Interested in Teaching with Mobile Tech? Read This Month's Ed Leadership

In case you missed it, ASCD's Ed Leadership magazine has an entire issue dedicated to "Teaching with Mobile Tech." My Teaching Gen Text co-author and I had the opportunity to contribute.

Here is an excerpt:

Teaching with Cell Phones

Research suggests that students are eager to use their cell phones for learning. Are schools ready to catch up?

Cell phones need not be a distraction in schools. Instead, they can be tools for sustaining engagement, supporting real-world cooperative learning, and empowering learning on the go.

Students already know this. According to a Project Tomorrow survey (2013), 78 percent of middle school students say they use their cell phone to check grades; 69 percent credit it with helping them take class notes; 64 percent enjoy its aid in accessing online textbooks; 56 percent say it helps them write papers and do homework; and 47 percent say it helps them learn about school activities. If students are doing all these things on their own, just think how much more they can accomplish when educators incorporate cell phones into instruction.

The Hottest Posts Everybody's Reading

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment.

Entry	Pageviews
Nearly 60% of Teens Use Their Own Mobile Devices i... May 3, 2015,	5274
7 Must-Haves for Teaching + Learning with #BYOD #B... Mar 22, 2015,	3967
Handy Tip to Make Presentations Engaging + Interac... May 10, 2015,	2453
New Research Shows Digital Content Increases Stude... May 24, 2015,	2028
8 Digital Resources To Stay Connected to Families ... May 17, 2015,	1163
The Beginning of BYOD in New York City Schools May 18, 2015,	1145

New Research: Banning Cell Phones Prepares Students for The Past

A recent study from the Center for Economic Performance in London makes a disturbing recommendation to ban students from using their digital devices for learning. The study making the rounds in stories like this one (The Conversation), this one (ABC On Your Side), and this one (NY Mag) disregards what innovative educators know and research shows: Paper assessments are a poor indicator of student achievement. 


The study indicates that after schools banned mobile phones, test scores of high school students increased by 6.4% of a standard deviation, which they say means that it added the equivalent of five days to the school year. It goes on to say the results indicate the ban has a greater impact on special needs students and those eligible for free school meals.

But before schools and districts start pulling devices from the students who need them most, it is important to take a look under the hood.

New Research Shows Digital Content Increases Student Achievement

PBS LearningMedia which provides digital learning experiences for students, recently conducted a study that goes beyond looking at the impact of technology on students ability to fill bubbles in old-fashioned tests. Instead, it showed the positive impact of educational media on student achievement.

Key findings include:

1)    High quality digital content positively impacted student content knowledge and critical thinking practices when integrated into existing curriculum. Across subject areas (English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies), student performance on content assessments showed significant improvement, increasing by eight percentage points.