting the current educational system”. When you search for “virtual schools” in Google you receive 387 000 references. “The children decide where and how they learn and if the schools aren’t enticing enough, they’ll go somewhere else.” In your opinion, what role will mobile technology play in the future of education?

The Festive Season is here and most of us are a bit worried that we’ll overindulge in all the mouthwatering sweets and foods that comes with the holidays.

Fortunately, with all the exercise mobile apps currently available, you needn’t worry about having to shed those extra Christmas kilos later, for mobile apps have changed the way people apply themselves to reaching their fitness goals.

For all the runners CardioTrainer, RunKeeper, Gym Technik and TurMeter are some of the apps available to keep track of your training. The apps allow you among others to work out your own exercise routines or make use of the built-in ones, control your speed and trace your progress. You can even track the distance you ran via GPS and count the steps you’ve taken and calories you’ve burned, all while listening to music.

If weightlifting and stationary fitness is more your thing, iFitness is the answer to your exercise needs. The app sports over 300 exercises, pictures and step-by-step guides on how to execute them properly as well as 20 routines specially created by various fitness experts.

Perhaps you need the support of friends and family when trying to stay in shape during the Christmas time. Endomondo, described as a “fitness social network” rather than an application, allows you to share your progress with friends and get them to join in the fitness fun. This is a cross-platform app with a built-in network of fellow runners.

Into alternative health? Meditate with Tai Chi Regimen Music Mobile app or iZen Lite. The Medicine Buddha Mantra is believed to heal physical illnesses and purify negative karma, whilst the Quan Yin Mantra app is said to make you a more compassionate, loving person – much like the Buddhist goddess herself.

Do you have to work during the Festive Season? No problem. You can exercise at the office, using mobile apps like OfficeYoga and YogaAtWork to help you relax and release tension caused by sitting at your desk from nine to five. Brainwave, voted best mobile app in 2009’s Handango Championship Awards, helps you to focus your attention, learn faster and even apply self-hypnosis. Perfect for that upcoming meeting, wouldn’t you say?

There are many other fitness apps available, many of them free and suited for almost all smartphones, just waiting to help you to reach your fitness goals.

According to a report by Juniper Research, growth of mobile revenues is expected to reach $11B in 2015, almost double what it was last year ($6B). This increase can be attributed to in-game micro-payments, GPS enabled 3G smartphones and brands wanting to provide customers with the convenience of paying via their mobile device. Social Gold, the equivalent of Facebook’s credits for in-game perks in social games, has an in-game payment option has made this even easier.

India, with around 584 million mobile subscribers, is the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile gaming market, with a fivefold growth during 2005 – 2009. According to research done, the projected growth between 2010 and 2013 is a whopping 74%, which makes India look quite tempting to various mobile game developers and distributors. (Source: India Mobile Gaming Analysis)

A large number of games and app’s for phones are free, but they usually offer only a free trial version of the game, with the option of purchasing the full version or charging additional fees for things like accumulating higher levels in the game. In-game purchases, in view of recent reports, will overtake traditional pay-per-download by 2013 as the primary source of obtaining mobile games. With the industry’s future growth propelling, this certainly is a market worth investing in!