Cell Phones in Education

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Comment by Catie Barber on February 25, 2012 at 2:31am

Our school has a decidedly anti-cell phone policy.  Several students were caught cheating with them int he HS, and int he elementary someone was always losing their cell phone, then blaming the school that security was not good enough.  So i am still up in the air about cell phones in the classroom....  Any schools out there have liberal policies for cell phones??

Comment by eldadio on February 24, 2012 at 3:32pm

I haven't jumped on the Cell Phone Bandwagon yet because I think there are better tools that don't present the obstacles that cell phones do.  To begin with, I find Smart phones (Iphones) too small.  Something more the size of a tablet or Kindle Fire seems more practical for classwork of any kind that requires text entry.  The touch screens need to be improved.  Promises of 4G speed have not become reality yet and download times are often a problem as is cell coverage if you are in the wrong area, type of building or underground.  Then, there are all of the distraction and monitoring problems that many here have mentioned.  And, from a funding stand point, if you are going to require students to use them, then you have to provide them for all--and in my opinion there are lots of other tools, like tablets that would do everything better than a phone.  I'm not against using them in classes and I think we should lift some of the restrictive policies to allow students to use them, I'm just not sold on them as the next best educational tool.

Comment by Jennifer Bramble on February 23, 2012 at 6:18pm

Steve Veldman - We used poll everywhere for the orientation we did last year. The parents liked it almost more than the kids did! I think they felt like they learned something that would get them closer to winning that battle with the kids and their phones...

Comment by Steve Veldman on February 23, 2012 at 5:11pm

I love the idea of Poll Everywhere.  I have seen it used in a large group professional devlopment, and it wonderfully provided instant feedback for the presenter.  I teach 5th graders, so they are not all quite at the age where they have cell phones yet.  A few of them do, and it seems like more and more each year, but it is not at the level that I can implement their use class-wide.  However, I am trying to determine ways to use cell phone communications with the parents of my students.  I think that in our upcoming conferences I will post a Poll Everywhere question on my SMARTBoard and allow the parents to respond.  I feel that doing so would allow me to recieve some quick and valuable feedback.

Comment by Edwina lawson on February 21, 2012 at 3:17pm

Here a spin to a teacher starting to use cell phones as part of her class, the student for some reason have stop bringing them.  Since cell phones are not required, then you can not make students use them for class.  This is the same issue you have with anything that requires students to do something they don't deem to be what they want to do. Cell phones are a good resource for class but as history dictates itself, they will have different effects on different students. 

Comment by Kimberly Caise on February 20, 2012 at 4:12pm

Jennifer, that is exciting that your students are interested in QR codes. I just did a presented at TCEA 2012 in Austin, Texas and on Classroom 2.0 LIVE this past Saturday, Feb. 18th. The recordings and resources shared during the session can be found here: http://live.classroom20.com/1/post/2012/02/qr-codes-in-the-classroo.... Be sure to have your cell phone or mobile device handy to scan the QR codes during the session!

Kim Caise, NBCT, M.Ed.

http://kimcaise.com

Comment by Christina Harrison on February 20, 2012 at 1:58pm

Students will do anything if you let them use their cell phone!  I have had them search the internet on their phone to find current statistics on a topic we are discussing in class.  If there is a debate over who is right or wrong, I will have students look up the answer to settle the debate.

I have also used poll everywhere as a warm- up.  When the students enter the room I have a question posted on the board they need to respond to.  I will use the responses as a springboard for the class discussion.  Using cell phones in the classroom is a great way to get all students involved.  I haven’t had a problem with students not being able to use a cell phone.  If a student doesn’t have a cell phone, a neighbor has always allowed the use of their phone.

My only complaint of using cell phones in the classroom is you cannot monitor what they are doing on their phones.  Too many times the cell phones become a distraction instead of a resource.

Comment by Jennifer Bramble on February 20, 2012 at 12:26pm

While doing a project for my Ed tech class, I taught my students how to use QR codes. I created a QR Code that they had to decipher and tell me what it said for some extra credit points. SOme of the students went and found the website (qrcodes.kaywa.com) to make their own and made a few to show me.. One even said that it was a cool thing and I was cool for showing them!  I have found a site for a QR Periodic table and I want to have a scavenger hunt using QR codes. I had to get permission from the principal. Even though we are a New Tech high school and tech is supposed to be integrated all the time, we do not allow cells in the class due to a lack of responsibility. The students were geeked at being able to pull out their phones and do something with them.

I had one student even ask if she could make a QR code and put it out on twitter! I was excited for her, as I was seeing her applying the knowledge beyond what I had taught!

These kids are growing up in a multitasking world, we need to keep up and realize that. I know I can't stand silence, so I know my students want to listen to music while at school! I need to understand that even though they are texting someone else ( not always appropriate) that they are still able to hear what I am saying. (some are better at it than others!) WE need to find that balance of tech and old school teaching!

Comment by Kimberly Caise on February 20, 2012 at 10:54am

Right now the website www.mentimeter.com allows free unlimited number of people responding to your poll questions and shows you the graph of the responses immediately while people are responding.

 

Comment by Jessica Smith on February 20, 2012 at 6:08am

One way I have used cell phones in the classroom is utlizing polleverywhere.com.   This allows for a free clicker-like responses during discussion, and open ended responses when necessary.  Students enjoy using their cell phones and staying actively engaged in the lessons. 

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