As Schools Lift Bans on Cell Phones, Educators Weigh Pros ...



Article 140 Uses For Smartphones in SchoolPosted on?February 19, 2015?by?Andrea LeydenAs Alanis Morissette once said, ‘isn’t it ironic’. After years of struggle between teachers and students and the use of smartphones?in school, new educational trends are actually encouraging the use of these devices.The mobile, cellphone or smartphone is not just used for WhatsApp, Facebook or Angry Birds, it can be used in a multitude of ways from an educational perspective. Don’t believe us? Keep reading. In this article we bring together?40 uses for smartphones in school.Before we continue, it is worth remembering that this does not mean we should suddenly change the way in which we teach and allow the use of the smartphones?without control. The purpose of this article is simply to remove some of the?negative connotations around smartphones?and to consider new possibilities which we have at our disposal. In order for students to use smartphones in school responsibly, it is important that we set limits and rules beforehand.A revolution in the classroom:Check?facts: probably the most common use of all. Both students and teachers can now find facts within seconds. This can be very useful when explaining and debating topics.Take?photos: mobile phones can be used as cameras to illustrate work and presentations.Make?videos: similar to the last point. For example, videos can be used to?record experiments?and later include them in projects.Carry?out?tests: this is probably one of the most interesting and revolutionary uses of the mobile phone in the classroom. Students can now take quizzes and tests on their mobile phone that were created earlier by their teacher. In this way, teachers can gain valuable real-time insight into?the knowledge of their students and the effectiveness of their teaching. To implement this technique now, download the ExamTime Mobile App for?iOS?or?Android.Read?the?news: many teachers often include news articles as part of their teaching methods (for example, in Economics). With an endless amount of news gathering mobile applications, you can bring news and current affairs into the classroom in an instant.Dictionary: there are a multitude of dictionary applications that allow you to check the meaning of a word instantly.Translator: again, this can help with meaning and explanation of a foreign word just like the dictionary application.Calendar: no more forgetfulness or confusion about exam dates or submission deadlines. Now you have applications that allow you to synchronize calendars.Write?down?ideas: inspiration doesn’t always come when we want it to. For that reason, try using your mobile device. Smartphones allow us to take down notes any time, any place.Listen?to?music: we have spoken before at length about how?music helps us to study. Additionally, you do not need to store your songs if you use services such as Spotify or Soundcloud.Images: as you well know, a picture is worth a thousand words. For this reason, in many cases, students find it easier to understand material when there is an image related to an explanation.?Mind Maps?are a good example of a tool that helps in this regard.Review: smartphones allows you to access resources and material quickly before an exam. Don’t forget to sign up with ExamTime online and then download the official app for?Android?or?iOS.Stopwatch/timer: classes, exercises and presentations often come with time limits. Practice your time management by using your mobile phone’s stopwatch.Read?eBooks: when learning, applying for a job position or going to University, reading PDFs and manuals can be mandatory. For this reason, applications like Kindle allow us to read books and manuals from anywhere.Voice?Recorder: mobile phone provide students with the ability to?record explanations. These recordings can be referred to later on and can save a great deal of time instead of writing. In these cases, always remember to get permission from the teacher first.Discover related subject material: among many other functions, the ExamTime App lets you search through more than?one million study resources?created by other ExamTime users.Document scanner: although it does not offer the same quality as a traditional scanner, the camera of a mobile phone can serve as a scanner. Some teachers even support the delivery of class work through photos (for example, Math exercises).Calculator: there are numerous applications that enable you to perform?all the operations of a scientific calculator. This helps reduce the amount of items students must carry in their bags.Edit?videos: not only can we make videos, but we can also edit them, add text, filters, effects and more.Edit?pictures: the same can be done with images as with videos.Publish?in?the?class?blog: class blogs are an increasingly common exercise these days and help develop writing skills. Thanks to your mobile phone, you can write and post articles at any time.Track?blog?visits: the implementation of?Google Analytics?allows you to check the progress of your class blog from anywhere.Make?presentations: instead of having to carry around external hard drives and USB sticks, store the material in your mobile phone and connect it directly to the projector. Have you tried ‘play mode’ using the? HYPERLINK "" \o "ExamTime Mind Maps" \t "_blank" ExamTime Mind Map tool?Remote?control: whether switching from one slide to another during a presentation or stopping and playing a video, there are applications that enable you to use our smartphone as a remote municate: the PA system is a thing of the past. If a student must go to the secretary or principal’s office, you can communicate with them through a?text message.Store?Formulae: smartphones allows us to store mathematical and scientific formulas close to hand. There are applications that already?contain hundreds of commonly used formulae, all you have to do is look for them.Control?noise?in the classroom: your mobile phone can serve as a decibel meter and tell you when the noise level gets too high. Reward the students by keeping the noise at an agreed level. Recommended application: Too noisy.Updates: Remind is an app designed to send notifications to parents and/or students without knowing their phone number. This means that the boundaries between privacy and the classroom can be maintained while communication is not hampered.Locate points on the map: during class location based apps can help when introducing students to a region of country. Applications such as Google Maps help us to locate ourselves and are great in History and Geography classes.Tweet: Twitter is a social network that has?many educational uses. The mobile phone is probably the best way to access it to read and write?Tweets about education. Don’t forget to follow ExamTime on Twitter.Study?Vocabulary: in foreign language classes, vocabulary is crucial. Quite often students don’t pay enough attention and can get left behind.?Flashcards?are one of the resources that provide better results when viewing from mobile phones and are super easy to digest.Control?Attendance: there are many applications that can help keep track of the attendance of students direct from our mobile phone.Assess?Students: mobile phones can be used to monitor and keep track of a student’s course work and exam results. In this way, teachers have access at all times to a particular student and can see if that student is making progress or not.Clock: studies have shown that more people are reaching for their mobile phone to check the time rather than checking their wristwatch. Why not check the weather on your mobile device too?Inspire: originality is one of the best ways to keep students interested. However, sometimes students simply get bored. The mobile phone provides a?window to the world?where you can discover topics and ideas that are otherwise limited by traditional books and encyclopaedias.Share Notes: many teachers tend to distribute material at the beginning or at the end of the class. Instead photocopying large amounts of paper and handing them out, your mobile phone allows you to easily perform this function. Again, the? HYPERLINK "" \o "Announcing The ExamTime Mobile App for iOS and Android" \t "_blank" ExamTime App?can help with that!Digital?Whiteboard: Although the majority of apps that serve as a digital Whiteboard are optimized for tablets, there are also some that can be used directly from your phone and allow you to?project everything you create.Weather: for those teachers who like to move the lesson outdoors, weather apps can come in very useful to see the forecast. These apps can also serve specific lessons in explaining the climatic conditions in other regions/countries.Measure?Productivity: there are applications, such as?Time Recording Pro, that allow you to measure the time you have dedicated to a particular task. This can be very useful for teachers and students when taking on a project that is divided into several phases.Play: there is much talk of the gamification of the educational process, i.e. the need to transform learning into a game as much as possible. There are literally hundreds of educational apps that can make learning more enjoyable and easier on the students.These 40 uses of Smartphones in School?are just the beginning. The teaching and learning process can be enriched by embracing these ideas. Provided they are monitored and conducted in the safest manner, smartphone use in school is going to be the next big thing in 2015/ 2016.Don’t forget to download the brand new ExamTime iOS and Android app today.About the ExamTime BlogOur blog is part of? HYPERLINK "" GoConqr, a Free Website for Creating, Sharing & Discovering Learning Resources that help students and teachers achieve their learning objectives.?Click here?to start discovering?Mind Maps,?Flashcards,?Notes,?Quizzes?&Slides?now!This entry was posted in? HYPERLINK "" ExamTime Blog Posts?and tagged?Apps,?flashcards,?How to Study,?mind map,?online study. Bookmark the?permalink.Article 2As Schools Lift Bans on Cell Phones, Educators Weigh Pros and ConsBY?KINJO KIEMAAlthough students have been using cell phones consistently in their daily lives for almost a decade, many public schools continue to resist allowing the devices into the classroom. Schools generally grapple with new technologies, but cell phones’ reputation as a nuisance and a distraction has been hard to dislodge.Recently, however, the?acceptance of these devices has been growing. Beginning in March, New York City, the largest school district in the country with 1.1 million students, will?reverse its long standing ban?on cell phones in schools.The ban, which was implemented by the Bloomberg administration,?went into effect in 2006, but?Mayor Bill De Blasio championed the policy change, saying that he thought it was important for parents to be able to easily contact their kids.Will more districts around the country follow? Liz Kolb, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Education and author of?Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education,?says its already happening. According to Kolb, close to 70 percent of schools that had cell phone bans in place five years ago are reversing their policies.“First it was a very slow domino fall, and now we’re seeing more of?a tidal wave,” Kolb explains. “Part of it is because it’s hard to fight the tidal wave and there’s so many students with cell phones. The second part is that they’re really seeing them as a learning tool, not just a toy for entertainment, and they’re seeing that they can be cost effective for the schools instead of having to purchase technology for students.”Critics believe, however, that allowing these devices?will only encourage their non-educational use in school, to the point where they will be a significant distraction?for teachers and students – and a potential tool for cheating. A specific concern for parents and educators?is that lifting the cell phone ban could foster cyberbullying and sexting during school hours. NYC school officials are already taking steps?to combat this, hoping to decrease the amount of sexting and cyberbullying overall.Students from Norman Thomas High School in New York City pay a dollar to check their electronic devices at a van before school.Educators continue to?have mixed opinions about cell phones in the classroom. We recently posed the question on the?NEA Today Facebook?page and received a wide variety of responses.In Becky Dieffenbach’s opinion, bringing their own devices “just becomes a source of distraction for some students, because no matter how many times you repeat the rule that they can only be on technology when the teacher says it’s ok, they choose to ignore the rule and then disciplinary actions have to be enforced.”“Students persistently use them a great deal for personal interactions via social media when they should be paying attention to what is going on in class,” according to Connie Fawcett, a high school teacher in Oklahoma.Based on her personal experiences, Fawcett “can see few positives outcomes for cell phones in the classroom, but it is becoming the new norm. Learning is going to suffer even more. What students gain from using them to support instruction will be lost due to the distraction factor, which appears to be much more appealing and fulfilling to many.”SEE ALSO:Should Schools Embrace “Bring Your Own Device”?What Can Be Done About Student Cheating?Despite Proven Benefits, Starting School Later Remains a ‘Tough Sell’Surviving the Teenage Brain: What Educators Should KnowOther teachers disagree and urge educators to accept the inevitability of cell phones in school and learn how to make them work in the classroom.“We need to stop pushing against the technology and start embracing it,” says Amber Schaefer, an elementary school teacher in Minnesota. “The more we push back, the more we separate ourselves from students. It is time to incorporate and collaborate instead of ban and punish.”“It would be nice if they weren’t part of the school picture,”?adds New York teacher Barbara McConnell, “but they are, so let’s use them to our advantage.”Beyond the classroom, many educators believe that banning any type of technology can foster?inequity. In New York City specifically, the school ban on cell phones was most stringently applied in schools with metal detectors, which also happen to be those with?the highest concentrations?of low-income and minority students.José Vilson,?a middle school math teacher in New York City and author of?This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class and Education,?agrees that these?bans widen the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers.?He believes forbidding?cell phones just?limits students’ access to technology, especially for those?who attend urban schools.Ending?the ban in New York will mean students can “carry their cell phones into the building and not be treated like criminals and have to pay extra to leave it outside at the cellphone truck,” Vilson says.Vilson, who?uses all kinds of devices in his own classroom, doesn’t believe that phones?provide “much more of a distraction than kids already have. It depends on how [educators]?approach the whole process.”Once the new policy is in place?starting in March, individual schools in New York City will be able to establish their own specific policies regarding cell phone use in the classroom, leaving many teachers to determine how they will react to?the devices in hallways and classrooms.Experts advise a cautious and well-researched approach. Liz Kolb urges schools to “start small.”“Don’t feel as if because students have the devices they have to be using them all the time,” she explains. “They just really need to be careful and thoughtful and take baby steps, and develop a nice protocol and rules and structures for how students physically handle the device in the classroom.”Kolb points to some schools in Michigan that?adopted new ?straightforward rules and guidelines for educators that were designed to meet?the needs of students while addressing educators’ concerns. Posted on classroom doors, for example, are signs indicating whether the students can use their devices. A green stoplight means they can use them; red means no.“This allows students to know the expectations, and it also gives teachers autonomy over whether they’re going to use the cell phones,” Kolb explains. “It gives them a little bit of freedom. It’s a very simple policy, but it’s also very effective.”Photos: Associated Press???POSTED INEducation Policy:?Education TechnologyPOST TAGS:?banning cell phones in schools,?cell phones in school,?Liz Kolb cell phones in school,?new york city cell phones in schoolArticle 3Even Just the Presence of a Smartphone (Photo: Kostenko Maxim/Shutterstock)"Staying connected" is the unspoken mantra of the smartphone generation. We now have the ability to instantaneously link up with nearly any information source, and tap into a live feed of what's happening in our social circle.However, critics have long warned that this non-stop barrage of news and trivia is inevitably distracting, making it more difficult to maintain the focused attention necessary for truly meaningful communication.Luddite nonsense? Actually, no.?Newly published research?suggests that the mere presence of a cell phone or smartphone can lessen the quality of an in-person conversation, lowering the amount of empathy that is exchanged between friends.The study, published in the journal?Environment and Behavior,?confirms the findings of a 2013?lab-based?study?in a real-world setting. It suggests you don't have to be actively checking your phone for it to divide your attention."Mobile phones hold symbolic meaning in advanced technological societies. In their presence, people have the constant urge to seek out information, check for communication, and direct their thoughts to other people and worlds.""Mobile phones hold symbolic meaning in advanced technological societies," a research team led by? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Shalini Misra?of Virginia Tech University writes. "In their presence, people have the constant urge to seek out information, check for communication, and direct their thoughts to other people and worlds.""Even without active use, the presence of mobile technologies has the potential to divert individuals from face-to-face exchanges, thereby undermining the character and depth of these connections. Individuals are more likely to miss subtle cues, facial expressions, and changes in the tone of their conversation partner's voice, and have less eye contact."The study's 200 participants were broken up into groups of two. Each couple was then assigned to sit down in a coffee shop and discuss either a meaningful topic or a trivial one. A nearby lab assistant noted their non-verbal behavior, and recorded "whether either participant placed any kind of mobile device on the table, or held it in their hand, during the 10-minute span" when they were talking.Afterwards, participants responded to a series of statements designed to measure "feelings of interpersonal connectedness" and "empathic concern" they experienced during the brief chat. These included "I felt I could really trust my conversation partner" and "To what extent did you conversation partner make an effort to understand your thoughts and feelings?"The key results: "If either participant placed a mobile communication device on the table, or held it in their hand, during the course of the 10-minute conversation, the quality of the conversation was rated to be less fulfilling, compared with conversations that took place in the absence of mobile devices," the researchers report."The same participants who conversed in the presence of mobile communication devices also reported experiencing lower empathetic concern, compared with participants who interacted without (the presence of) distracting digital stimuli." (All these results held true after controlling for such factors as age, gender, ethnicity, and mood.)Advertisement — Continue reading belowSomewhat surprisingly, the researchers found no significant differences in these results whether the couple was discussing serious or non-serious matters. Less surprising, they report the?negative relationship between mobile devices and empathetic concern was more pronounced among people who already knew each other. It appears the empathy that naturally arises when talking with a friend can get short-circuited by the distracting presence of a phone.Misra and her colleagues did not record how often participants touched or handled their mobile devices. While they see that as a promising avenue for further research, their study suggests you don't have to be actually fiddling with a phone for it to distract your focus."Networked technologies are distinctive in that they enable us to be in a persistent state of 'absent presence,'" the researchers write, adding that phones' "mere presence as environmental cues can distribute individuals' attention and guide the behavior of those who are nearby without their awareness."So if you want to have a real, face-to-face conversation with a friend, here's a suggestion: Turn off your phone, and put it in your pocket. Ironically, the best way to make a real connection might be to live, however briefly, in a digital-free zone.Article 4Schools seek balance for cellphones in classAre they a teaching tool or a distraction?E-MAILShare via e-mailTop of FormTOADD A MESSAGEYOUR E-MAILBottom of Form?FACEBOOK?TWITTER??LINKEDIN?206COMMENTSPRINTJOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFFMelrose High students Beatrice Affatato (left) and Miranda Lombardo used smartphones in Blair Cochran’s physics class.By?Linda Matchan?GLOBE STAFF??JUNE 16, 2015After 20 years of teaching, Miriam Morgenstern is calling it quits this month. The Lowell High School history and ESL teacher is starting an educational nonprofit, although that’s not the only reason she’s leaving the classroom.Another is her frustration with students and their cellphones. The texting, tweeting, and Snapchatting during class time are “an incredible distraction, and makes it much more difficult to teach,” she said. “It’s pretty hard to compete with a very funny YouTube video.”It is the most vexing issue of the digital age for teachers and administrators: What to do about students’ cellphones? Some maintain that smartphones and other devices in schools are crucial to being competitive in a global market, while others insist that phones and tablets distract students, compromising their learning and focus.“You’ll get kids saying, ‘I’ll look something up for English, and while I’m here let me quickly check my Instagram or Twitter feed.’ And then it’s, ‘Oh, I never realized this girl said that to me,’ and now they’re distracted and not really engaged with their lesson plan,” said Joni Siani, a Braintree psychologist and author of “Celling Your Soul: No App for Life,” about how digital media affect young people.Educators don’t agree on much when it comes to digital devices in classrooms except that they aren’t going away. Some 88 percent of American teens ages 13 to 17 have or have access to a mobile phone, and a majority of teens (73 percent) have smartphones, according to a?Pew Research Center studyreleased in April. Ninety-two percent of teens report going online daily, with more than half saying they’re online several times a day. Twenty-four percent say they do so “almost constantly.”It’s a complex issue, especially since the debate over cellphones is part of a broader conversation about a cultural shift underway in classrooms — a move away from the traditional model of teachers imparting information to students, to one where students actively participate in their own learning, using mobile devices to access the Web, educational apps, and other tools.JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFFMelrose High School students Nina Gesnaldo (left), Helen Burtnett, and Holly Moore used smartphones to write comments in their English class.At Melrose High School, for example, science students use a physics app to collect acceleration data and measure sound intensity, and English students discuss literature on their smartphones. In Burlington, high school Spanish students practice language skills on their iPads by recording their speech and playing it back.The shift in classrooms is happening slowly and unevenly, depending on district policies, financial means, and teachers’ comfort levels with technology. Some schools are leveraging students’ own smartphones — the so-called BYOD (bring your own device) approach. Others with the means to do so, such as the Burlington school system, have taken the “one-to-one” approach and purchased iPads for all students in grades one through 12.It comes as the era of a one-way lecture — from a teacher who is considered “sage on the stage’’ — is fading.“Undoubtedly there are great teachers with lots of experience who are spellbinding lecturers. I’m not in any hurry to push them out the door, but as they move on, the next generation of teachers will be much better served by the ‘guide on the side’ [model],” said Joe Blatt, faculty director of the Technology, Innovation, and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education.The lack of consensus about cellphone use in schools is reflected in a hodgepodge of policies around Massachusetts.JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFFA student logged into a site in Blair Cochran’s physics class at Melrose High.Boston Public Schools prohibit their use during school hours. Melrose allows them in class with teachers’ permission, and the use of smartphones as teaching tools. Some schools permit phones only during lunchtime or in the hallways. Others decree that phones stay inside lockers; some forbid tweets or texts. At Burlington High School, students can carry silenced mobile devices, but using communication features during class is prohibited.Still, the trend seems to be in favor of increased tolerance of cellphones.“About a year and a half ago, I said, ‘All right, we can’t win this battle, how do we turn it so it wins for us, so we can make it a positive?’?” said Cyndy Taymore, superintendent for Melrose Public Schools. “[Students] weren’t paying attention, they were checking their e-mail, and God forbid the Patriots were in a playoff game.”But banning cellphones entirely can create unexpected problems. Many parents support phones in schools so they can coordinate pickups and after-school activities with their children. They also want to be able to reach them in case of emergency.In March, the New York Department of Education lifted its decade-long ban on cellphones in the New York City schools. The ban was unpopular, not least because thousands of students in schools with metal detectors were paying daily fees to vendors to store their phones during school hours. Now administrators will decide for themselves where and how phones will be allowed on each campus.Through it all, the efficacy of mobile devices in the learning environment remains unclear.Blatt says: “There is a lot of substantial evidence to show the kind of learning that is possible for kids using these devices — when properly supported and managed by teachers who make the best use of them — can be powerful learning.”On the other hand,?a study released in May by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics?looked at 91 schools in four cities in England, where more than 90 percent of teenagers own a mobile phone. The study found that test scores were 6.41 percent higher at schools where cellphone use is prohibited. The researchers concluded that mobile phones “can have a negative impact on productivity through distraction,” particularly among low-achieving students, who benefitted most from the ban, with achievement gains of 14.23 percent.“The results suggest that low-achieving students are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones while high achievers can focus in the classroom regardless of the mobile phone policy,” according to the study.Many in the pro-technology camp say that students are not distracted if their teachers are engaging, a statement that exasperates soon-to-be former teacher Miriam Morgenstern.She recently brought a Holocaust survivor into class to talk about World War II, and noticed that one of her students was tweeting during the talk. “Should I have told the Holocaust survivor to be a little more engaging?” Morgenstern said.Linda Matchan can be reached at?linda.matchan@. ................
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