Cell Phones in Schools

During his presentation last Tuesday, Ray McNulty told of a high school he visited where the largest category of discipline referrals was cell phone infractions.  (Cellphones were strictly forbidden in this school.)  When he asked the students about their use of phones, in addition to the chatting with and texting friends (which neither he, nor I, can excuse) the students spoke of using their phones as watches, timers, calendars, and to communicate with parents.  The most creative use, however, was one student who used the camera on her phone to take pictures of her homework assignments and class notes that were written on the whiteboard.  Those all seem like logical (and educationally justifiable) uses of relevant technology.  

Will Richardson recently blogged about a conversation he recently had with high school students in a New York City public school.  The most fascinating point to me was how anyone can "google" on their cellphone by texting a question to 46645. 

The Amazing Ingenuity of Students

As all schools continue to struggle with the use of cell phones and other electronic communication devices in schools, one can't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of students when it comes to using such devices in their classes.  Take a look at this article about cell phone ringtones from the New York Times.

Cell Phones and iPods

Recently, the Exeter Newsletter ran an editorial entitled Cell Phones Should be Banned in Class, in which they commented on many of the negative features of cell phones and iPods as they relate to school.  They even noted that parents "complicated" the issue by allowing their children to carry theses devices in school and while I agree that such devices should not be used to distract from or inhibit learning, I do believe there are alternative uses of cell phones and iPods - uses that may have a more positive impact on learning.

Since then, I have done a bit of research about some of those more positive, educative ways that new technologies can be used to enhanced student learning.  I wanted to share some of those with you here.

1.   Will Richardson's blog about "participatory media"

2.  Again, Will Richardson, this time about "Digital Citizenship" and the students' role in the creation of new media.

3.  This article from Newsweek talks about the release of "Kindle", Amazon.com's digital book reader.

4.  Will Richardson makes some interesting comments in his blog about the use of cellphones and texting by students that are both scary, but also make one think a bit about their use.

5.  Ian Jukes writes of a "Cell Phone College Class" opening in Japan.

6.  Karl Fisch, the original creator of Did You Know?/Shift Happens, has examples of how students are using iPods and podcasting in their classes at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado.

7.  Ian Jukes shares this article entitled, "Study:  iPods Help Students Concentrate".

8.  Students2.0 is a new blog created with students from around the world.  They have some very pointed and interesting views.  It is worth reading.  They are worth listening to.