My daughter is thirteen, and it appears her cell phone is physically attached to her—anywhere she goes, so does the phone. It annoys me, but it is just how things have evolved. According to the article “Cellphones in the Classroom: Distraction or Tool?” by Audrey Walters at ReadWriteWeb.com, more that 75 % of children between the ages of 12 to 17 possess cell phones, and they use them as their preferred method of communication. It was not surprise to read that this same age group does not use cell phones for their voice features. Interestingly enough, one of my daughter’s friends sent over 14,000 text messages in just one month. Is this something we, as educators, can ignore anymore?
The National Education Technology Plan states support for “efforts to ensure that all students and educators have 24/7 access to the Internet via devices . . . leveraging the technology that students already have.” What is more accessible (and affordable) to most children than a cell phone? As educators, perhaps we should consider playing into what our children are already so comfortable using. I read this, and it all seemed to make sense, but I still had a hard time thinking out of the box. I know how I use my cell phone, so I could not image how such a device could become a classroom tool. Ms. Walters went on to point out that not only is the phones are available at a low cost, and they can be used as cameras, audio recorders, calculators, and calendars (just to name a few options). Think of the money school districts can save in equipment, or even in the paper planners some invest in just to help keep our kids more organized.
In addition to savings, we will be bringing technology into the classroom that is so much a part of their lives outside of the classroom. How valuable is that?
I understand that cell phones can be a wonderful classroom tool, however how do you use them effectively and not promote cheating? Students can easily use calculators on math test, look up history questions using the internet, and text answers to their friends. I see a lot of advantages of using cell phones in class (especially since most of our students have them) but I can find lots of disadvantages as well. If there were some way to monitor students when using this technology tool in the classroom then I could see how they could be more effective.
ReplyDeletePlus if we promote the use of cell phones in the classroom, schools become even more responsible when it comes to cyber-bullying and other behaviors.