Point: "No true best practice has started out with, 'Have students bring their cell phones to class,'" (Josh Allen, Should Cell Phones be Banned from Class, 2008) Counterpoint: "What better way to connect students’ classroom learning with their everyday lives than a tool they already enjoy using?" (Liz Kolb, Should Cell Phones be Banned from Class, 2008). In the words of Hamlet, "Aye, there's the rub!"
As Josh Allen points out, the use of cell phones in the classroom has never been at the forefront of the discussion on the best classroom practices. Long gone are the days when students bravely pass notes in class; now they can discretely do that via text messaging. Not only is that more efficient, but it's also more fun. Liz Kolb touches on just that - the fun-ness of using a cell phone. As educators, isn't one of our main goals to connect to students' interests to make learning a positive and enjoyable experience for them? I must admit, when reading Josh Allen's argument, the voice in my head was shouting, "Yeah! You're right! You go, Josh Allen!" So you can imagine my battle of the wills as I read Liz Kolb's arguments and that same voice started to say, "Er, yeah, Liz, you are totally on to something here. Uhm, go ... Liz?" Instead of being on one side or the other, I am somewhere in the middle. As the adage goes, "there's a place and time for everything." I will amend that saying and add, "...even for cell phones in the classroom."
Liz Kolb makes a strong point when she says, "Teachers who are concerned that cell phones will be distracting inside the classroom can set up a social contract with their students defining the structure and rules around cell phone use in the classroom." It's easy to forget that as teachers, we are the rulers of the universe that is our classroom. Why not implement cell phones into the daily dialogue but follow it with rules? Before reading this article, I have always imagined myself requiring my students to check-in their cell phones at the beginning of class. I think I will still do that, but as Liz Kolb suggests, I can hand them back when they are needed. Her idea of using them on field trips to take pictures and post them to Flikr is brilliant. Josh Allen asserts that "the goal of an educational setting should be to give students the proper tools to succeed once they step into society." Aren't cell phones an integral part of that society? In case you're confused, the answer is "yes." As a teacher preparing my students not only for college (should they choose to go) but also for how to be a functioning member of society, I should also set examples for my students on the etiquette of cell phone use - just as I will do the same with the use of internet. Should my students not follow my rules, well, they will be banished from the privilege and sent back to the dark ages of Encyclopedias and hand written notes.
At this moment, I must digress for a second because what about students that cannot afford cell phones or the data plans they would require to purchase in order to use the tool in the classroom? Enter Hamlet once more: "Aye, there's the rub ..." again. If not every student in my classroom could afford such technology, that is when I would turn to the tried and true buddy system. Not only could I teach them how to use their cell phones, but I could then integrate those lessons with lessons on working together and how to collaborate with their peers. Zing!
So now that I have blabbed on about why I think it might actually be good to have cell phones in the classroom, I find myself asking myself how the heck I would use the tool in my classroom. I want to teach language arts, the base of which is books ... and writing ... and analyzing with personal opinion. How can I use a cell phone to point out the greatness of Shakespeare or further the understanding of prose? At this point, I am not entirely sure. You must remember that until this post, I was against the use of cell phones in the classroom so when fantasizing about all of the great and amazing lessons I may teach, cell phones never played a role. I suppose that now they will, though. It would seem a bit trite not to at least consider the possibilities. But wait a minute - in From Toy to Tool, Liz Kolb suggests using cell phone for audioblogging. She suggests having language arts students conduct interviews with local authors - genius. Or, what about having my students give oral reflections on class readings? Or record themselves reading poetry followed by their analysis? Perhaps I could take such recordings and make a comprehensive class podcast at the end of the term that they can use as a study guide for finals and tests ... perhaps finding ways to use a cell phone in my classroom won't be as hard as I imagined.
No comments:
Post a Comment