RINGTONES

I was reading an article about ringtones the other day. Guess what? You guessed it: it got me thinking about this class. Basically, the gist of the article is that the ringtone business has grown into a million dollar or more market in the past few years. Why? People want the right ringtones to represent themselves and the people who are calling them. People are personalizing new technology more and more. As well, there are more and more technologies being developed to help you do so yourself. You can take a song you like, find it online and connect your phone to the computer and create a "master-tone" for yourself.

I, personally, don't own a cell phone. My "land-line" has 2 rings... loud and louder. I like the personalizing of technology, though. My computer is highly personalized with pictures and sounds and programs.

I suppose this really doesn't directly deal with Computers and the Study of English directly, but I will justify this entry by saying that as we personalize our technology we are becoming more accepting of its place in our culture. Therefore, as educators, we also need to become more accepting and learn what the new technologies are and how to use them and integrate them into the classroom. For example, maybe you could do a project with your students on why certain characters might choose what ringtone and why. Obviously, this is not about the ringtone but about the student understanding the character's traits. The more that we can relate the work to the students the more apt they will be to want to learn.