Entry written by: Emily K. Lauder Topic: Texting and Cell Phone use in Classrooms
Let’s
face it. Everyone texts. Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, or
businessman, you can most likely be found with cell phone in hand. Because of this new epidemic, why not
incorporate the fact that students are very tech savvy?
When we allow students in the classroom to interact in different ways and ways that they are comfortable with, we can enhance their learning and help them stay engaged and on topic. In doing research on this topic, I came across a vast majority of educators who were either intrigued by the idea, implementing the idea, or shunning the idea all together. One teacher, in her argument against using technology in her class room said, " One of the biggest concerns is student misuse.This includes student unwillingness to stay on task (game playing for instance) to on-line bullying. Personally, I have been very willing to give it a try but I must admit I have had my struggles. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to introduce mobile technology that would increase student engagement?" Another educator that was for the implementation of mobile technology stated, "Mobile technology is the wave of the future. Leveraging its use has many benefits from engaging student learning to maximizing technological resources. In fact, when you really think about it, mobile technology is rapidly becoming a big part of our society. As a result, it is my feeling that everyone affiliated with our education system really should consider incorporating mobile technology into their teaching practices."
Sure, there are downfalls to having texting in class. When you allow students to use their phones there will always be the times when they don’t listen and end up going on facebook and getting off task. When this happens, you need to have a discipline/rule in tact so that they know the consequences of their actions. When students know that they have boundaries, there will be some that push it, but mostly, the students will obey them and be interested in being able to use their cell phones in class. Personally, I am 100% for the use of phones and texting in class.
When we allow students in the classroom to interact in different ways and ways that they are comfortable with, we can enhance their learning and help them stay engaged and on topic. In doing research on this topic, I came across a vast majority of educators who were either intrigued by the idea, implementing the idea, or shunning the idea all together. One teacher, in her argument against using technology in her class room said, " One of the biggest concerns is student misuse.This includes student unwillingness to stay on task (game playing for instance) to on-line bullying. Personally, I have been very willing to give it a try but I must admit I have had my struggles. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to introduce mobile technology that would increase student engagement?" Another educator that was for the implementation of mobile technology stated, "Mobile technology is the wave of the future. Leveraging its use has many benefits from engaging student learning to maximizing technological resources. In fact, when you really think about it, mobile technology is rapidly becoming a big part of our society. As a result, it is my feeling that everyone affiliated with our education system really should consider incorporating mobile technology into their teaching practices."
Sure, there are downfalls to having texting in class. When you allow students to use their phones there will always be the times when they don’t listen and end up going on facebook and getting off task. When this happens, you need to have a discipline/rule in tact so that they know the consequences of their actions. When students know that they have boundaries, there will be some that push it, but mostly, the students will obey them and be interested in being able to use their cell phones in class. Personally, I am 100% for the use of phones and texting in class.
These quotes were taken from Classroom 2.0 Ning, which is a social network for teachers interested in using web 2.0 tools for teaching
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