If I did decide to use cellphones in my classroom, I think one of the points the article brought up about being able to take pictures is an awesome tool, and one that I use now as a college student. In my classroom, when we are doing lab, I will definitely allow students to take pictures of their experiements along the way. I do it now and I find it to be extremely helpful. A lot of labs ask you to "draw" your results - but I am not the best artist, and sometimes despite understanding, my picture STILL isn't what I wish it looked like... but if I had a photo I would have more time to draw it than just sitting in front of it. So, for that, I will definitely allow cellphones in my class.
Beside that, I think that I would like to use cellphones as a pre assessment to see what students know about the subject before I start the lesson. If I assign them to pre-read the chapter for the lesson to be taught the next day... I could (as a daily thing) have them come in and take a cell phone poll. I think it would be a good tool for me to be able to know how much I have to include or don't have to include.
Honestly, I was/still am a little skeptical about students using their cellphones in the classroom. As a current student, I know what looking at your cellphone means. The minute I look at the phone and see a text, I have to check it and answer it - and then I spend about 3 minutes thinking about the text/context before I go back to thinking about the class. This is why I keep my phone in my backpack. Now, add to that distraction "high school drama" - no thanks. I understand that students will probably use their cellphones in class anyway, and I see that there are truly beneficial ways to use cellphones in the classroom - but I'm just... skeptical.
I agree. I think there are VERY rare opportunities to allow students to use cellphones in the classroom. Letting them take pictures of their labs is pretty cool. The pre-assessment is interesting, but you can do these in a different way too. However, if you have a classroom of students who are texting while you're teaching you can do a pop quiz. TEXT ME THE ANSWER! haha....
ReplyDeleteAmy, I am also a bit skeptical when it comes to using cell phones in the classroom. I liked your idea for using cell phones to conduct a pre-assessment poll. Using cell phones will allow the data to be input and analyzed faster than if students were writing their answers on paper. This extra time could be used to reinforce any topics the students might be struggling with.
ReplyDeleteI think we are all a little skeptical when it comes to giving our students permission to openly use their cell phones during class. I think the best thing that we can do is give them the chance to prove they can use their phones responsibly, and if they are unable then modify the usage. I think the idea that you had for using photos to document lab work and in class observations is very cool. I'm not a huge science buff, but I definitely remember having to draw observations and results in class and I'm a pretty terrible artist. If I could have taken a picture and given myself more time to complete the work, I probably would have had better results. Nice idea! I think it is worth giving a shot!
ReplyDeleteWe all forget that it's moot if the district has policies that don't allow cell phones in the classroom, but I definitely am skeptical about students using them. I often use mine in class to text my friends when I'm not paying attention in class. At the same time, I sometimes text my parents about school related things or other pertinent things that could possibly wait but I would rather tell them ASAP. We have to remember that each student is a different scenario and hopefully we can accommodate them as best we can.
ReplyDeleteHey Amy, I actually had a couple of encounters with cell phone use today in my observations that are similar to the points that you are making. First, while I was tutoring students in a social studies lab one of the students was discussing her biology class with me. She told me that they had been dissecting frogs and that her teacher had them take picture of steps along the way. It was interesting. They would be using the dissection pictures to help them on a culminating assessment.
ReplyDeleteAs far as using cell phones in the classroom I too am a little skeptical. However, today I saw something very interesting. In a social studies class they were learning about the guilded age and industrialization. The teacher was discussing robber barons and Jay Gould. She walked over to the student and put a piece of paper on his desk that he would fill out and have to turn in the phone for the rest of the day. The slip would be what he needed to pick it up later in the day. But the student protested and proceeded to read facts on Jay Gould out loud. He had been accessing the wikipedia and provided her with a series of interesting facts.
So where as many students use their phones to check facebook status' and other things some students are actually using phones in appropriate manners. So perhaps it is possible to teach them to correctly use their phones for good and not "evil."
Being able to take pictures of science experiments could also be a really handy study tool. They would have pictures to go along with their notes which will perhaps enable them to make more sense of the notes!
ReplyDeleteAlso having a text poll at the beginning of every class as a per-assessment would allow you to have immediate and accurate feedback about what the students know/learned.
i think cell phones distract and take away from the teacher, but in group work like a lab, i think its a good idea. sometimes its faster to use the cell phone then wait for the teacher, especially when the cells have internet.
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