The Cellphone as an Educational Tool

The article: "Class, Turn On Your Cell Phones: It's Time to Text" (Aug. 2011) by Audrey Watters, is just one of many recent news articles that discuss the use of cell phones as learning tools in the classroom. The author notes the change in educational circles from viewing cellphones as an in-class distraction to a tool to be utilized for educational purposes. More than one in three students send over one-hundred text messages a day, so technologically-forward teachers are exploring ways to tap into an already popular form of communication. 

Cellphones can be used, in their most basic texting form, to perform in-class polls and form text-message discussion groups. Online companies such as Celly and PollEverywhere offer simple and accessible SMS text polling, group messaging, and questioning/feedback options. This type of technology is private (individual phone numbers are blocked) and widely accessible to students with cell phones. Watters writes, "Celly can be used to send messages home from school — reminders about homework assignments, for example — but it can also be used to monitor local and relevant news and information — all in real-time, all sent to users’ cellphones," (Watters, 2011). It seems, with this type of technology, teachers have the ability to be present in their students' lives using the device and form of communication already found in their own backpockets.

A more recent survey of news articles shows that many school districts are turning to "bring your own device" policies to encourage student use of cell phones, ipods, ipads, and laptops inside the classroom. With the utilization of smartphone web-browsing, students can do a quick google search and find the answer to fact-based questions. I'll discuss the potential for learning that web-based browsing brings to the classroom in a later post; needless to say, it may help nudge our higher-order thinking skills up a few levels on Bloom's taxonomy by making the value of memorization and recall out-of-date.

In terms of this article, the egalitarian ramifications of equality of access to mobile devices that plays out in BYOD programs is less present in simple SMS cell messaging. A teacher need only to perform a quick survey at the beginning of the school year asking who has access to a cellphone. Odds are, most students do. From that point on, it's up to the teacher to set the boundaries for Celly use in and out of school. Are students expected to reply to teacher texts? Will the teacher approve all group messages before they are sent to the class? Will the teacher text students at home? Until what time?

Once these boundaries are set, the use of simple SMS texts to communicate class business, conduct informal polls, and allow students to communicate with each other informally and outside of class, has the potential to be beneficial to learning. And fun! Belonging to the class "group" may even foster a sense of belongingness not found in simple teacher-to-student emails or online computer-based discussion groups. Students who lack access to computers at home probably have a cell phone on hand. Setting up class groups with Celly or another provider is definitely something I will look into with my own class.

Citation:

Watters, A. (2011, August 25). Class, turn on your cellphones, it's time to text. KQED: Mind/Shift: How we will learn. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/08/class-turn-on-your-cell-phones-its-time-to-text/