Standards. Cell Phones in the Classroom: Missed Opportunity? Article by Laura Ketcham The great education technology debate is on: Cell phones or no cell phones? Many districts and school administrators laid down rules that cell phones are not to be used in schools. If students are caught using cell phones they are typically confiscated for the day and may have to be picked up by parents from school administrators.
Concerns over socialization, cheating, inappropriate use, and having access to unfiltered Internet are valid points of why not to use cell phones in education. However, preliminary research has proven, if implemented correctly, the use of cell phones in education can be a motivator and increase learning outcomes. Since children already have the technology with them, why not take advantage of it? Ideas for Incorporating Cell Phones into a Lesson Keys to Infusion of Cell Phones in the Classroom Recommended Reading about Cell Phones in Education Toys to Tools by Liz Kolb Photo by Hackerfriendly Free Educational Resources by SmartTutor.com.
6 Ways to Use Cell Phones to Strengthen the Home-School Connection. Your Brain on Computers - Studying the Brain Off the Grid, Professors Find Clarity. For the first time in three days in the wilderness, Mr. Braver is not wearing his watch. “I forgot,” he says. It is a small thing, the kind of change many vacationers notice in themselves as they unwind and lose track of time. But for Mr. Braver and his companions, these moments lead to a question: What is happening to our brains? Mr. It was a primitive trip with a sophisticated goal: to understand how heavy use of digital devices and other technology changes how we think and behave, and how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects. Cellphones do not work here, e-mail is inaccessible and laptops have been left behind. As they head down the tight curves the San Juan has carved from ancient sandstone, the travelers will, not surprisingly, unwind, sleep better and lose the nagging feeling to check for a phone in the pocket.
Some of the scientists say a vacation like this hardly warrants much scrutiny. “Attention is the holy grail,” Mr. Echoing other researchers, Mr. Mr. Top 20 Websites No Teacher Should Start the 2010-2011 Year Without. I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we’re talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box. You may have others you’d like to add to the list. Please post them in the comments for all of us to explore. A great photo editing tool is a must for teachers and I recommend Aviary, LunaPic, Picnik, or BeFunky with some being simpler than others, but all having unique features. Explore all the tools and choose the best option for your skill level. Creaza and Jaycut are answers to the Windows XP Movie Maker and Flipcam problem.
Delicious or Diigo are online bookmarking networks teachers need. Doodle is a groovy scheduling tool teachers can use when setting up a collaborative work meeting or building social committee event. Dropbox is one of my absolute favorite tools shared with me by Intel Teach buddies Glen Westbrook and Jill Summers. Tech tools. The standalone calculator in the classroom may become superfluous with a slew of high-quality, calculator apps available that can run on a phone or tablet. After all, who wants to spend thousands of dollars on a classroom full of slates only to also have to buy calculators for teachers and students.
The best part is that most of the calculator apps are free. The bonus is that any of these six apps can give you the right answer, but only if you ask the right question. MathLab Mobile One of the most sophisticated calculator apps available, it’s a wonder that MathLab Mobile is a freebee. Available as a download on Google’s Play Store, it works with Android tablets and phones, but not iPads. It does the basics well with the arithmetic and trigonometric functions, but MathLab’s repertoire includes everything from plotting multiple equations on a single graph to dealing with roots and slopes. Graphing Calculator 3D It’s a lot more than a pretty picture. JMT Apps Scientific Calculator TI N-Spire. Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? Update 12-9-07: I'd like to thank the Academy . . . this post won for most influential post of 2007.
I'm not sure I agree (no, I didn't vote for myself), but I guess the voters have spoken. I think this really is a case where it's more of an honor to be nominated (because several somebodies noticed and nominated the post in the first place) than to actually win. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I know the Edublog Awards folks put in a lot of time and effort, but I guess what I like the best about the awards is all the new (to me) blogs I get to go explore. If you're visiting this post for the first time, please read the comments as well - that's where most (all?) Of the good stuff is. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Update 11-26-07: This post has been nominated for "Most Influential Post" in the 2007 Edublog Awards.
Thanks to the folks that nominated it, whoever you are. Before I give my list, I should like to say this. Extreme?