To cell phone or not to cell phone
Recently we were sent an email with an attachment. The attachment read: Please turn off and put away all cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices It is slightly ironc that we received this email because at a conference I attended this summer, Will Richardson commented to us that instead of telling kids to put away the technology they have, why aren't we embracing it. Have them turn on their phone to search the web, use their iPod as a flashdrive or even have them download podcasts of your lectures. So today I tried something new...I had the kids turn on their cell phones and ring in their answers. You know what? It was cool! It took some time to set up clear expectations as well as determine a few consequences for inappropriate use. But, it wasn't taking away from their education. Instead it was embracing the tools they have and using them for a creative purpose. Kids, tell them what you thought...
posted by annes @ 10:31 AM
23 Comments:
It was awesome. Everybody in the class was excited. As long as we get the freedom of actually using the technology in the classroom, everyone will respect that and do what is right and not fool around with the opportunity.
It was awesome! Everyone was excited to answer and actually use our cell phones for something while in school. Hopefully, Mrs. Smith this is going to you, you could let us have that oppurtunity to do that again and many times to do so in the near future. I noticed everyone was more active and wanting to share their opinions to the class about the story.
I agree with David and Garret. It was a great idea! I think we all had so much fun and we were a lot more willing to share our answers because of the privilege we got and the way we got to share our answers. I really hope we can do it again.
I agree with Sarah, David, and Garrett that it was fun. There was a lot of excitement and most of the class used there cell phones in a proper manner. Since I don't get a cell phone I hope that you could give us another opertunity to use our cell phones for another discussion.
Wow. It was definately really fun because we could discuss things and actually have fun while doing it. I also belive that we shouldn't hide the technology that we have and that we should use what we've got. I also agree with Garret, David, Sarah, and Emily about everything. We should most definately do it again and A LOT more!
I believe that it was a great way to get kids to use their cell phones for an appropriate use. But, I do not have a cell phone and it was kinda lame pressing the shift button 5 times, making a really lame noise that was nothing like a ringtone.
I would enjoy it alot better if we found some way that enabled the kids without a cell phone, some alternative to a ringtone. For example putting music on your itunes and pressing play and pause when you want to answer the question.
Oh, there's no doubt that was a great idea. I agree. Why are we not using technology, when everyday there is a way to integrate it into our learning? I agree with Kyle that for students that don't have a cell phone should be able to ring in with a song from itunes. I agree that people use technology in a responsible way if they have a chance to use it. It was fun, and it got everyone to voice their opinion when they normally sit and be a sponge. We should do it more often!
Finally, finally a teacher is using something a kid always has with them to their advantage. The cell phone ring in really had everyone’s attention and I thought it went very smoothly. Personally I wanted to share more because it was fun playing my ring tone. I agree with what everyone else said, I really hope we can to that again and also find a better alterative for the kids who don’t have cell phones to ring in.
Personally I thought it was fun even though I did not have mine. It was a great way to learn and use technology to our advantage. It also looked like my classmates liked this experience as well so I hope we can do it again.
I agree with Zoe, Mrs. Smith is the number one teacher and the only one who finally got into our century and used it to our adavantages. I thought that using our cell phones to ring in answers was really fun and helped me to remember the topics we went over because it drew my attention to the question and possible answers.
I loved the cell phone ring in to answer to answer questions class. i could tell everyone else did because of how they were smiling and sharing there oppinions more durring the class. I think it s a great way to get us to participate more and i would recomend that you keep using it.
I liked using my selphone alot because it made the lecture fun.
I agree that using the cell phone to "ring in" was fun and interesting because it was a new and exciting idea that did not take away from the learning in the class.
I thought using the cell phones was a great idea and alot more intresting. The kids raised[rang] their cell phones/hands alot more then usual and gave alot more opinions. Everyone was excited to to use their cell phones in class and not get it taken away by teachers.
That was really cool of you to let us use are cell phones to "ring in" our
answers and comments today in class. I think that using our cell phones made it
easier for us to talk in class because of the whole ringing part. We became more
active and I think it opened us up more to talk about our opinions without
getting made fun of. I just wanted to say thanks I really enjoyed that.
I thought that is was fun, because it was like expressing our self in a new way. I liked heating everybody elses ring. And i agree that it did not take away the learning expereince. And it fun to ring i nso it gave kids that dont normaly speek a chance. It was fun to partisapate in this activity and I hope that we do it again.
I thought that it was great that we embraced our technology. I think that everyone in the classroom used the cell phones for the right reason and everyone respected the rules. I would love to keep doing this in class. It makes the class more exciting and wants me to get involved.
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I really enjoyed using our phones for using them to "call in" and that really embraces the technology that we use today. It was also fun and I think that people were more out going because it wasn't so quiet and tense.
I liked it because it gave us a chance to have a fun decisions and not a type were we rise hands and answer questions. It also gave people a chance to say what they wanted to say and being more outgoing.
I liked it because not only did my arm not get tired but I got to listen to everyone else’s ring tones. Also, it was much louder than raising your hand and I got called on more often. I do, however, feel like we were excluding those without a cell phone.
i dont really care, because i think that it doesnt really matter how we get called on. We will get called on anny way we raise our hand. Or use the sell phones I think that it was fun in a way, because there was a change in the way we got called on and i though that we paid more attenction because we got to have more fun in the classroom.
Hi,
I'm just reading this and I wondered how it worked. I'd love to try it but I guess I'm having trouble understanding it. BTW, I tell everyone I meet about your fishbowl discussions!
Pat
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