Mobile+Devices+and+Ministry+-+Cell+Phones

Assignment #4
Expected time to complete: 30-60 minutes

Read through pages 111 - 167 or browse the blog "From Toys to Tools." When you find a project that you feel you can adapt, then go to the wiki to briefly describe how you might adapt this project to your audience. Feel free to substitute use of a tablet or iPad instead of a cell phone.


 * ~ YOUR NAME ||~  ||~ YOUR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS ||
 * Example:Susan ||  || Twitter (pages 116-117). There are several ideas here that could be used with my RCIA candidates. I'll need to give this some thought. I'm wondering if after our class gathering, when the candidates are home, if they would "Tweet" a message to our group (using a hashtag) with a comment about what was most important to them in the session. Or, perhaps what they may still have a question about or ???. As I said, I need to give this some thought. ||
 * Elizabeth Girton ||  || Using Wikispaces I would invite the RCIA participants to add one new idea they have learned about the Catholic faith they find inspiring for their faith journey. Then invite them to all read the others' comments so they can all learn from the wisdom of the Spirit in the community. I would encourage other parishioners to add their comments as well. ||
 * Ed Reising ||  || If there was a way to put electronic media devices in every parishioners hand (even mine) we could use Scavenger Hunt - we do a scavenger hunt around our area every other year already so this would fit in nicely. Also using Wikispaces could help in planning and filling ministry schedules. ||
 * ME Singer ||  || I would also like to use Wikispaces or a blog for RCIA participants to answer the question, "So what?" after every session. Although we try to start that reflection in our sessions, I think some people benefit from some time to ruminate about their answer. ||   ||
 * Deanna Bartalini ||  || again, no book but I hope I'm on the right track... One year at VBS we had a "God Sightings" message to fill in with cotton balls. Each day we asked "where did you see God today?" (very Ignatian, so I loved it right away) At any rate, we could use that question and then have students take a picture, either with their phone or camera (some may not have a phone), send it to me and then they could be used as part of opening prayer time at class. ||
 * Barb SchwabKlaco ||  || I will use wikis for group work throughout the school year. I have investigated several collage apps. The best I have found (fuzel) is only available on the iPhone and I will need special permission to use it in the classroom. Other collage apps are available for iPads. Using these to create a collage about one of the gospels (Animoto will work also), a person we are studying, the liturgical seasons, virtues and the many other aspects of high school theology will be an interesting way to begin discussions. I think I will also use the 3-minutes retreats with students on occasional block days (84 minute classes). Using Apple TV will be helpful in being able to see any student's work at any time. ||
 * Kim Adamson ||  || I would like do a scavanger hunt that would involve the youth group, particularly those who are in their first year of Confirmation preparation. The items to be found would be a combination of actual objects on the church property as well as people and statements by people of their patron saints and why. Then have the kids upload their answers and put together a video. I think this would best be done using Photobucket. ||
 * Karen Burford ||  || do not have Toys to Tools, but spent some time browsing the website. Mass text message alert services such as [] would be a great way to keep in touch with RCIA participants and parents of PSR students. The first and most obvious use would be for announcing last minute changes or cancellations. What a timesaver! Going a little deeper, though, I like the idea of a mobile scavenger hunt. [] provides a very complete service for $14.99 – a very inexpensive price to pay for an event such as a First Communion or Confirmation retreat. I would like to adapt it first to our PSR Family Day. On the last day of PSR every spring, the whole family comes. They rotate through different stations and work on activities together. If the theme is, for example, the Holy Spirit, we could send families on a mobile scavenger hunt as a fun way to go through activities. We could present the same information as we would have on paper, but in a whole new way that I think families would enjoy. We would need to be sensitive to those who may not have cell phones or unlimited texting. I’m sure there would be families who would team up with other families and share. ||
 * Michelle Tomshack ||  || I am liking the JOTT tool shown here: []

I can imagine using this with teens on a retreat. They can listen to a presentation and then, after time for reflection and sharing, use JOTT to journal their reflections on a blog or "livejournal". When using JOTT, they can "call in" their reflection, so they can use their phone (ends the fights about no cells while on retreat) and they don't have to write their reflection - which they usually hate to do - they'd much rather speak it. I can see this being useful for Q&A also. Ask specific questions and have them post it to a particular blog or wiki using JOTT. || vessel, vestment, or church object and e-mail it along with what they learned about it. The catechist could put this together in a power point or use Flick'r or Animoto to create a review the next time class met. || The ability to create your own TV channel using a cell phone has many exciting applications for ministry. One idea would be a visual tour of the Church itself.... For example, for a Baptism class for expectant parents, let's learn about the Baptismal font. invite them to go into the Church on their own and snap with their smartphone a tiny QR code on the Baptismal font. The snap takes them to a video on YouTube Channel about the history, purpose, construction, etc. of the Baptismal font. The video could be as simple as a narrated Animoto. The person is invited to take a video of their child's own Baptism and add it to the Channel. || [] Another would be for those in adult faith formation to track Pope Francis' tweets & share one that they felt spoke to them. Then have them reflect on and take the given Tweet in prayer to the Lord, asking the Holy Spirit what He wants to reveal to that person about the retreat. Then they can share how the experience impacted their life and further their relationship with God. Maybe there could even be a way to do this in pairs and people could learn from each other's learnings that they received from taking the Tweet to the Lord in prayer. :) || per student and so some iPad apps caught my mind like making collages on iPad or using Animoto accounts so students can do projects that either begin or end a chapter. Also, from what I've seen, I think Tumblr using audio, images, and video would be great for use in class or for a longer term project done at home. This year I would like to investigate with at least one class the use of Polleverywhere using phones or Socrative also using phones. I think I would use these devices for reviewing what we have taken. This would be easy for the kids. Give them real feedback. And hopefully a way for them to track and keep the 'correct' answer on the review questions. There certainly is a lot in the text and I'm planning to get a copy. || I could use this with missionaries as well as perhaps with teachers and catechists who participate in the MCA program through the Pontifical Mission Societies. || Pat Ruthemeyer - Do not have a copy of Toys to Tools but, in addition to RCIA idea posted in Assignment #3, also think that giving and encouraging RCIA candidates/catechumens/team to follow Pope Francis' tweets, and creating a site where each could respond to the end-of-session question "What was important?", "So what?" or "How does this impact my relationship with Jesus/God?" would be a way to help process and apply the session.
 * Alison Smith ||  || Our First Communicants view a video about our parish Church and then take a tour with their parents. At the end of the tour with their parents help they could take a picture of a sacred
 * Joan Fye ||  || We have a session called Cookies and Confession in December. Our 9 & 10 grade youth make cookies to distribute to a couple of group homes for Christmas. Before the cookie making begins we invite a priest in to do an Advent Prayer Service. Then we invite the youth to take turns going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation as they make the treats. We could adapt this so that these youth could make a video with their cell phones of the whole process (excluding the time of the individual confession). What a great witness it would be to the parish of our young people frequenting this sacrament. We noticed last year, during this event, the youth encouraged one another to go to confession. During Lent, there was a station close to their classroom and not many participated. A youth could gather all the mobile device pictures, another could do a podcast and there would be a great video clip for this catechetical year of "Our Youth Opening the Door of Faith." This was based on the Lesson Plan -- "Collecting Biological Phenomena in Everyday Life" from the Toys to Tools blog. ||
 * Sarah Pascual ||  || I read a post on the blog about iReporters. CNN asking for people to report on the election or their election experience. Students could use the video features on mobile devices to "report on" or interview members of different parish ministries as a way to learn more about the ministries and what each one does. If they don't have a video feature, they could take pictures to go along with a written interview. ||
 * Terri kerley ||  || I think it will be a great way to really find out what your students are thinking by using the Polleverywhere. This way you know where your class is on issues, or even on knowledge of their faith. Almost like giving them a test but they do see it as that because it is on their phone. This would also be very helpful when teaching morality. Also this year we are going to have our children journal about liturgy each week. Wouldn't it be great to do a blog and all contribute to it. ||
 * Julie Scott ||  || YouTube (ch 4, location 1414 in Kindle edition)
 * Patti Gehred ||  || I would like to interview each of our employees, perhaps at their favorite spot here on our property and ask them to share their memories. We are having a 30 year anniversary celebration and we could loop this on youtube for guests to watch at the reception. ||
 * Bob Wurzelbacher ||  || I liked the idea wtih Tumbler where one can upload audio, photos and videos. We can really get a project going abot creating a short post on your confirmation saint as a reserach project that includes scanned photos and an animoto video on it. ||
 * Loretta Nazario ||  || I was really struggling with this assignment, since I work with adults. That's where reading other entries really helped. I loved Karen Burford's suggestion about using a text message alert system to contact the RCIA participants! We have had weather cancellations before, and it was crazy trying to reach everyone. It would also be really helpful to send a quick reminder about a special meeting time, a change of location, etc. I like that it is an "opt-in" system in case someone doesn't have unlimited texting. The scavenger hunt idea might work for the church tour, but we will have to really think about that application. ||
 * Laura Sams ||  || Using Classroom Performance Systems or clickers would be a fun way for students to review the information they have learned. You could easily adapt the review questions from their textbooks and create a "game-like" learning atmosphere. ||
 * Anne Marie Prangley ||  || Using Twitter and Wikispaces. I would have my adult faith team sign up for Twitter so they could receive the Pope's tweets. On Wikispaces, we could share our insights to his reflections. It would be a great way to build community and build up faith among those seeking to build up others. This could eventually lead them to share faith-related videos on places like Youtube for reflection moments. All this can be done on their mobile devices which allows their own faith-seeking to be integrated into their daily lives and at any time or place. ||
 * Cara Stolarczyk ||  || In reading examples on the From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning website, I had a few thoughts. One would be to have children or adults who go on a trip to one of our local shrines in Philadelphia, take pictures and create and Animoto movie of their experience to bring the saint to life for those who are housebound or not able to visit the shrines in person.
 * Cara Stolarczyk ||  || In reading examples on the From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning website, I had a few thoughts. One would be to have children or adults who go on a trip to one of our local shrines in Philadelphia, take pictures and create and Animoto movie of their experience to bring the saint to life for those who are housebound or not able to visit the shrines in person.
 * Jan Von Handorf ||  || All students in the Lay Pastoral Ministry Program are required to complete a field education component. Mindful of privacy considerations, students could “document” key learnings and insights using a combination of text, video, audio and pictures and post on a private wiki. Discussion of key theological issues that inform their ministerial service could be shared using discussion threads. Students involved in similar field ed placements (e.g., pastoral care, outreach to the homeless, ESL, etc.) would have a place to continue the conversation. ||
 * Claire Hamilton ||  || Using Infuse Learning's collaborative drawing/doddle board, students could discuss the Lectionary- based question of the week, the object of the discussion being to determine ways to implement the answer(s) into one's life during the coming week. ||
 * Fr. Joe ||  || I looked at a number of things in the web supporting the text. Next year we will have iPads
 * Teresa Phillips ||  || Again... no book, and a slightly diffferent situation here. But I am starting to get ideas of how
 * Patti Kamper ||  || I work with elementary age children but I can see creating a children's Stations of the Cross that uses QR codes that catechists could use to walk the Stations. I can also see having classes compete in a photo scavenger hunt. The catechist could work with the class and take the pictures. ||
 * Susan McGurgan ||  || LPMP Students could create a video that captures the spirit of their Field Education experience; For the Evangelization and Mission course, students could share their personal testimony via a Wordle, a video, glogster; Faculty members can set up a closed FB page for class participants to post questions, insights, or comments on assignments or readings; Students can create a wiki to work collaboratively on projects and assignments. ||
 * Terri Moser ||  || Chapter 4 of Toys to Tools was frustrating because many of the links provided were discontinued. The one I was especially interested in was wiffiki and it is no longer available. But in the spirit of the search for what else to use, I am planning to use "poll everywhere" in my adult ed. I think that would be a helpful tool. ||
 * Mary Pat Austing ||  || On the first day of PREP, we have the parents attend class with their children. This would provide a great opportunity to discuss the technology guidelines and get parental signatures. Those with cell phones with cameras could take pictures of children with their parents in class and an animoto could be made for the parish website. Each Catechist would put an email address on the board as where to send the photo. Each child and parent could text a reason why they love Jesus or what is most important about their faith. These lines could be incorporated in the animoto. This would help with the message that PREP is here to support the parents in passing on the faith. It would also encourage families to check out the parish website. This format could be used to do a Family Lenten observance animoto and an ADVENT Family observance one. Encouraging families to write how they are getting ready and take a picture of their family in action doing so. ||
 * Marty McClain ||  || I don't have a copy of Toys to Tools and have mentioned our plans to use cell phones for a scavenger hunt. I am contemplating using a survey-based lesson plan where the studetns can take a survey using their cell phones. The results could then be tabulated in real time and used as discussion starters. ||

Susan Bellotti I have asked the RCIA participants to take 10 minutes to make a quiet visit to Church. I want them to develop a reference for listening and quiet in deepening their personal relationship with God. Now I might ask them to take 10 minutes of quiet in a nature setting and this time they are to listen to reflective guided meditation. I would create an MP3 file they can upload/use on their cell phone for this assignment -with the help of my project coordinator!

Tara Dibble We've used scavenger hunts in our retreats in the past but I like the idea of using cell phones. I liked the wiffiti ideas, too, but since it's no longer avaiable. ..

Barb Blanco Given the opportunity and resources I would incorporate textnovel to bible study. We would break the large group into groups of 3-4, assign them each a scripture verse and have them create their own video novel associated w/the verse. After which they could share each scripture novel to the entire group.