A cell phone can: A) monitor your stress level; B) dial down the room temperature and lighting in your house; C) carry pay-per-view movie services or D) all of the above?

Ladies and gentlemen, the answer is D, all of the above. In 2007 Sprint began offering pay-per-view movie streaming and AT&T users can now subscribe to a home-monitoring service controlled by their cell phones. In Japan, cell-phone users are able to monitor a variety of medical conditions with their phones. In the next decade, these features and more are expected to become as universal as the camera phone.

The truth is we live in a society where the cell-phone is a part of life. Whether it is at school, work, in the car, or even at the gym, people are constantly using their cell phones to communicate.

“We just got so used to using cell phones that we depend on them,” says 24-year-old business major, Juan Romero. “People pretty much live next to them.”

Today, not only are cell phones affordable to almost anyone who wants one, but
technology has transformed them into devices no one could
have imagined 25 years ago, when the first commercial
wireless call was made. Cell phones now have Internet access, text messaging, GPS navigation, as well as music, video, camera and calendar
capabilities.

As handy and – for some necessary– as the cell phone might be, this super device is not usually welcomed warmly into study areas or classrooms. City College public resource librarian Jeff Karlsen is absolutely on board with the LRC’s policy that cell phones be turned off above the first floor, but he is also interested in the value that cell phones might have for his patrons.

“As a librarian, I’m interested to know if there are services we can offer to people using mobile phones, mobile Web devices,” says Karlsen.

Technological advances are slowly starting to change the way we learn and study at home and in the classroom. At City College, distance-education classes are
taken online and tools such as live television interaction, online discussion boards, and audio threads, are used to encourage student communication and effective
learning. Advanced cell phone technology offers students access to these distance-learning tools right from their cell phones.

“We’re trying to make sure that wireless devices have access to whatever we‘re building.” says distance education Coordinator, Jory Hadsell.

Hadsell says Distance Education is trying to use interactive communication on personalized networking siteslike Facebook or text messaging to help get information to students. In the past, cell phones and schoolwork were not considered a good combination but things may be changing.

“We, as the users of that technology, can still choose to use manners and practical restraint while we engage that technology,” says English and journalism professor,
Dawn Blunk.