Many, if not most, educators view cell phones as the enemy. Author Liz Kolb sees them as powerful technology in the hands of students. Acknowledging the current reality at many schools ban student cell phone use in the classroom Kolb discusses a host of innovative and highly interesting uses for the technology that do not require using the phones in the classroom. She also addresses the issues that have caused the bans and provides guidelines for overcoming the prob… More >>
#1 by Paul A. Baker on July 2, 2010 - 4:42 pm
Kids love their cell phones. Teacher and technology advocate Liz Kolb reasons that because students are highly motivated to interact with technology, they will find classroom content more compelling when they can develop content-based projects for their cell phones.
Interestingly enough, the learning activities in this book don’t require students to actually bring their phones into the school.
Kolb shows many ways to integrate these “toys” into the K-12 curriculum nevertheless. Cell phones are potentially tools for knowledge construction, data collection, and collaborative communication. They can serve as collection devices for photos and videos when used with free online resources like Blogger and Flickr for creating a local landmarks photoblog, for example, or for a geometry digital storybook, rock identification, or photo mapping.
Students can brainstorm from their cell phones by sending text messages to a live Wiffiti screen. While on a field trip, students can text their observations or notes to the class Wiffiti screen and discuss their experiences back in the classroom.
Using the instant messaging service Twitter, teachers can set up a homework help group or study group hotline for students to collaborate on homework. For projects involving audio media, Kolb provides lesson plans for an oral history project and a virtual science symposium, among others.
Rating: 5 / 5