When I began teaching ten years ago, most families had at least one cell phone and a few students had them as well. School policy was that they were not allowed at school. In the intervening time, the number of students with cell phones has grown exponentially. Now you'd be hard pressed to find a student that doesn't carry a cell phone with them. Most districts, in the wake of events like Columbine, have accepted that it is okay for students to carry cell phones as long as they are off or don't cause a distraction. However, a new monster has reared its head and has some administrators fuming; the smart phone.
Smart phones are a hybrid computer and phone. They allow students to access websites and content like never before. Students can also take pictures, record video, and upload them onto Facebook or YouTube. This creates many potential problems for schools. For example, my school went into lockdown one day. No one knew why, but a girl pulled her phone out and posted it to Facebook. This caused a panic among parents who spread the news. Things got worse when these panicked parents arrived to pull their kids out of school and had to be told they couldn't because we were in lockdown.
But, can cell phones or smart phones be used to help bring new technology and new methods of teaching to schools? Even with regular phones, it is extremely easy for teachers to set up a twitter feed to make announcements and reminders. Students can subscribe with their cell phones. Now if the teacher wants to send out a reminder about homework, all he or she has to do is tweet about it and students will get a text. Our grade book automatically emails parents when their kids have missing work. Why not email the students too or send the emails as texts to their phones? Poll Everywhere is a site that lets you create polls and you vote using text messages. These are just a few of the examples. Here are a couple of great videos that illustrate some positives and negatives about the use of cell phones in schools:
Some of the big questions are:
When are they okay to use?
What do you do for the students who don't have a cell phone?
What happens if they cause too much of a distraction?
Are there any possible legal issues related to cell phone use?
YouTube (2009). Cell Phones in the Classroom : Learning Tools for the 21st Century. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXt_de2-HBE
YouTube (2009). Students Use Smartphones in the Classroom. Available from: http://youtu.be/AxDHataguRE
With the good we must accept the bad. Technology is a necessary tool and unavoidable. Schools need to embrace the technology and adopt positive ways to address the potential problems. Like most things with students, if teachers do not provide positive and productive ways to use the technology students will create their own ways. We as educators must lead the way and show the system, these tools can be used productively and responsibly in the educational setting.
ReplyDeleteThese links are a great start.
http://goo.gl/PDutM
http://goo.gl/TQEWA
Katzenstein,J.,Schools learn to work with cell phones in class,The Detroit News. September 27, 2011
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110927/SCHOOLS/109270334/Schools-learn-to-work-with-cell-phones-in-class#ixzz1dwC9mMEQ
I am in agreement in having cell or should I say smart phones as an instructional aid in classrooms. However we as teachers need to find creative ways to turn the basic cell phone from digital distraction to an instructional reality. For example, when students walk into their math class, the teacher projects onto an interactive whiteboard the question, How do you define a right angle? The students use their cell phones to text in their definitions, which instantly appear on the whiteboard and serve as the introduction to the lesson. However, it is imperative that before we as teachers (districts) begin using mobile phones for instruction, we also teach students how to use their devices appropriately, legally, and safely.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Kolb, L. (2011). Adventures with Cell Phones. Educational Leadership, 68(5), 39-43.
This has been a very popular topic lately. I think that it has its benefits, but it will have a many procedures for it to work. I really like that there are so many possibilities with phones. They can do videos, record teaching lessons, text, and so many other things. It would save a lot of paper too! I know that that is one of the most expensive things in schools. So phones might help! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThe great cellphone debate. Everyday, it's a constant struggle to fight for student's attention in class. It is an updated Heads Up, 7 Up game, but it's called Heads Down, Phones Out. How can the teacher compete with the smart phone? One huge problem is that every teacher has a different tolerance. Some teachers have a no phone policy while others give in and let the students listen to music while they are quietly working. I personally think that cellphones have a place in the classroom. Twitter is huge at the high school where I teach. I do have a class website, but it never crossed my mind to have a class Twitter account, so that I can send the students reminders. I will definitely try it out next semester.
ReplyDeleteOne great idea that the article, Cellphones in the Classroom by Marie Bjerede, is that cellphones can be used to take random polls to check for understanding. I have used clickers in the classroom for this purpose, but since I share my classroom with another teacher, I have to register the clickers everytime I use them. It takes up a lot of time. Instead, I could have the students use their cellphones. They already have them out anyways.
Reference:
Bjerde, M. (2010). Cellphones in the Classroom. O'Reilly Radar. Available from http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/03/cell-phones-in-classrooms.html