tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post7427650061000017750..comments2024-03-28T05:35:07.354-04:00Comments on Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Ideas for Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Cell Phones Even in Districts that Ban ThemLisa Nielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07759123507185453030noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-47728136433971968532009-08-30T17:05:04.316-04:002009-08-30T17:05:04.316-04:00Hi,
My husband is a professor at a local college j...Hi,<br />My husband is a professor at a local college just outside of Birmingham and I was hoping to bring some<br />people to the blog to give there thoughts and opinions on the educational resources I have been <br />providing (both amateur and professional). <br />It is (appropriately) named <a href="http://thetopeducationjournal.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">The Top Education Journal</a>. You can visit it by going to <br /><a href="http://thetopeducationjournal.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://thetopeducationjournal.blogspot.com</a>. <br />I hope you decide to check it out, so far friends and colleagues have been very supportive. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-26680241789032869392009-08-14T08:38:47.657-04:002009-08-14T08:38:47.657-04:00@ Tiago Tavares I think the reason educators such ...@ Tiago Tavares I think the reason educators such as yourself question this, may be because you have not had experience or professional development in effectively using technology with students to enhance learning. Why wouldn’t we want the world inside a school to prepare students to communicate, collaborate, connect, and have access to resources beyond school walls with the same tools that are prevelent in their daily lives outside of school? Why not teach students to harness the power of the technology tools they have to do more than just texting with their friends? Why limit supporting students with developing communication skills to just face-to-face with those that happen to be sitting in their same school rather than supporting them in connecting with those across the world who might share a unique interest? Why not allow students to use all tools accessible to them to demonstrate their knowledge and creativity and produce content and connect in ways that are not possible without it? A break here and there might be nice for some if they chose to take one, but forcing it upon students who have to power down to come to school and are screaming out “Engage me or Enrage me!” leads to disconnected students and educational settings that are disconnected from life outside the brick and mortar.Lisa Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07759123507185453030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-85328820226563132872009-08-14T03:49:48.314-04:002009-08-14T03:49:48.314-04:00Great idea! Let’s also integrate the mobile phone ...Great idea! Let’s also integrate the mobile phone in class! Cool opportunity to take advantage of all its functionalities and apply them in the educational realm. Just as teachers did with TV a long time ago, right? and the video recorder too, I guess. Although we can’t forget to get to the core of how to use interactive whiteboards… oops, I almost forgot… computers, we have to fit them in somehow. Sheez… let’s sit back and think for a minute here. Do we really need all of this?<br /><br />Mobile phones and texting implement a very fast paced lifestyle and, although it is true texting has become part of students’ lives, why not consider school a break from that? Why does school have to be the continuation of what seems to be a very shallow form of communication. Why text your classmates when you can actually talk to them? Developing people skills is a fundamental aspect of school, don’t you think? Sure, some might say having a video recorder as inexpensive like that facilitates the creation of videos, but we’re not reinventing the wheel here… we’re actually going back to the introduction of video in class, something that has already been dealt with to some extent - the mobile phone is just a different form factor.<br /><br />What I think we, as teachers, should be worried about?<br /><br />Knowledge & Creativity. That’s all there is to it… how to use creativity to build knowledge. Am I oversimplifying??Tiago Tavareshttp://www.tiagotavares.eunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-78832353894971592852009-07-30T16:09:06.058-04:002009-07-30T16:09:06.058-04:00I still don't agree with the rationale on bann...I still don't agree with the rationale on banning cellphones... that they're a distraction, etc. etc. etc. Come on, there's nothing more distracting than a disastrous teacher in school without adequate <a href="http://www.teachersparadise.com/" rel="nofollow">lesson plans</a>!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495584357855457763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-49486180573144165042009-07-04T11:09:33.540-04:002009-07-04T11:09:33.540-04:00I also agree with what Nick said. What will happe...I also agree with what Nick said. What will happen with and to the students who do not have cell phones? Yes, a lot of children have cell phones, and I think that the ideas of having and putting them to use are excellent. But what happens with the chldren who don't have them? Would the school provide cell phones to those that don't have one? <br />It goes along with the old saying,"if you can't beat them, join them!" I would love to hear more about this!Kim Hustonhttp://khustonwalden.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-21220692770258011272009-06-19T22:52:03.749-04:002009-06-19T22:52:03.749-04:00Thank you for the response. I agree with you, and...Thank you for the response. I agree with you, and your tenacity is a great encouragement. I am concerned that the socioeconomic rift that exists in the united states will only grow wider if we do not level the playing field for all students. If there are school systems that struggle to put books in the classroom while others are incorporating cell phones and laptops into the curriculum, we will be producing graduates with very different educations and in comparable capabilities. So while I like your quote, it is important to remember that on some buses, there may be no one who can afford a watch on the day you forget yours.(perhaps a bad example, but you get my point). That said, I do no believe these economic differences should slow or limit the progression of technology in the classroom, but rather that it should progress and there should be a demand for equal and adequate funding for all of our schoolsnickhirt100https://www.blogger.com/profile/07804643761921754337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-57111361010896774632009-06-19T08:49:29.528-04:002009-06-19T08:49:29.528-04:00Anonymous. Thank you for feedback. You have inte...Anonymous. Thank you for feedback. You have interesting points to respond to. Let’s start with your comment about cell phones bans being akin to banning notes when we were kids. It’s not. Banning cell phones is akin to banning paper and pen. That’s the difference. The tools (pen/paper) weren’t banned. The behavior was banned. You question having a liaison for this. This suggestion comes from my perspective as someone who launches programs across the largest school district in the country. If a single point of contact is established at each school (a.k.a. a liaison), you then have someone to share information with, invite to professional development, inform of upcoming opportunities, etc. This would not be the person’s only job of course. It’s not a hoop, but rather a method of assisting schools in making the layup into the hoop. Your idea about starting simple with a poll is a good one and is exactly the type of activity planning in launching this program. Same with the trickle idea as well as using Liz Kolb’s work which is the book I recommend in the post. Your suggestion about what to do for kids that don’t have phones is directly in alignment with my response to nickhirt100. Take a look. You might like the quote I share from Marc Prensky. Regarding your statement that it’s not about the tech, it’s about the learning. I agree, but we do need to focus attention on helping to infuse the 21st century tools that engage children today to support the learning because little of this is occurring in schools today. Great insight. Thank you for your contribution to the conversation.Lisa Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07759123507185453030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-77564722545675257392009-06-18T23:17:18.101-04:002009-06-18T23:17:18.101-04:00Seriously? A liaison for this? Yes phones are bann...Seriously? A liaison for this? Yes phones are banned at many schools (as was passing notes when we were kids) and yes teachers need to learn to use them well and appropriately if they are to integrate any technology but no need to create so many hoops. Why not start simply by using them to do a poll at a staff meeting and letting those teachers who want to participate in the poll do so? Then let them trickle the use into their classrooms after giving them some suggested blogs/podcasts to explore such as Liz Kolb's work. As for the students that don't have a phone, no worries. Have them work in groups or those who have phones with unlimited texting can let others borrow their phone for the seconds it takes to send in the necessary response. Or look for apps that allow other ways of submitting a response like via landline or computer. It isn't about the technology, it's about the learning. Make sure those goals are clear first.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-9188135204532443342009-06-17T21:03:45.146-04:002009-06-17T21:03:45.146-04:00@Sharon Boller Thank you! I do too and think many...@Sharon Boller Thank you! I do too and think many of the same lessons apply to adults and the corporate world as kids and education. I'd love to know some of the ways you are thinking.Lisa Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07759123507185453030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-39762401559718540292009-06-17T21:02:17.344-04:002009-06-17T21:02:17.344-04:00@nickhirt100 great question! I think the first thi...@nickhirt100 great question! I think the first thing you should do is try this with kids and see what kind of answers they come up with. In the meantime, I'll quote Marc Prensky for this one, "For those who raise the scenario of technology breaking down, or of someone’s forgetting, or not owning the tools, I remind those people of what we all do whenever we leave our watch at home, or when its battery runs down: we just ask someone else for the time. It is not doing this that would really seem “uneducated” in the twenty-first century." from http://theinnovativeeducator.wikispaces.com/file/view/Prensky-UsingCellPhonesForExams-OpEd-Australia(3).pdfLisa Nielsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07759123507185453030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-8715906563752682232009-06-17T20:47:41.035-04:002009-06-17T20:47:41.035-04:00How do you overcome alienating students who do not...How do you overcome alienating students who do not have cell phones? That said, it seems like a great idea and a great way to use resources that are already present to bring learning in hand to the classroom.nickhirt100https://www.blogger.com/profile/07804643761921754337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-17607133294917038932009-06-17T09:51:25.330-04:002009-06-17T09:51:25.330-04:00Very, very interesting! I'm in the corporate w...Very, very interesting! I'm in the corporate world - not the K12 world - and I can see some exciting ways to incorporate the ideas you've shared here.<br /><br />Thanks for a post that contains solid design ideas.Sharon Bollerhttp://www.bottomlineperformance.com/lolblog/noreply@blogger.com