Cell phones. Distraction or learning device? This is a question I have been debating during this course. I could not decide whether or not I believed cell phones could be effective technological tools for learning. So, I chose it at my technology to explore this week. I began by reading a few articles/blogs about the topic. A short article from MacGraw-Hill’s Teaching Today site suggests that cell phones could be used as digital recording devices. Students could record field trips and record the material as a travelogue. They also suggested that cell phones be used as dictionaries or thesaruses because of their quick and easy reference feature.
I found these suggestions to be interesting and took my cell phone into the 3rd grade classroom I visit each week. With the teacher’s permission, I offered my Blackberry to students as a dictionary (they only had about 10 in the classroom and I have a dictionary app). Some students were startled or confused, as to say, “Can we really use this?” One child held it for a moment and then lamented that she had no idea what to do. One boy grabbed it and navigated through the icons quicker than I can. He seemed to be enjoying it, and then most students warmed up to the idea and took turns looking up words.
Granted, this experience was new and exciting to them, so the cell phone sort of turned into a Show-and-Tell. However, if each student had their own cell phone to use, I’m sure the novelty of the device would wear off and students would use them as reference tools. Practically speaking, it is expensive and perhaps impractical for each student to be given a cell phone (especially in 3rd grade) but the prospect of say, all 6th graders having their own phone is probably not too far-fetched.
Unfortunately, using my cell phone as a calculator and dictionary were the only two functions I explored in the classroom. I believe that both endeavours were successful. Students found definitions and quickly calculated math problems. I only wish I had explored more uses of the phone.
Other ways I might use a cell phone as a learning device:
- Take class polls (e.g. Voting for the next read-aloud book)
- Research
- Record voice notes for student reference
- Record videos for various uses (e.g. Record the teacher’s instructions to refer back to later)
- Learning how to use the technology itself- certainly an important skill today
The limitations to using cell phones are mostly behavior-based. I would not allow them to use their phones anywhere but my classroom, unless I had consent from other teachers (music, art teachers, e.g.) Their Internet use would be limited to school-appropriate searches (just like on a computer).
One hugely important thing for me to establish before I let my students use cell phones as learning tools: RULES! I would lay out very clear and easily enforced rules regarding the cell phones. (i.e. They are not to be used for anything but classroom purposes). Like any other technology, it’d be important for students to understand that using it is a privelage and can be educational if they utilize it correctly. Overall, I would be open to using cell phones in my classroom as a teaching tool, so long as I believed the students were capable and responsible enough to handle it.
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