When I thought of a class room, I did not picture cell phones as part of them. That was till this past week. I knew that cell phones were the technology of the future, but to use them in the classroom it seemed so outlandish. I guess it is all the years of my schooling where cell phones were looked upon with disdain and kept in hiding from instant punishment. This would be one downfall of using them in the classroom of a school system that did not approve of them.
When you ask students to bring out their cell phones for your class to do an assignment, I can see the excitement in my mind, almost anything would seem new and exciting. Even a simple task such as using cellphones for calculators or timers are a new adventure. These are very basic features of phones being used today. Voice recording, video recording, mobile internet. All of these are very powerful tools that teachers in the past had to schedule weeks or months in advance for a spot in the schools only computer lab. But how could I use these chunks of unwanted sounds and distractions, to so many others?
For my teaching emphasis I am thinking the natural sciences, earth science or biology. There are a few ways that I could see cellphones being a very helpful tool. Class field trips are very chaotic time. And there is always something going wrong, most of the time in my school days it was me. Always forgetting something or being late.
By having all of my students in a mailing list, such as the demonstration in class, I could send SMS “Newsletters” right into the hand that the cell phone never leaves. In these texts I could include reminders times, fees, or weather notification so students can being a jacket.
When all the students are on the bus, and we are bouncing our way to higher learning. Activities for the ride could be very fun. If there are several buses then a competition of who can find a white van first could be started. Having the students E-mail the photo of the white van as it drives by, first come first serve. Or sending out a quick quiz about “What was the land form we just passed?” having your inbox fill.
While out in the field of the trip using a cell phone, if there is service, could be used as a form of location finding. Small groups of students going off and finding the assignment. When it is time to come back sending the group a text saying so. Or asking them a on the spot question to answer.
These are only a few of the ideas I have for using cellphones in the classroom. With Mobile devices becoming more and more powerful and more people owning them the more you can do. The sky is truly the limit. With all this texting and photo sharing there is a down fall that I can see. Cost. Most cell phone providers charge extra for out of company calls/texts, or for using e-mail or by minute of browsing the web. At the age of students these days it is would seem that the parents would be the main provider of funds for these phones. I do not know if a high phone bill will be well received. All though I'm sure a letter to the parents saying, the class will be using cell phones for the upcoming class trip and there might be some abnormal cell phone activity, might ease the blow.
