Cell Phones Use in Schools

This month's issue of ISTE's L&L had an interesting article with two different perspectives on cell phone use in schools (p. 9). I tend to think that the main issue is knowing what it is you want to do and then picking a device that can support that.

I tend to agree with Liz Kolb that cell phones "can be audio recorders, digital video camcorders, still cameras, note-taking devices, calculation devices, scheduling and management tools, phone conferencing devices, Internet researching tools, faxing and scanning devices, blog and web page editors, or even audio assessment recorders".

While with any new technologies, learning how to manage it in a school environment is always an initial challenge I am intrigued at how some educators are experimenting with how these tools can be used to promote student learning.

One of the blogs I subscribe to is Dave McDivitt’s http://davidmcdivitt.wordpress.com/ . Some of his recent entries have been talking about how he has been texting reminders to his students. I think this is a great way to utilize cell phones and improve relationships and engagement between students and teachers.

I am also intrigued by Project Connect in which Ninth graders in several public schools in North Carolina will receive smartphones to access supplemental math content to assist them with Algebra. One the advantages of this program is it allows students access to online resources that do not have a computer or internet access at home.