Cell Phones in Education

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Comment by David W. Raft on April 15, 2013 at 7:59pm

I recently attended the MAUCL conference in Detroit with a about 10 teachers.  One of the more impressive ideas that we brought away was the use of our mobile devices to create QR codes for our assignments.  For example, one of our math teachers now places QR codes on his assignments for his students to use if they get stuck at home.  When we surveyed the students 92% of the students have access to a mobile device that can scan QR codes.  On the assignments if the student needs assistance in a specific part all they do is scan the QR and it takes them to an example / tutorial on how to do the problem.  Really cool and truly helps the students who may need more assistance at home.  

Comment by Lindsay Annelin on April 14, 2013 at 3:35pm

As a fifth grade teacher, I do not deal with cell phones in the classroom like middle school and high school educators.  However, that being said, I agree with cell phone usage in the classroom, guidelines need to be in place and cell phones should be allowed and for academic use only.  I know in speaking to other teachers, they incorporate mobile technology in the classroom, such as posing a multiple choice question and having students text the answer.  The teacher is then able to show student results in a pie chart or graph and go over the answer.  I feel like this is an excellent way to keep students engaged and use interactive learning with mobile devices.

Comment by Jason Simpson on February 24, 2013 at 2:15pm

A local middle school uses the cell phones in Science and Mathematics.  The classes use them to retrieve the interactive videos that are uploaded on Edmodo.com. This is part of their flipped classroom model.

Comment by Kimberly Caise on February 24, 2013 at 10:46am

I present a great deal on using cell phones in the classroom and have utilized the research information and blog posts provided by leaders on this topic including Liz Kolb, Willyn Webb and Lisa Nielsen. Many of the tools mentioned below I include in my presentation and more at the links I share below. Cell phones are becoming more ubiquitous among students of all ages and research shows when students are exposed to utilizing cell phones apps, texting and communicating with others at an early age their academic achievement increases. When AUPs are adapted to allow mobile devices, the cost of purchasing and maintaining hardware is obviously reduced and students are more engaged in learning activities and the learning process. Many smartphones have the memory and capacity to perform complex tasks quickly and serve as mini-computers and can help fill in gaps for schools that have limited funding to purchase computer equipment for 1:1 access.

Cell Phones as Instructional Tools Livebinder: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?tab_layout=side&id=364126#

Recent slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/kcaise/cell-phones-as-instructional-tools...

Past Classroom 2.0 LIVE webinars:

Lisa Nielsen and Willyn Webb - http://live.classroom20.com/1/post/2010/11/teaching-generation-text...

Liz Kolb - http://live.classroom20.com/1/post/2009/12/cell-phones-as-classroom...

Kim Caise, NBCT, M.Ed.
http://kimcaise.com

http://about.me/kcaise

Comment by Jennifer Gross-Russell on February 24, 2013 at 9:41am

I dont have a classroom at the moment, but I might actually used www.remind101.com for my husband!! Ha! 

As I have been reading through this discussion I am curious to know if anyone is concerned with the possible  "over" accessibility to technology when considering mobile technology??

I think our goal as teachers, parents and educators is to create self-reliant students and children, but has anyone else been concerned that mobile technology might lead to raising students who are anti-social and dependent on technology? 

Now, when I type this I realize that there are people who might comment that there are social tools that students can use with their mobile devices, but I still think that there is something to be said for face-to-face interactions. 

Comment by Kelly Hanson on February 24, 2013 at 9:10am

I am so glad I stopped by this site!  www.remind101.com looks like an awesome tool!  It seems so obvious to send students a quick text message with important reminders.  I wish I had thought of it myself!  (Thanks, Dana, for posting that link.)

This morning I also stumbled upon an awesome tool--infused learning (http://www.infuselearning.com/).  Here is a youtube video that outlines everything you can do.

I am pretty new to BYOD.  My school just developed a plan this year.  I'm excited about all the opportunities, but I also can relate to the difficulties.  I monitor to the best of my abilities but it's impossible to be aware of a student texting or quickly checking facebook.  (They are extremely quick on these phones!).  I just try to make my assignments as engaging and challenging as possible--so students don't think they have time to be off task.   

Comment by Corbin Brown on February 23, 2013 at 2:45pm

I love the ideas that are occurring here.  I want to add some things to Sophia's comment which is that in most schools you can't "just" turn-off the routers because they are usually located in the ceilings of the hallways.  Then security settings by the IT department can block those sites through the network but students that decide to use their data plan can still access those sites.  To combat it I make sure that my students are on task and if they finish their work early they can then access those sites.

Comment by Sophia Borden on February 20, 2013 at 10:14am

I like what Gerard was saying below about having students being able to use Wifi/Wireless LAN so they won't use up their data plan if they don't have unlimited.  You could also just turn off your router if you don't want students to access wifi at certain times.  My question, however, is how do you keep students from being on Facebook and other places all the time, especially while you let them be on their phone?  Cellphones in general are often a distraction for a lot of people when they are trying to work.  How do you combat this when you use them in your classroom? 

Comment by Leslie Lieman on February 16, 2013 at 6:38pm

I love the integration and ideas that many of the instructors are sharing. However, I think there are institutional questions that often need to be answered:

1) Is there coverage throughout the school/campus? Can all types of phones have access? It seems that a BYOD project needs a very stable infrastructure.
2) When ideas are generated by teachers in independent classrooms, it can often trigger buy-in at different levels, which is great. But the goal may not be to talk about specific tools (or pilot projects in different classrooms), but to agree at all levels (especially administrative) on a new instructional and delivery models -- including why we would integrate cell phones and other BYOD in our courses and how that would benefit students.
3) Do all our students have access to the tools necessary to participate? In our urban area, I always need to consider equity. How do we plan for the students who do not have the right "type" of cell phone or "D" device for BYOD?

Just food for thought.

Comment by Dana Lord on February 15, 2013 at 4:43pm

I have students that will use their smart phone to access their online textbook to study for tests during homeroom. They also check their grades and missing assignments by accessing Infinite Campus on their phone. Just this year, I started using www.remind101.com to send text message reminders of the homework assignment each day. I am still surprised when my absent students show up with a completed assignment because they got my text while they were home sick. I can't wait to find new ways to utilize this handy technology in the classroom!!

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