While I am partial to computers, the cell phone may be the platform that has
the most potential for delivering lessons to the masses. It's portable, now
often includes a color screen, and the same chips that drive onboard games
can be used to deliver content with interaction as well. The cell phone
seems much more pervasive in the society than the personal computer.  You
can use plug-ins with web design software like Adobe GoLive and Dreamweaver
to design webpages for the cell phone platform.

When you spoke of the bird flu, I recalled something I read last year during
the SARS outbreak where teachers in Hong Kong delivered web-based lessons.
As I read about it at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/21
/BU190788.DTL I see that part of their system involved using a special
phone. Video on demand, TIVO, mp3 players, PDA's and other technologies are
poised to enable access to content that people want 24/7. They're primarily
being used for entertainment now, but imaginative teachers may be able to
seize the opportunity to extend education beyond the four walls and make
learning accessible to everyone. I think a key element is getting us as
educators to think outside of the box and imagine how we can make learning
more like the entertainment that is attracting people to use these
technologies. Personally, I am educating myself using podcasts that I
capture on the web and content I've ripped off CD's. Coupled with the
traditional books, pen and paper, I think there's a lot of potential in
these technologies for education, and there's not much of a learning curve
involved if we deal with what people already know and do.
Bruce Moon
Adult ESL instructor
Sacramento, CA