Can phone usage be successfully integrated in the classroom?Donna D (a friend of mine) and I have constant disagreements when it comes to technology in the classroom. She is very open minded to the idea and is willing to give anything a try. Keep in mind, she has a deep interest in the area and is constantly learning new applications which she gladly shares with her colleagues. I, on the other hand, am a bit more reserved, skeptical and try to steer clear of the notion. After reading the article she gave me, Phone A Friend In Exams, I begin to question my role as a teacher. What is my purpose? Is it my job to fill the heads of eager learners with facts and information (that they may never use in life) or is it more important to provide them with the necessary tools to succeed in life? If our goal in education is to stimulate thought - critical thinking, and instill in our students a love of lifelong learning, is it not our responsibility to show them how to access information for when they need it? Is it classified as cheating when we have to look up information as opposed to knowing it off the top of our head? Maybe the 'phone a friend' idea isn't as crazy as it sounds. Watch out Donna - your phone may start ringing!
3 comments:
Leanne, you have touched on my passion in your post- the need to show students how to access information when they need it rather than to give them information.
I liked the article on cell phones because it makes me think - as you have done - about how we can engage students in their own learning.
I agree with your comments, Leanne, about teaching kids to think rather than just filling their heads with facts they need to learn for a test. Interestingly enough, I went shopping after reading your Blog today and while I was at Canadian Tire, I witnessed something that as a teacher, appalled me. The young girl working the till had to ask her co-worker to fill out a customer's cheque because she "didn't know how to spell and write all those number words." This girl must be at least 16 to work there and yet, she could not fill out a customer's cheque (the man was elderly - for all I know he can't spell either or maybe he can't see well enough, maybe he has arthritis). Regardless of the customer, I can understand the frustration employers feel in finding adequate help.
Totally agree - I'm more and more convinced that the roles of school and teachers is not solely to teach what to know, but how to find the things they need to know. After a particularly disappointing performance by my students on a unit exam last semester, I asked the question of why I was testing them on memorize and regurgitate questions when the discussions we'd had in class were much deeper and, to my mind, more important. Since then, I've moved to an all open-book test model in my History classes and have found that students stress less, but have to work as hard on the exam to prove what they know because I don't have to leave the questions at what they can recall.
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