"Banning the tool rather dealing with the actions may not be the best option".
I like this quote from Elizabeth Green's article "The Value of Using Cell Phones to Enhance Education and Some Concrete Ways to Do So" because she's not only thinking outside the box but she's thinking about a different way to approach the problem. When we first think about cell phones in the classroom, it’s a disastrous thought. We’ve learned that cell phones are a major distraction of learning, and we’ve also learned that students use cell phones as a means of communication for coordinating drug deals, after-school fights, etc.
Green feels different about this on-going problem. She lists her ideas of using cell phones in the classroom which includes using sms for a dictionary, math equations, currency conversion, using cell phones to read books or look up research articles, or also using the cell phone as a polling device for student’s responses. Although I can see this as a great resource for students I still feel as if they will cause too many distractions and interruptions. Teachers will not know when students are actually using their cell phone to learn or whether they’re just pretending they are and they’re actually texting friends in other classes.
However, there are also some ways that cell phones could be used for classroom purposes, but not in the classroom. This may include sending a mass text to the students reminding them of homework or quizzes, having students read the classroom blog on their cell phones each night at home, or also listening to a voice text which could also remind them of assignments or any anything else.
Overall, Green lists some great ideas to begin this incorporation of cell phones in the classroom, but I respectively have to disagree with her. Technology is proving to us everyday that we can rely on it, however cell phones are just not something to rely on to enhance a student’s learning. Traditional methods such as paper and pencil, computers, and libraries provide students with great opportunities to develop their understanding, and all this comes without the distraction of cell phones. Same idea with a portable gaming device, someone might say that student might learn hand eye coordination but at the same time it’s of great distraction. Jason Levy responded and said “Just because someone CAN learn from a device doesn’t mean they WILL learn from a device”.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the topic cell phones in the classroom as a source of technology learning I thought the same thing as you, HOW? Although, the ideas of using cell phones OUTSIDE of school, like reminders, mass texts, etc. I think are great ideas, I agree with you in the long run. Cell phones will be a bigger distraction in the classroom that resource. We all know how it is sitting in class, texting, gaming, checking our e-mail, etc. We zone out and lose the content of what our professor is teaching. We may believe we can multi-task but in reality we lose alot of information. As young children, there is no possible way to keep them on the honor system and have them stay on track using their cell phones. In my placement as soon as the last bell rings, a handful of the students whip our their phones, turn it on, and immediately is surrounded by a crowd of kids wanting to see and look at the prized cell phone! It is a distraction to the kids when the teacher isn't even teaching!!