http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/022009dnmetschoolphones.3ef67c7.html
This picture is from the DMN. The captions reads "Trinity Meadows Intermediate School teacher Matt Cook guides Cole Schechter, 11, in the use of a cell phone as a part of class work. Caleb Collins. 11, works on a project on his cell phone."
This past February, Keller's Trinity Meadows School demonstrated their new policy that not only allows students to use their cellphones in school but actually encourages it!
To confiscate the cellphone or not to confiscate the cellphone. That is the question.
In my school, we teachers are expected to take up any cellphones during school hours. However, cell phone companies and Trinity Meadows faculty would say that cell phones are the new laptops. I'd agree with that statement except policing the sue of cellphones just isn't viable. With laptops, as you'll see in my #16 Post, monitoring is a major advantage over the use of cellphones in class. Also, only a small percentage of students can afford Personal Digital Assistants.
If I had to guess, I'd say that cell phones won't replace Laptops for all the functions that laptops provide. I think it's similar to the TV vs. Radio debate. Apparently, the prevailing thought in the 1960's and 1970's was that TV's would replace radios and the radio was a dead medium. This article makes the same argument for cell phones vs. laptops. Of course, radio is stronger now than ever, and I expect the same thign to happen with laptops. Let's face it, it's just impossile to read a document on a handheld device. Watching a movie on an iPhone vs. a 20-inch screen laptop? Forget about it, the laptops are here to stay.
Having said that, it's very intrigueing that this school is at the forefront of the next generation of technology in theh classroom. And I have no doubt that students are loving every minute of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment