Cellphones as Instructional Tools Webinar
I participated in a webinar yesterday on the use of cellphones as instructional tools. Edweek organized the event (sponsored by Sprint). It was enlightening.
A little self-disclosure… While I’d like to think of myself as at least a bit of a geek, I don’t own a cellphone. I can explain why. I lived in the wrinkled up terrain of rural Appalachia. In my corner of far western Virginia, I get one bar at my house (two if I stand on the back deck and hold my mouth right) and no bars at work. What good is a cell phpne. My wife has a cell phone; but she works within sight of a tower and has a marvelous signal at work. If I lived a mile closer to town and worked at a different school, life would be different. Anyway…
That said, the webinar changed the way I think about cellphones. The webinar’s presenters left you with the impression that laptops and PCs are, well, almost obsolete. They stated pretty clearly that hand held devices are the real personal computers. And they made a strong case for the idea that cellphones engage students more completely than PCs.
They also suggested that cellphones extend learning to outside class time (and they are far more portable than a laptop or PC) and that cellphones bridged the digital divide because they are as common in inner city environments as in the more well off suburbs. While that comparison may work well for cities and suburbs, it doesn’t do much in my rural environment. Still, the argument that hand held devices like cellphones, smartphones, iPhones, Palms and Backberries are the real personal computer and the wave of the future seemed compelling.
I won’t repeat the numerous ideas for actual instructional applications here, since the webnar is archived.
The webinar’s presents said pretty clearly that teachers should start by working within existing policy on cellphone use. But I already had reservations about policies that completely ban student possession of a cellphone. Now I feel even more strongly that cellphones have to quickly be embraced as part of normal life in the 21st Century and recognized as a valuable technology tool within the curriculum.
