PopTech 2010: Geeks at the Opera - 24; Image courtesy of Ed Yourdon on Flickr.com
Last year, one of my college-bound nephews proudly told me that he had mastered the fine art of texting his friends while holding his phone underneath his desk while pretending to listen to his teacher during class. He proclaimed that his teachers had no idea that he and his friends were texting. Being the loving aunt that I am, I laughed out loud in his face. I then let him know that teachers know more about what is going on in the classroom than their students give them credit for knowing.
Whether we like it or not, cell phones–smart or otherwise–are a major aspect of our students’ lives. I know I’m not the only one who knows of a student willing to stand in line and jump through hoops just to be able to pick up the new iPhone 5 today. We can wage a never-ending war on cell phones in the classroom or we can use them to our advantage. In fact, many professors are successfully using smart phones as a teaching tool:
Polling: Similar to using “clickers,” professors take advantage of various free apps that allow their students to respond to a question.
Scavenger Hunt: I read about a professor at Appalachian State who used the SCVNGR app to involve his students in service learning in collaboration with a river conservation project. Instead of just having students “find this or that,” the students helped construct their knowledge in the course.
Google It: Ask students to look up information on the Internet during class to aid in class discussion or to help them complete an in-class small group assignment. You’d be surprised by how many “teachable moments” show up this way.
Take a Photo: Encourage students to take notes while you write on a white board but also encourage them to take photos of the board before you erase it so that they can compare their notes to yours. I know I’ve relied on those white board snapshots, why not let our students do the same?
Collaboration: There are apps that allow students to work collaboratively but we can also encourage our students to share contact information with each other. I was talking to a small group of students yesterday who were lamenting that they had no way of contacting each other outside of class. Almost all of them had cell phones in their hands. As strange as it sounds, none of them had considered sharing their phone number with their classmates. As I walked away, they were in a huddle calling each other and storing the information in their “contacts” list.
CTLT Coordinator, Faculty Development, Julie-Ann McFann, Ph.D.
My CTLT predecessor, Jennifer McDade, wrote “Little Ideas for Teaching: Smartphones” with a lot of ideas and links to resources that can be used as springboard for using smart phones as a teaching tool. I encourage you to check it out for easy ways you can incorporate cell phones into your teaching.
Have you used a smart phone as a teaching tool in your classroom? Please share your idea and/or experience with us!
