I'm always looking for ways to use my Windows Mobile devices to keep me organized in the classroom.  This past semester I managed 90 students' progress through two different courses.

In this article I share some of the ways I used my Windows Mobile device and other mobile technologies to help me manage the myriad of details and tasks involved in a busy semester.  Even if you don't teach, I hope this article gives you some useful tips about how you can use your Windows Mobile device to help you be more productive and organized in your working life.

Tracking Student Information & Participation

I've kept lists for as long as I can remember and I've used the ListPro desktop and Windows Mobile application to manage my lists for about as long as I've used Windows Mobile devices.  ListPro is one of my most frequently used applications on both my computer and my Windows Mobile device. 

I like ListPro because I can create customized lists for any number of topics.  Creating a list is easy and, once created, I can import txt or comma delimited (csv) files directly into it.  A list can include up to 181 records and each record can include up to 32 fields.  Lists can include a wide variety of field types for each record, including Text, Category, Yes/No, 3 State Checkbox, Number, Date, and Linked fields. In addition to being a great list making application, Listpro is also a great outlining tool.

When teaching, ListPro is the cornerstone of my organizational system. I use it as my student information system, to track student attendance, and to streamline and organize course preparation and planning:

Student Information

A semester spans about 4 months, so my student roster turns over frequently.  Instead of managing student contact information through Outlook, I maintain this information in ListPro. 

I import my class rolls, which consist of student name, ID, and email address, into a Listpro list I've created.  I've included a couple of Linked fields in this list and by appending "mailto:" to student email addresses (see the Email field in the screenshot) and "dial:" to student phone numbers in these Linked fields, I am able to to initiate new email messages or phone calls directly from ListPro by simply tapping the field.

Attendance

To track student attendance, I've also included numbered checkbox fields to the list (Field "1" shown in the screenshot corresponds to the 1st day of class). 

Early in the semester, I create a seating chart for each class and input a seat number into each student's record.  To take attendance all I do is sort the list by seat number and tap the respective numbered checkbox field.  At the end of the semester I export the attendance data to a comma delimited (csv) file, which I import into the Excel spreadsheet I use to tally up all the final grades.

Course Preparation & Planning

I worked as a project manager for many years before I started teaching, and I approach most things from a project management perspective. 

I discovered early on that a semester's work includes numerous repetitive tasks which are performed every semester with little modification.  Within each semester there are specific start and end dates, a clearly defined critical path, milestones and deliverables for each milestone, and an end product (the letter grade I award every student at the end of the semester). 

In previous semesters I tracked these tasks through Outlook, but Outlook is not a very good project management tool.  I thought about using Microsoft Project to create a project plan for the semester, but that seemed like overkill to me and I wanted to work with tasks on my Windows Mobile device.  So last semester I imported a comprehensive list of semester tasks for each of the classes I teach into Listpro and created a comprehensive project plan of action steps and related tasks for each course. 

I assigned a week number to each task to designate the week in which the task is performed (see the W field).  Sorting the tasks at the start of each week by week number displays the tasks in a linear fashion and helps keep me focused and organized.

I've organized all the different documents I use throughout the semester (i.e., PowerPoint presentations, student handouts, exams, etc.), by including 4 linked fields (Doc1, Doc2, Doc3, and Doc4) for each task.  Tapping on one of these linked fields opens up the document on my computer.

From the screenshot shown above you can see that I store some documents locally on my computer's C drive (see the Doc2 field) and other documents in the cloud (see the Doc1 field).

Storage in the Cloud with Windows Live SkyDrive

Windows Live SkyDrive gives me 25 GB of free, secure online storage where I store many of the documents I use in my courses: PowerPoint presentations, case studies, homework solutions, etc.  All you need to do to get your own Windows Live SkyDrive storage is sign up for it with your Windows Live ID.

I use Gladinet Cloud Desktop's free starter edition software to mount my Windows Live SkyDrive space as a local drive on my computer.  This enables me to edit the documents I use during course lectures locally on my home computer and save and store them "in the cloud" on SkyDrive. [See "Gladinet Cloud Desktop - Mounting Windows Live Skydrive & Google Docs" by Remo Knops, for a full discussion of this fine software.]

Then when I teach class, I download my lecture presentations and any other documents I need for class directly from my SkyDrive space to the classroom computer.

Email Communications

Windows Live Email sorts and organizes student emails.  I use separate email addresses for each class that I teach to manage and organize all the student emails that I receive during the semester.  I consolidate my separate email accounts into one Windows Live Email where I've set up some filters to automatically sort and organize student emails.

PhatNotes simplifies and organizes email activities:

• I store student email distribution lists that can be easily copied and pasted into new email messages from my Windows Mobile device or my computer
• I've created a Course Email database that consists of routine emails I send throughout the semester (kind of like form letters) - see 1st screenshot below.
• I post routine emails directly from PhatNotes by selecting the email I want to send, then tapping Note > Send Email; by pressing the stylus to the screen until a popup menu appears and then selecting Send Email; or by tapping the email icon in the icon toolbar that runs along the bottom of the screen (see the third icon from the left in the 2nd screenshot below). 

Since PhatNotes is installed on both my computer and my Windows Mobile device, I can easily send emails from either machine. 

I have reduced the number of emails I send out to students by moving most of my routine communications to the internet.

Internet Communications

Twitter as a student bulletin board & broadcast system.  Instead of updating course websites or sending out numerous email messages, I post regular and frequent announcements to twitter accounts I've set up for each of the courses I teach .  Students can view announcements either by visiting the course twitter account or by viewing the twitter widget I have posted to each of my course websites.

Using twitter in this way has been a huge productivity boost for me since I no longer have to update course websites every time I want to make an announcement. 

Course Websites serve as primary landing pages for student course information.  My Course websites are static and do not change much throughout the semester.  Most homework assignments, project descriptions and write-ups and student handouts are included on the Course websites as well as links to the twitter account and course blog.   

Blogging with Posterous:  I post dynamic information and distribute up-to-date course materials to students via Posterous.  Posterous is an elegantly simple online blogging service that:

• Allows me to post to course blogs by sending an email to a special email address. 
• Automatically posts emailed attachments as downloadable documents.  Posterous supports the following file formats: doc, ppt, xls, mp3, pdf, jpg, gif, png, mpg and avi files.
• Automatically posts an announcement to my twitter bulletin boards whenever I post a new blog entry.

Google Voice sets parameters around the days and times when I am available to field student calls.  My Google Voice phone number is posted to my course syllabi and websites. Google Voice provides a permanent online record of voicemail messages, gives me visual voicemail (via email and text message), and I can return calls to students from my cellphone via my Google Voice phone number. Students can even send text messages to my Google Voice number that get delivered to my cellphone and I can reply to student text messages through my Google Voice web page.either from my windows phone mobile browser or from any internet-connected computer.

Windows Live Messenger is an ideal way to keep virtual office hours:  I've set up the web settings for my Windows Live Messenger accounts to allow my students to see my online status.  When I log into one of these Live Messenger accounts, my students can send me messages either through their Windows Live Messenger account or through a Windows Live Messenger button that is posted to my course websites.  I hold virtual office hours for a few hours a day before a big project due date, before an exam or around the end of the semester, and I'll post an announcement on the Twitter bulletin board to let students know when I am online.

Final Comments

I originally drafted this article at the start of the semester, but decided to postpone posting the final article to the blog until after the semester was over.  I wanted to test some of these things out and see how well they worked before reporting success here.  I concluded the semester early this week and I'm happy to report that these tools served me very well during the semester.  I look forward to using them and continuing to refine them in the next semester. 

If you've found interesting ways to use your mobile device to help you become more productive, please post a comment and let us know about them.

Links

• ListPro 5.0 (Professional Edition)
• Windows Live SkyDrive
• Gladinet Cloud Desktop
• PhatNotes
• Posterous
• Google Voice

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