Cell Phones in the classroom- to be or not to be?
A few weeks ago, a group of about 12 teachers from my district started a “book” club focusing on technology and literacy. To make a long story short, the books have not arrived yet so for the past few meetings we’ve been reading articles about emerging technologies in education. Diane Wilkinson , the group facilitator and technology instructional specialist extraordinaire, chose some great reading to get our brains thinking and the discussions rolling.
Last night’s topic was cell phone usage in our schools. We have been a bit behind in talking about the issue in our district, but yes, we do have the “ban” policy.
Some of the questions that came from our discussion were:
1. Cell phones have tools that can take the place to tools districts are not providing for students. Cell phones that students have have calculating and organizing capabilities not to mention built in photo and video tools. Web 2.0 applications readily available on the web can be downloaded for little or nothing onto phones . Do we as educators have the obligation to tap into the tools the students already have and show them how they can be used for more than socializing or should we deny students the use of the tools (they might have) because we don’t have them as resources to give to our students?
2. The cell phone is a staple in our student’s world. Are we doing them a disservice by not allowing them and showing them how that tool can be used appropriately from 8am to 3pm while in school?
See excerpts of what Hall Davidson had to say at last year’s National Educational Computing Conference at http://ubiquitousthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/necc-2008-july-1-hall-davidson-on-cell-phones-in-education/.
Here are a few more articles or blog posts to ponder:
Making the Case for Cell Phones in Schools from Vicki Davis Cool Cat Teacher
Get Cell Phones Into Schools from Business Week
Cell Phone Curriculum - Wes Fryer
And for those of you who are still on the flip side:
Teens, Nude Photos and the Law - Newsweek
Explosion in Teen Texting May Have Unexpected Costs
Post your thoughts as a comment.
