Creating a plan with students to use cell phones for learning

Visit this link to see how these students
are using cell phones as learning tools.

Cross posted at the Teaching Generation Text. The blog dedicated to using mobile devices for learning.

Want to integrate cell phones into learning? You can involve your students with this planning lesson where students will focus on cell phones as learning tools. With an overview of the educational uses of cell phones (the Gr8 8, below), students will determine how they will choose to use their cell phones for educational purposes.  Contracts for tools will be developed by students and the result will be a plan for educational uses of cell phones.

Lesson Title: Plans for Phones or Plnz 4 fonz
Tools Used:  Poll Everywhere
Lesson Description:

• Start with a class discussion about tools, and their purpose, for learning.
• Multiple choice poll:  Ask students to text into a poll everywhere free text poll examples of tools and their uses: pencil-communicating/taking notes, calculator-do math, dictionary-learn meanings of words, notes, books, websites, teacher instruction.
• Free text poll: Ask students to share the tools available on their phone. This captures all of the available, educational, free cell phone tools that are in students’ pockets.
• Teacher shares the "Gr8 8 Top Educational Uses of Cell Phones" to get students thinking about some ways that cell phones can be used for learning.
• Teacher asks how are you already using your phone for learning? What are you already doing that works?
• Multiple choice poll: Which of the "Great 8" would you like most to use for learning.  Note: The teacher may want to share these poll results with parents, administrators, and other teachers.
• Students personalize this, by creating plans explaining how they will use cell phone tools for learning.  

Here is a sample plan template:

The Hottest Posts This Week!

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

10 Reasons Cell Phones Should Be Allowed In School...

Aug 24, 2010, 21 comments                      2553 Pageviews

Cell Phones Optimize Learning Time

Jan 29, 2012, 2 comments                          1996 Pageviews

What should every citizen know? My Answer.

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Think prepping kids for the 21C means buying a Smartboard...

Feb 3, 2012                                                   1911 Pageviews

5 things before turning to ADD/ADHD Meds...

Feb 2, 2012, 1 comment                            1898 Pageviews

Cure ADHD without Drugs with These Resources...

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The 10 No Nos of Teaching with a Smartboard...

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10 Reasons To Be In Love with Unschooling ...

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Conversations in the hall...better than a workshop...

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Free-Range Media = Free-Range Learning Innovation

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Think prepping kids for the 21st century means buying a Smartboard & computers? Think again.

Live Tonight! 2/2 - Panel on Personal Learning Profiles

Join me tonight, Thursday, February 2nd, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com panel discussion on "Personal Learning Profiles," also referred to as "personal success plans," "learner profiles," or "personalized learning paths."  The discussion will be hosted by Steven Hargadon. Joining me on the panel are Barbara Bray, Kathleen McClaskey, and Shannon Miller.

We'll discuss be discussing topics, issues and questions such as:

• With a growing sense of the value of personalized, customized, and student-driven learning, what is the best way to capture and communicate students' learning plans and goals?
• Who should "own" these profiles/plans, both in terms of responsibility and ultimate control?
• How can and should personal learning profiles interact with student portfolios?
• And Steve Hargadon's perennial question...In a vision of teachers as lead-learners, what provisions are being made to bring personal learning profiles to the profession itself?

Session details:
Date: Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am (next day) GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate).
Log in: Go to http://futureofed.info.
The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Recordings:
The full Blackboard Collaborate recording and a portable .mp3 recording will be available soon after the show athttp://www.futureofeducation.com.

Panelists (listed alphabetically):

Barbara Bray is a Creative Learning Strategist who believes that anyone at any age can learn. She has worked with schools, districts, individuals, businesses, and non-profit agencies around the world. Her dream has been to create an online place that was safe and secure with all the tools and resources all in one place. She did it with My eCoach as early as 1999 — way before there were blogs, wikis, Twitter or Facebook. Barbara is what you call a “Digital Pioneer.”

Barbara is a teacher, writer, change agent, risk-taker, instructional designer, connector, and visionary. Whenever anyone told Barbara she couldn’t do something, she took it more like a challenge. Barbara knows that teachers need support with the shift to 21st Century Skills. New and veteran teachers are overwhelmed with day-to-day tasks plus being asked to teach and integrate technology. The big question even today is “how do you fit everything in that is expected of you and meet the needs of all students?”

Barbara writes a regular column on professional development for OnCUE (Computer Using Educators) as well as regularly posts helpful materials and resources on her blog. She works tirelessly to find and research new tools and methods that help educators. Now with multiple opportunities to network using social media and join various online communities, teachers and learners are confused. Barbara makes it her job to determine what is authentic, valid, cost-effective, safe, user-friendly, and relevant for her clients.

Kathleen H. McClaskey, resident of Ed Tech Associates, is a recognized UDL and Digital Learning Consultant with 28 years experience in using technology in the classroom. Kathleen is a frequent international, national and regional workshop presenter on topics that include Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Technology for Diverse Learners, Math and Technology: Bringing Research to Practice, Built in Moodle: The Universally Designed Digital Learning Environment and most recently, Personalized Learning Toolkit with Barbara Bray. In the last decade, she directed and designed the professional development in technology-based projects in math, science, literacy and autism. She currently curates four topics in Scoop.it:  Personalized Learning, Universal Design for Learning, Leveling the Playing Field with Apps and Math, Technology and UDL:  Closing the Achievement Gap.  Twitter: @khmmc

Shannon McClintock Miller is the district teacher librarian and technology specialist at Van Meter Community School in Van Meter, Iowa. She encourages her students to have a voice while learning, creating, collaborating, and connecting to others within their school and around the world. Shannon is the author of the award winning Van Meter Library Voice blog and enjoys writing for ISTE's Leading & Learning journal, various blogs, and in other forums. She has had the opportunity to speak in Iowa and around the country about advocacy, technology, social media, and making a difference in education and the lives of others. She is a member of ISTE, SIGMS, ALA, AASL, and ILA (Iowa Library Association). Shannon serves as the advocacy chair on the Iowa Association of School Librarians and on the Iowa Center for the Book Advisory Council as the public school students and libraries representation. Shannon also serves on the School Library Month advisory board. She is a StudyBlue Teacher Advocate and FableVision Learning Ambassador. In 2010, she was also chosen to be part of the Cengage Learning/School Library Journal New Leaders Program. In March 2011, Shannon was awarded the Connecting People Shorty Award. Shannon can be found at @shannonmmiller on Twitter and online atshannonmmiller.com.

Lisa Nielsen writes for and speaks to audiences across the globe about learning innovatively and is frequently covered by local and national media for her views on “Passion (not data) Driven Learning,” "Thinking Outside the Ban" to harness the power of technology for learning, and using the power of social media to provide a voice to educators and students. Ms. Nielsen has worked for more than a decade in various capacities to support learning in real and innovative ways that will prepare students for success. In addition to her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator, Ms. Nielsen’s writing is featured in places such as Huffington Post, Tech and Learning, ISTE Connects, ASCD Wholechild, MindShift, Leading and Learning, The Unplugged Mom, and is the author the book Teaching Generation Text.

5 things you can do now before turning to ADD / ADHD drugs

Guest post by Heather Jones DeGorge

Editor’s note: I’m often disheartened to find that in many cases educators and parents are quick to unquestioningly trust pharma industry influenced doctors about best treatments for children’s mental and health issues without considering or researching other options. Before taking the advice to drug children it is helpful to get insights from health and wellness coaches like Heather Jones DeGeorge and  parenting coaches / counseling experts like Laurie A. Couture who have had great success with helping families find mental and physical health and wellness naturally. I asked DeGeorge to share the top five things families can do for children who have symptoms associated with ADD / ADHD. Here they are.

It’s a familiar scenario: Johnny or Jane (but statistically more frequently, Johnny) can’t sit still in class.  Add whatever other “disruptive to the learning environment” things you can think up.  Now add the at-home tensions.  Nobody needs me to paint a picture of what the world calls ADHD these days.  We may all have different pictures in our mind, but remarkably, they are likely to all qualify.  

The teachers and/or the doctors might tell you to remove sugar and food dyes.  MIGHT.  But at the end of the day, as recently exposed in a New York Times opinion piece by psychology professor L. Alan Sroufe most doctors are going to offer you a medication.  Some schools will bully you into believing that they will not evaluate your child for IEP/504 accommodations without a diagnosis—possibly without first trying medications (both of which are illegal—at a Federal level that overrides the state).

10 Reasons Why The Innovative Educator Is In Love with Unschooling

Why would someone with a career vested in the school system be in love with unschooling? Well, frankly it’s because I know a LOT about learning and from what I’ve seen, read, observed and experienced, unschooling is a terrific way to learn. What’s more, unlike schooling, you grow up more prepared for life and the passion, creativity, and the love of learning doesn’t get sucked right out of you.

Here are ten reasons why I love how unschoolers learn: