Cell Phones in the Classroom

School District 5 of Lexington and Richland Counties in Irmo, South Carolina, a suburban town just outside the capital city, is the latest district to permit cell phones and cell phone use inside the schools. They are the latest school district to approve a measure that is not only making many teachers and parents wary, but one that begs the question, "Can cell phones be integrated successfully into the classroom or are they bound to remain marginalized?” While one could speculate about its future implementation, the real answer lies with the individual classroom teachers. It lies in their willingness to allow phones in their classroom, their creativity to integrate them into the curriculum, and their ability to direct learning while their students are using a device that could easily become a distraction rather than a tool.

While modern cell phones possess many abilities, most people typically think of texting, video games, and the ability to use facebook as the main functions, and they are immediately turned off from the idea of allowing them within the classroom, much less using them as an educational tool. However, when one considers the real power and strengths of cell phones, he may reconsider his position.

As cell phone ownership and use continues to grow around the world, the capabilities of cell phones continue to grow as well.  Check out this snippet from Walking Randomly.com (accessed June 20, 2011):

According to the current Top 10 Android Linpack results, a tweaked Motorola Droid [cell phone] is capable of scoring 52 Mflop/s which is over 15 times faster than the 1979 Cray 1 [supercomputer].  Put another way, if you transported that mobile phone back to 1987 … it would be on par with the processors in one of the fastest computers in the world of the time, the ETA 10-E, and [it] had to be cooled by liquid nitrogen.

Simply put, modern cell phones have incredible capabilities that cannot be ignored! Furthermore, many areas have adopted “one laptop per child” initiatives, but given the widespread use of cell phones and the fact that they rival many computers in abilities, cell phones may prove to be a readily viable option for allowing students access to the Internet and providing them an opportunity to connect with their classmates, peers, community, and the world in new ways!

So, how might I use cell phones in my classroom?
Rather than listing a myriad of resources, let’s consider several broad applications for education.

1. Class Discussions
The media has recently produced several stories of teachers using Twitter as a conversational tool in their classrooms. (Click here for CNN’s story or for Philly.com’s story). By posting a question on the board and by utilizing Twitter students can engage in a class conversation that gives a voice to every student and no one person is allowed to dominant the conversation, which encourages quieter students to participate. No one is being asked to stand in front of the class, but everyone is able to share his/her thoughts, opinions, and understandings with everyone else. CoverItLive.com also has mobile capabilities, which acts like Twitter, but can be embedded into a website for later review.

2. Class Polls
Want to know if your students understand what you’ve just taught them, in spite of the fact that no one is raising a hand? Try a cell phone-generated poll by using a site like PollEverywhere.com. Students can text in answers to a classroom poll and watch as the numbers change before their eyes! Poll Everywhere is free and easy to use and would allow you another way to engage your students.

3. Web Quest
Lately you may have seen those funny black-and-white codes the size of a postage stamp popping up on everything from movie posters to a carton of eggs. These are called QR codes and, by using a cell phone’s camera, these codes will direct a web browser to a specific site on the Internet. You can generate a QR code for any website by visiting a site like qrcode.kaywa.com. Then, print up the QR codes for different websites you’d like your students to visit. This is especially useful if websites have long and complicated URLs.

4. Microphones
Many sites (i.e. VoiceThread.com, Voki.com and Blabberize.com) accept phone calls from users to record a comment on the page or add their voice to an avatar.