The article that I read for this week’s blog had to do with the welcoming of cell phone use in college classrooms. Surprisingly, more and more college professors are encouraging the use of cell phones for learning in their classrooms. Many colleges and universities are handing out or contemplating handing out iphones instead of laptops. They are less expensive, more efficient, and have the capability to do more with. Much like the laptop did many years ago, handing out iphones seems bizarre and unneeded to many people today, but it is projected to be the norm in a few years. Podcasts, social networking, Instant Messenger, and E-mail are already all very useful things in the education realm. One can do all of these things on a smartphone.
Another thing to bring to a college or university’s attention is that many more students have cell phones upon arrival to college while most students are forced to purchase laptops if one is not handed to them. One of the writers even said that a smartphone will be just as important to education in a few years as the book bag is today. They point out that when all students have smartphones, they will be in a 24/7 learning environment. Many teachers are still, not surprisingly, resistant to the idea of allowing cell phones in the classroom. They have the idea that cell phones are used for cheating and distracting students. Will this still be the case in school wide distribution of smartphones? Will teachers one day be able to monitor the smartphone like they can the laptop in the classroom? This will be a very hard transition for many traditional and old fashioned teachers. I would imagine that it would be for teachers that understand the benefits of technology as well. Do you think Dr. Corso will ever allow cell phones in his electronic communications class?
The possibilities seem endless. For one thing, the use of smartphones will provide instant communication with teachers and students at all times. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? There are many software programs that allow teachers to create educational games for their students to play in order to practice for an exam or just to learn. How much easier would it be to flip open your phone and have all of the information at your fingertips than to lug all of your books on the bus ride home to study.
"Cell phones welcome in some classrooms:Devices used to check schedules, take quizzes at various college campuses"from MSNBC.com
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4 comments:
Wow, and I thought I was lucky to have a laptop... apparently I am going old fashioned pretty quickly! Maybe we should forward this to Westminster's board and have them consider providing all students, upon arrival, with a iphone or something of the like. I'm sure they would be used for, and only for, "educational purposes"
I think this is a cool idea! What young college kid wouldn't like the idea of being given this awesome phone. But there are a lot of negatives. Cell Phones are distracting in class. Even when I see other people texting it distracts me. I completely understand the professors who prohibit them being used while they are giving lectures because it is rude for people to be texting while the prof is trying to teach. If you don't wanna be there then don't come! I mean we've all been guilty of this at times and being given a really cool phone to play around with would tempt us even more. But like I said before it is a cool idea. So I guess I'm 50/50 on this issue as of right now!
Well, iphones as educational is news to me, but not a bad idea. However, I don't know if it will catch on. Personally, I prefer the big screen and compatibility of my laptop, but then again, I've never had a smart-phone. It's certainly an interesting idea, and I wouldn't be surprised if something more portable replaced laptops in the near future.
Ummm... I'm not too sure how I feel about the whole smart-phone idea in class. Of course, being able to use my phone in class sounds good, but I just don't think we need to use ALL the technology we have available in class. We already have access to one another via e-mail, anything beyond that could possibly be too much! I guess it would be nice to try it out but I doubt it becomes as resourceful as laptops are.
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