SMART - Chapter 2 (Cell Phones)

Statistics:

Just 23% of students surveyed for Speak Up 2007 believe that their schools are doing a good job preparing them for today's workplace. This is truly a sad statistic, considering that the students spend over ten years of their life preparing for the workplace, and they feel schools have failed them. I know graduating from Powell High School, I quickly realized how un-prepared I was for college. Having Dr. Rodriguez my first semester certainly helped, but I had no idea how to write a quality paper or have any effective study habits. This statistic spoke to me because I know how these students feel.

 

The other statistics which mentioned the rapid climb of cell phone usage and popularity; I was already pretty familair with their impact throughout the United States so I can't say any few feelings emerged from the first part of the chapter.

 

Pros:

Ability to find information quicklyUsing the camera on the cell phone can provide meaningful learning experiences, especially for the visual learner. Students can record or listen to podcasts and other audio material on their cell phones, which provides a quick and easy learning experience on the go. Teachers can also conduct quick and easy surveys (with the help of various websites) by having students text in an answer. This is a great way to get everyone involved, and the students who are shy will appreciate you having their opinion with the ease of not having to raise their hand in class.

Research and study aides is another way students can use cell phones in class. On the iPhone, students can quickly go through a deck of flash cards right before an exam as a quick review. The possibilities are almost endless with the positive use of cell phones in class.

 

Cons:

Cell phone usage can sometimes promote cheating. When a student takes an exam in 1st period, he could easily text a person or record the answers in his phone for a person in 2nd period to use. Cell phones work better than just telling someone what to expect because students often forget several parts of an exam after taking it; thus, cell phones recording the answers is a sure way to promote cheating. Also, cyber-bullying can occur at school using cell phones. This is something which I have no prior experience with because cyber bullying really didn't occur by the time I graduated high school in 2007. Students texting mean comments, or often times racial or sexual comments, is very inappropriate. Cell phones would breed that type of behavior, whereas, not having cell phones would quickly solve that problem. At least, during the school day. Cell phones also just cause distractions. Adults clearly don't understand when to use cell phones and when to not use them, so students will not use them correctly. I can't stand when I see someone texting in the movie theater; it makes me want to punch that person in the face. Cell phones would cause a distraction because students would be on Facebook or Twitter while a teacher is assigning directions or modeling a skill. So many things could go wrong by using a cell phone in school.

 

Best Idea:

The best idea in my opinion was the survey. It is so easy for teachers to pull up a website and having students each respond to a question. This is a great way to have authentic formative assessment; making sure each student understands the material before moving forward. Also, students don't have to be afraid that someone would judge them for their answer. This is a method I will definitely use in my classroom.

 

The chapter certainly had a few interesting and creative ways for cell phones; I enjoyed reading them!