COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today's students are part of a cohort called "digital natives." They've grown up with MTV, video games, e-mail and instant messaging. Digital technology has surrounded them from the time they were infants. They want information fast, and they're experts at multitasking.

 So to grab their attention TXT Learning, a new mobile learning program, is piping brain candy into the gadgets students know and love and, frankly, can't live without.  "The digital world offers them opportunities the previous world didn't," said founder Britt White.

Yet he sees schools lagging behind, still tied to an antiquated system that rewards staying on pace with others above more individualized education plans. He says children want to be more engaged in school. Yet despite such calls to action, no clear agreement exists on how to meet this generation's needs, what those needs actually are, and how they differ from those of previous generations.

But what if technologies like cell phones and text messaging were part of the educational process instead of a distraction from it? Well, now they are, thanks to TXT Learning.

"We've created mini cell phone lessons for kids," said White. "We believe students learn wherever they are, whether it's on the bus, in their room or when they're with friends. Most teens have a cell phone these days, and if we can generate enough interest in this country, hopefully students all over the world can eventually dial up lessons on their cell phone through text messaging, whether it's in an Oklahoma classroom or on a bullet train in Japan."  

Once a user signs up for the free service, questions (provided by the National Education Association) are sent a cell phone, and correct answers are retrieved through e-mail. At txtleanring.com, students also connect with like-minded kids who have a similar bent toward the trivia on which TXT Learning is built. The program's Web site offers interactive quizzes, games, poll questions and trivia that covers math, history English, science, Spanish and college prep.

Suzy Ellison, CEO, explains another dynamic of TXT Learning's appeal: trivia's contagious nature. "Users will likely bounce text questions to a friend or parent, creating a mobile conversation. For instance, say the question is Where is Mount Rushmore? People who correctly guessed South Dakota will want others to know they know. Those who don't know the answer pose the question to someone else, and forward the trivia again. Before long, an engaging side note is created that stimulates an otherwise routine day."

Plus, studies show that pinging kids with trivia everyday through texting guarantees retention. The thing that wires a child's brain, say neuroscientists, is repetition. Without it, key synapses don't form. And if they do form, they must be used regularly. Otherwise, the brain considers them deadweight and eventually prunes them away, reports vibrantelectroniccourse.com, which provides e-courses to supplement a student member's education.

Today, 10 million kids have access to mobile devises. And various indicators not specific to the texting trend show an entirely different future as it involves the dissemination of information.

Consider cell phones verses landlines. In 2007, a Centers for Disease Control survey found 18 percent of U.S. households don't have a landline. If you carve out a younger sample of those homeowners who don't have a landline, the numbers are greater: 34.5 percent of adults ages 25 to 29 live in wireless-only households.

"The use of mobile technologies continues to grow and represents the next great frontier for learning," reports learnhub.com in an article written by Derek Baird, who helped design the Yahoo! For Teachers platform. "Increasingly we will continue to see academic and corporate research invest, design and launch new mobile applications, many of which can be used in a learning context."

 Earlier this year, The New Media Consortium and the Educase Learning Initiative released The New Horizon Report that highlighted current and up-and-coming technologies that will change the way students learn. The report emphasizes "the fact that many students own and carry mobiles remains a key factor in their potential for education." The study also reports at higher levels of education "students doing fieldwork are using mobiles to take notes and photographs and send them directly to a course blog, where they receive instructor feedback."

Whether the technology is IM, video games or cell phones, White encourages teachers to get to know their students and play to the environment in which they grew up. Granted, TXT Learning was not designed to replace traditional education.

"We consider TXT Learning a tool that assists the learning process," said White. "Our goal is to use technology students are plugged into and combine it with educational resources to meet kids where they are — on their laptop, the Internet or on the phone."

Educators also need to come to grips with the explosion of the Internet and all of the new ways to deliver its rapidly expanding content, White said. Wireless technology and new gadgets are creating an increasingly mobile world, and devices such as iPods, portable video games, and cell phones vie for students' time.

As technology evolves, these devices will become increasingly capable of delivering and creating content for educational purposes. "To most educators, computer means a PC or laptop," White said. "Cell phones, on the other hand, are often considered a bothersome distraction to the learning process." However, White says, "today's high-end cell phones have the computing power of a personal computer."

About TXT Learning:
This is a learning site, so here's a question: Why tote around textbooks when you can get tons of knowledge through your cell phone?

You heard us. We've found another use for that tiny electronic device you can't live without. The theory is that texting — once seen as a way to keep parents clueless about phone conversations — will change the way you learn. Let's face it. Cell phones are your social lifeline, right up there with the Internet, iPod and Instant Messaging. The folks at TXT Learning figure you're already plugged in, so why not send you something you can use? They're not reinventing education; they're just delivering it at lightening speed.

For more information, go to txtlearning.com.