I enjoyed this mobile learning lab and bookmarked many of the resources it provided. One tool that I tried that I can really see implementing in my classroom, especially on the first day of next school year is Poll Everywhere. How funny it would be to see my students’ faces on the first day when I say, “Ok if you have a cell phone take it out for our first activity!” I made a multiple-choice poll that asks students about their experiences in their last math class. I also thought instead of making it multiple-choice, I could leave it open-ended to get more useful feedback.
I joined classroom 2.0 and the group Cell Phones in Education. I posted the comment that although I’d love to use things like Poll Everywhere, iPhone apps, and the web, the cell phone service in my school building is really bad. I’m wondering how I can still incorporate cell phone in my math classroom, perhaps outside of school?
Another tool I looked into was the flip cam. I have seen this done by a math teacher at my school and I would like to do the same. Possibly at the end of a unit or school year, students can create a video that discusses and shows real-world examples of the math content they learned. I saw the Google presentation of the many ways teachers have used them in their classroom. Even though I’m not in elementary education, I think my students would still benefit from analyzing their behavior in class! I saw a teacher used a flip cam to record how her students behaved during a lesson and then they watched it as a class. It would also be useful to record lessons and upload them to a teacher webpage for students to look back at for review or if they missed school.
One last tool that I’d like to comment on is the mobile hand held devices created by Verizon Wireless that some schools are using. I think they are a great tool to use specifically because the texting and calling features are deactivated. Those are the applications that cause the most distractions and don’t necessarily contribute to student learning. I can understand that it’d be cheaper for students to just use their own cell phones, but I think they (in my case, high school students) would use it to their advantage and still use these features.
I think you are right, cell phones would be an invaluable learning tool especially for MS and HS. At the elementary level they can be used as a home-school communication tool=8-). Last year, my building purchased 4 Flip cams - teachers use them to create videos of student presentations. These presentations are shared with parents by way of teacher web sites. I'm glad you enjoyed this lab experience and participating in the Classroom 2.0 blog. I have been a member for a couple of years and have come away with a lot of valuable information after every visit.
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