Monday, February 11, 2013
Week 4 Posting
Some interesting insights in the last posting, especially the use of smart phones (or iPads) in the classroom. As I searched the internet for more examples I concluded that perhaps we all should search the internet and share our findings. Obviously one use is finding good apps and having students use them in the classroom but this is not much different than finding good software and having students use them on their computers. Week 3 involves using the internet to do research such as finding information, so for this week do a search and try to find creative ways smart phones are used in the classroom and share with us what you find including administrative uses.
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Not to dwell on negatives, but there is a drawback to consider when utilizing technology in the classroom. No matter what age, it cannot be assumed that all students will have the same technology. For example, not all students will have smart phones with apps; some may incur charges texting; different carriers may not have service in certain areas; some may not have a mobile phone at all.
ReplyDeleteWhen expecting all students to use or obtain a technology, accommodation must be considered for those who cannot afford it.
Anson I totally agree with you, but depending on where your teaching you could get lucky. I'm a substitute and I have noticed that some districts are supplying their students with technology. In my township all 6th graders have been given iPads. They expect them to use it to write, jot down what they have for homework and basically use them for anything educational. Haha in fact a few of the students showed me a few tricks. I am more of a pc person and getting me to work with apple products is totally different. The kids seem to enjoy this style of learning though if possible. I witnessed apps that help the students with difficult words during reading. I think that this is important because instead of the teacher barking out the answer at them, they explore what the word means for themselves. The students will have a better chance of remembering what the word means because they had to find it.
DeleteThere is always a risk that cell phones can be a major distraction in a classroom, however, if managed effectively, the widespread use of smartphone technology in the classroom can be very rewarding. Before I begin, let me first state that I am well aware that not every child has a smartphone, that smartphones can be expensive, etc. Let’s move beyond that and discuss the many things that a single device can do.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like most about smartphones is that a SINGLE DEVICE can potentially replace computers, calculators, and even books for that matter. Need to search for something online? ”Google it” on your smartphone browser or built in YouTube software. Need to calculate something? Use your phones calculator function. Need to refer back to Chapter 3 and review a topic? Read the book in your smartphone’s eBook library.
My specialty is mathematics. There are so many useful applications available for download on a smartphone. Here are just a few:
Graphic Calculator (many available): Performs all of the functions of a graphing calculator. Graphing calculators can cost upwards of $100 each and can be a little bit of a pain to lug around. Students constantly forget them. Students never forget their phones.
Math Ref: Application which provides over 1,400 formulas, figures and examples. The application also features tools which calculate quadratic equations, solve problems involving triangles, convert units of measure. This application is not only for math students but also for Physics, Chemistry and others as well. With an application that can do much of the simple and tedious computations in a short amount of time, more time can be spent performing enrichment activities/critical thinking/digging deeper.
Pop Math: This application provides basic math concept training through mini games. Students absolutely love this. It is geared towards the younger math students. Many other math applications exist that can target specific skills for any grade level. This is similar to the software currently used on computers. However, there is no need to take the class to the computer lab or waiting for computers to load within your classroom. I have experience with mobile laptop carts in a classroom and I can say that it takes 5 minutes to start one up and 5 minutes to shut one down. That’s 10 minutes of instructional time lost on waiting.
Lastly, I’d like to end on a controversial note: Facebook groups for the purposes of school. I love them! I imagine there is already someone thinking “not everyone has a Facebook account. Parents don’t want their children on Facebook.” Realistically, and I’m speaking from the middle school standpoint, the majority of the students have a Facebook account whether their parents know it or not. Facebook is easily accessed from a smartphone and can connect students to one another outside of school instantaneously.
Using cell phones in class is still taboo in many schools but I (against the advice of my cooperating teacher) attempted to break this taboo while i was student teaching last semester.
ReplyDeleteI personally used an app on my iPad called "TeacherKit" to take attendance, mark behavioral issues, and even for some grading. It was very convenient to have everything in one place at all times. For administrative uses this app is perfect, especially at the price point of FREE.
When i did use the cell phones in the classroom i kept it simple because I found that that is the easiest way to keep it under control. Since i did teach in an urban school district not every student was lucky enough to own a smart phone. However, there were enough in each classroom to create small groups with at least one student that does have a smart phone per group. This allowed each group to have access to a smart phone without each student actually having one. This also kept misuse down to a minimum since the whole group relied on one or two phones.
I did not use any specific apps while teaching, i relied on the access to internet that the phones had for the ability to do simple research and even a webquest or two. Since a main thematic unit of last semester was the presidential election I requested that any student that had the access to twitter follow cnnbrk "CNN Breaking News." This helped them with their weekly assignments and brought many heated discussions to the forefront in the classroom.
I started the process of fundamentally changing the culture of the students and their cellphones, by the time i left them half way through the year they began to look at their cell phones as a wealth of information instead of just a conduit for communication.
The facebook groups that Juan mentioned is a cool idea that could definitely work with the correct supervision.
I’m glad you pointed out that some students, especially in some school districts, may not have smart phones. Although you can use smart phones in “free” hotspots, you still must incur monthly fees for data plans. I believe these fees are the major impedance of the technology’s mass adoption. Although there are districts that can afford to supply their students with smart phones, many if not most cannot afford to do the same. Also, I think smart phones are viewed as a luxury, not a necessity.
DeleteThe number of school districts adopting this new technology is increasing as the uses for it grows. It is termed as M-technology, or mobile technology. Learning can take place anywhere, as long as there is internet connectivity.
ReplyDeleteI found that many school districts are using new technology to facilitate instruction. For example, smart-phones are being used in school districts like Onslow, North Carolina. Project K-Nect is a district initiative that has incorporated smart-phones into its instruction to help boost Mathematics scores. Direct instruction has been replaced with alternate approach to teaching. Teachers facilitate the students via mobile technologies. Emphasis is on problem-based instruction. Students are left to their own devices (pun intended) to gather, analyze, and solve work assignments.
A school in the Midwest uses smart-phones for Science instruction. The phones are provided to the students each day to use to research topics, download and upload completed assignments, and communicate with the teacher. The Science teacher is responsible for keeping the students on-track during class. The instructor manages the use of the phones by reviewing their activities at the end of each day. The students sync their phones with the teacher’s computer; thereby, permitting the teacher to see how the students use the phones.
I read this article - "10 Schools Encouraging Smartphones in the Classroom" (2011) in which you are referring to here. With these positive results, I just don’t know why schools are still banning them. Thanks for posting this.
DeleteTo Juan and Jorge, Thank you for sharing the useful applications such as “Math Ref” “Pop Math” “Teacher Kit.” These could be something I can use in my future classroom. In my ideal class, students may use their smart phone and if they do not have one, they will be given a device such as an iPad or iPod, etc. to borrow. Devices will be available for those who cannot afford them in my classroom. With that said, an excellent website lists 50 Smartphone Apps every Teacher should know about. http://edudemic.com/2012/08/50-smartphone-apps/ Here you will find both creative ways smart phones are used in the classroom and administratively. The site lists the “Teacher Kit” that Jorge commented about. I like the eClicker Suite App available on the iPhone which lets teachers poll their students about anything and everything during class, the Percent Calculator App gets grades done faster using this quick and easy calculator just for figuring out percentages, and the Free Graphing Calculator iPhone App is perfect for my middle school math students who are learning Algebra.
ReplyDeleteHere are some other ways to use cell phones in the classroom.
1. Have students text you (the teacher) a sentence using a vocabulary word correctly. You may want to remind them that texting slang cannot be used, and proper grammar should be applied. (http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com/blog/?p=639)
2. Students can take a photo of something that applies to a lesson, i.e. vocabulary, math application or equation (like measuring cups), historical event, or current event. These photos can be shared on a blog, or bulletin board. (http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com/blog/?p=639)
I agree with Bernadette guys and I want to thank you for sharing this information with us. I know that when I land a teacher job, my ideal classroom and school will allow the use of technology in the classroom to the fullest degree. I too am familar with math ref and I use it frequently to keep my brain sharp and up-to-date with mathematics. This goes especially for the subjects or topics I might cover in my own classroom. This could be proven useful for students if allowed. For our websites that we are suppose to be launching soon, I have a lot of great websites I found that will help teachers incorporate the use of technology with their teaching. The ones that seem to fascinate me the most are the websites that talk about the smartboard. Hopefully the school that I work in will have such excellent technology. When used correctly smartboards could touch upon all three different learning styles. The three different learning styles that I speak of are kinesthic, auditory, and visual. The smartboards serve as a great visual reprensentation of the lesson while letting the teacher and students be interactive with the board. When I did my observations in Jersey City I noticed that all the math teachers in the high school I was in taught using the smartboard. They also had this cool piece of technology called the smart pad which interacts with the smartboard. The smart pad is a wireless device which allows the teacher to be mobile around the room and still write on the smartboard. The only catch is you have to get use to writing and not being able to see what you write. This is because as you write on the smart pad you actually have to look up at the board. The teachers I spoke with told me that it just takes a little bit of practice. When I was speaking with these teachers they explained to me that using this really helped their teaching because they could monitoring what all the students were doing in the class while the class faced forward and they taught from the back of the room. I actually observed with more than one teacher that teaching from the back of the room actually works. When its all said and done one of my favorite websites to visit is wolframalpha. This website solves problems for you and it also will give you the step by step way that it was calculated.
ReplyDelete