Cellphones in the Classroom

To be honest, I do not agree that cell phones can be a useful tool in the classroom.  While the article we read made some interesting points, personally I didn't find any evidence proving them to be a necessary part of the classroom experience.  I was actually quite upset with the portion of the article in which the kids were asked to take pictures of insects with their camera-phones.  The author said that this activity would make the kids excited to be working with their own cell phones.  How is that exciting?  If I were that teacher I could care less if the students liked or disliked their cellphones.  The point of the activity is to study insects, and I believe that students should be focusing on the beauty and complexity of insect species, rather than the intricacies of their mobile devices.  I am still unconvinced that cell phones provide more positives than negatives in the academic setting.  From my experience cell phones have been a source of distraction and an effective method of cheating.  I am not totally discounting the credibility of using cell phones as an educational tool.  I do believe it is possible, I just don't see it as being necessary or something I would spend time on as a teacher.  I strongly support the use of computers and tablets in the classroom and would rather my students use these tools than their cell phones.

If I were to use cell phones as a learning activity I would probably use a resource like "polleverywhere" to allow students to answer questions as a pre-assessment.  I would use their answers to determine their level of understanding on a particular topic, and then decide what content needs to be reviewed.  I would also consider creating a lesson on communications and how cell phones have allowed people to communicate with each other from just about anywhere in the world.  While this activity might not involve the students directly using their cell phones, it would be focused on the verbal communications aspects of cell phones. I personally do not own a smartphone, nor do I feel the need to own one.  I believe that laptops can perform any function a smartphone can, only with greater efficiency.  Cell phones were designed for telecommunications and I believe that is their greatest strength.  Personally, I would rather teach my students the historical significance of cell phones rather than teaching them how to download and use cool apps.  

Thinkfinity and SAS

The first resource I found was from the SAS page (which I think is far superior to thinkfinity).  I found an interactive activity that would be great to provide the backdrop for a discussion based class.  The resource I found was an activity that explores the fairness of the American tax system.  I would assign this particular activity to either a participation in government or economics class before engaging in a discussion on the fairness of tax policies.  The part that I liked best about this activity is that it provides educational videos and documents explaining the various aspects of taxation and their evolution through history.  I have often found that when discussing issues of economics and politics many students simply spew the opinions of their parents and have no personal opinion or evidence to support their claims.  I believe that assigning this informational activity will increase the chances of having a successful and engaging discussion in which students can form and present their educated opinions with supporting details. Resource: SAS QL #1185.

The second resource I found was from thinkfinity.  I found an interactive resource that allows students to explore the period of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl through accessing different websites.  I would assign this interactive activity as either homework or an in-class assignment to a US history class.  Again, I would probably assign this activity before a discussion based class.  I liked this resource because it provided information on the time period through a variety of mediums so that the students have more options and can choose the websites that best suit their learning styles.  I also believe that having students explore and find information on their own would promote a more exciting discussion. Through having the students explore on their own and then present their findings to the class, we would be able to utilize the unique perspectives and learning styles of each student.

Resource: http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=729&title=