Handbook revision time? Check your cell phone policy

Like many schools in our district and everywhere, we have begun the process of reviewing our student handbook. Every year it seems there are some items we are constantly trying to fix - attendance and tardies - always looking for the perfect answer. There are also some items we see change slightly year after year in the dress code - we used to ban flip flops, but no longer do. This year will see the disappearance of the ban on "pajama" pants. Odd but unremarkable changes in teen fashion are easy things to make adjustments for. But one item always remains on the "ban" list right along with gum and hats - that is the evil cell phone.

However, this year we may be tossing the cellphones into a different category than their usual company of hats and gum. This year, we may actually be regarding cellphones as (wait for it...) computers! As such, we may be thinking that perhaps something more along the lines of an acceptable use policy such as we have for our laptops may be a more appropriate guideline for dealing with these little nuisances.

Now before you go thinking we have turned the asylum over to the inmates, just be prepared to check a few items out. More and more we are seeing items in not just educational news, but in the "mainstream" news as well about new and innovative ways cellphones are being used in classrooms.

Any adult who owns a cellphone has some idea of the computing power they have in their pocket. Most adults will freely admit that they don't even know how to harness all of the power available to them on their phones.

Consider this - today's typical cellphone is far more powerful than personal computers were even 10 years ago. They are much cheaper, and the majority of our students already own one. Even teaching students how to use the applications that are currently on their phones could go a long way toward teaching them about productivity and making digital tools work for them. But beyond that, there are now literally hundreds of potential uses for cell phones in education.

I'll leave you here with several items to consider - the first and most important is a sample of an acceptable use policy for cell phones. Even if you still consider them a distraction, there is no denying their power - and it's time for them to take their rightful place among the company of computers - not hats, and not gum.

The other items I'll give you are several of the best articles and blog posts I have read over the past year that really bring the cellphone-in-schools phenomenon into perspective.

*Innovative ways cell phones are being used in classrooms
*The cell phone industry (of course!) reminding us how powerful and useful cell phones are as a learning tool.
*8 ways to use camera phones in class.
*Instead of looking for ways to buy those fancy expensive clickers to go with your fancy expensive SmartBoard, use cellphones this way (TextTheMob) and this way (udefn). And also like this (GeoGraffiti) and this (Wiffiti). Same effect, less money (as in zero).

Don't even get me started on using cellphones for GoogleDocs and GoogleForms, text novels, reading books on the phone, and polling students.

This is certainly not to say that cell phones have a place in every class all the time. However, I do believe there is an "acceptable use" of cellphones in school - rather than denying their existence by banning them, we would do well to teach our students the power of their cell phone, and that that power goes far beyond texting their friends who are sitting across the room from them.

*Flickr photo by iBjorn
*Flickr photo by Absolut Leigh

Some technology food for thought...

This is a little side trip from the usual posts about educational web tools.

When we talk about educational technology, I think we have to differentiate between the idea of simply "technology" and the idea of "technology integration".

If we have kids play online skill drill math games, they are using technology, but they could practice those same drills with pencil and paper. If we have kids punch the correct multiple choice response on a computer, they are using technology, but they could accomplish the same learning with a textbook or a worksheet. This is not to say that any of these types of activities are wrong or bad - often they are more time and materials efficient than paper/pencil/textbook/worksheets, and they can be more engaging too.

But relying on only these activities to say "I integrate technology into my classroom" falls short of the real idea of technology integration.

We must think critically about this when we think about educational technology - are we teaching them to use tools that help them think in different ways, create something new, and think in an innovative way? Or are we just using the computer in the same way we have always used textbooks, worksheets, and the library?

The 21st Century Learner by Kim Cofino

View more presentations from Kim Cofino. (tags: learner k-12)

Stinto takes a casual chat to a study activity

It's time for me to bust this one out - it's so simple but it's become one of my favorites recently. Stinto is a chat room, but a very simple one.

You simply click the button to begin a chat and Stinto will give you a 4 or 5 character ending to the URL - for example, your URL will go from www.stinto.net, to www.stinto.net/88b5b. You can tell, or send this URL to whoever you want to join you and if they go to that address they are in your chat room. This ensures that you will have a private chat. No sign-in, no accounts, no registration necessary.

Why would you want to use Stinto? Well, one way I have been using it is for a 5 to 10 minute review at the beginning of French. I need to spend a little time at the beginning of each class reviewing the new vocabulary from the previous day, but was having difficulty getting the students to volunteer (orally) in French. So at the beginning of each class, I have a student open a Stinto chat and write the URL on the board (just those last digits as everyone knows the Stinto address). Now I get 100% participation in these short reviews, and the students are really willing to guess and take chances (this is a short clip from yesterday's class chat).
At the bottom of the chat page is a disk icon so that you can download and save the chat to your desktop. It will download as an rtf file (rich text). Once it is on your desktop, all you have to do is change that .rtf to a .doc, and voila! It becomes a WordDoc (see above example). Besides the student engagement benefits, it's also a great formative assessment tool. I have a good running record of who participated, how they participated, and what they know.
Once the chat is inactive for an hour or two, it simply disappears! I have been encouraging students to use Stinto as a way to get study groups together in the evenings as well.
There are lots of ways to incorporate Stinto into your class. You could use it for small groups that have to brainstorm together - it would be quieter if you had a large class, more kids contribute - you have a record of who participated and what kinds of contributions they made to the group. Think of it as group notes.