Reframing: Cell phones in the classroom

[Jeanne du Plessis]

One of the most talked-about presentations at the Voices of Learners event last week was one entitled “Cell Phones in the Classroom.” A phrase that, at most schools, ends with “are not allowed.”

Embracing the fact that there are few forces strong enough to pry a teenager’s phone from her hands, a teacher at GlenOak High School decided to wield his students’ constant connectivity to his, and ultimately, their advantage. Using free online tools such as www.polleverywhere.com, he increased interaction and engagement in his math class by allowing students to use text messaging to post anonymous questions and to respond to fun and serious polls about the work at hand.

While this approach might not avoid a junior from covertly texting from under his desk in the middle of trigonometry, it immediately enables students to be co-creators of the learning experience, rather than passive receivers. It also creates an opportunity for shy students to ask questions without feeling singled out.

An article in the November 2009 issue of Fast Company, shows how this kind of reframing can be taken a step further.

Project K-Nect, funded by Qualcomm, distributed smart phones in schools to aid math instruction. Students not only used the phones to interact in class, however. Their homework assignments had them wrestling with math problems in groups, diagramming the solutions on poster boards and videoing explanations for the benefit of other students. “We actually ended up teaching our classmates,” says Taylor Scott, a student featured in the article. How’s that for engagement?

Even the under-desk texting or the temptation of copying each others’ answers can be controlled by software called MobiControl, which allows teachers to view all messaging on the phones.

The results from Project K-Nect have shown significant improvements in students’ algebra proficiency ratings compared with a control group. At Glen Oak High, teachers and students have also reported better results, since they stopped viewing cell phones as distractions and started seeing their potential as teaching tools.