Our school has an anti-cell phone policy similar to most other schools that I am aware of. I have tried a bit recently to work around this policy to incorporate this technology at appropriate times into my classroom. I had a great experience this past Friday that I really want to share.
Seniors in my new semester of Personal Finance were given an assignment to listen to a portion of the Dave Ramsey Show and summarize the caller's problem and what they thought of Dave's advice. After realizing that the online stream of this show is blocked on our network because it is considered "internet radio," I began thinking of alternative ways students could complete the assignment. In giving alternatives, one of my suggestions was for students with a smart phone to download the TuneIn Radio app from the Android Market and find a stream of the show that way. Very hesitantly, a few students caught themselves reaching for the phones that should be in their locker and said, "Really!?!?" After convincing them that I was serious, two students did so and did a fantastic job of listening to a segment and summarizing it.
This brings up two major points:
- The only reason I had students use their phones was to get around a ridiculous network filter that prevented students from learning. In a way, I am glad that filter was there because it gave us an opportunity to experiment, and that experiment went very well. In that 54 minute period, students realized a bit more that their phone can be a powerful tool, not just a cool toy.
- Kids inherently want to do the right thing, and they are capable of more maturity than we often give them credit for. We often don't trust things like cell phones in the classroom because they weren't in our classroom, and they are not natural to us digital immigrants. But they are natural to this group of students. Sure there will always be the ones that screw it up for others, but if you give them a chance, they just might surprise you. Just because we have to monitor their use doesn't make them worthless in our schools.
Justin, thanks for expanding on my comments on cell phone use in schools. I am glad your technology limitations made it possible to navigate a learning experience for your students with their phones. Not to mention, a learning experience for all of us educators. I do tend to reject risky teaching tools in my classroom, because I teach in a behavioral classroom. I am slowly building up my confidence to provide opportunities to trust my students to make the right decisions. Your post made me think that if I put the trust in their hands, not to abuse the cell phone use, then maybe they will build their trust in me and behaviors might change. It is worth a shot, thanks for the grest post and the wonderful teaching moment.
ReplyDeleteJustin,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that there is a time and a place for using technologies such as cell phones in the classroom. We also have a cell phone policy in which students are not allowed to have them on or use them from the time school begins until it ends. I can honestly say that I am really tired of policing my classroom for cell phones. I see no problem using them to incorporate technology into the classroom, especially with the example you provided. We are suppose to do whatever we can to engage students and ensure that they are successful. How is this possible when every time we turn around something is blocked on the network?
I use cell phones in my class; this came about after I realized that I was fighting a losing battle with my college students. Now they have to text me responses to questions in class and tweet me responses to my daily twitters using their cellphones; believe me, it is really hard to analyze a story in 160 characters.
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