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| A Modern Sophomore English Classroom |
Honestly, I think it has potential. Why not take a distraction and make it a fun learning tool? Cellphones can be called "the swiss army knife of digital learning" (Kolb 2011). Cellphones are definitely not just for roadside emergencies anymore. In fact, I think I use my cellphone more like a computer than a phone. Like the rest of society, my phone rarely leaves my hand. I use it for everything and so does the average student.
So, the great debate: Do Cellphones Have a Place in the Classroom? Absolutely. But schools must do more than just allow students to listen to music and text during the school day. Teachers need to be educated and encouraged to use cellphones on a daily basis to engage the modern student.
Some innovative activities that involve cellphones according to Liz Kolb include:
- Podcasting, Oral Quizzes, Oral Recordings
- Mobile Geotagging
- Digital Storybooks
- Student Organization
- Photo Projects
- Classroom Response Systems
- Information Gathering
I encourage everyone to read her article, Adventures in Cellphones, in the February 2011 issue of Educational Leadership. It is a must read for the modern teacher!
Teachers, Administrators, Students, Parents....Should we open up the classroom doors and let cellphones in? Watch this video, and let me know that YOU think:
References:
Kolb, L. (2011, February). Adventures in Cellphones. Educational Leadership, 68(5), 39-43.
Goodman, S. (2009). Cellphones in the Classroom: Learning Tools for the 21st Century. Available from http://youtube/aXt_de2-HBE
I was introduced to Poll Everywhere at the CAMT conference this summer and it was probably the coolest thing I walked away with. I loved how it was anonymous, incorporated technology, and had a live graph. I came up with so many ideas afterward to incorporate in my daily warm-ups. I was just overall ecstatic about it!
ReplyDeleteThen Inservice week came around and administration completely prohibited using this website. I felt like someone had stolen my ice-cream. Our administration has been pushing increased attendance, less discipline problems, and, of course, higher test scores. How can they prohibit such innovative ways of ENGAGING our students if it hasn’t actually been attempted? If the old ways of engagement are not catching our students attention then why can we not try this? I think its worth a shot. Of course, students will try to take advantage of this at first but I think once they become accustomed to using their phone as a TOOL, it will become less of a discipline issue.
It seems at my school several things are “broken” and administration would like to “mend” everything using old tools. It’s obviously not working and is time to take that leap of faith with technology!
What an interesting thought. I have thought about the cell phone topic too, but I love your video that you have added. I have recently heard about a school near Houston that all students are given cell phones instead of laptops. Students can use the cell phones outside for research where laptops will run out of wireless access. Students can text answers to their teachers and video lectures. It is a new way of approaching learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a place for cell phones in the classroom. I think that there would need to be many procedures put in place, but overall I think it could be used. I would love to try that with my students, even as second grace students. I do however think that sometimes the texting doesn’t help students’ spelling. I think that, once again, some rules would have to be in place for submissions like that. But I still think there is a time and place for cell phones.
Here is another take on using cell phones in the classroom. It is short, but sums up some of the positives and negatives of cell phone use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MGRvtS-2ao&feature=channel_video_title
Great blog post!
Slonski, A. (2009). Cell Phones in the Classroom. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MGRvtS-2ao&feature=channel_video_title