Comment on cellphone Use in the classroom - 1 views
started by Felipe Urdaneta on 02 Apr 12
started by Felipe Urdaneta on 02 Apr 12
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The numbers are mind boggling; in a country like the U.S 95% of teens are online, 76% use social networking sites and 77% have cell phones. Of the slightly older age group (18-29 year olds), 96% are Internet users, 84% use social networks and 97% have cell phones. More than half of those users have smartphones and 23% own tablets such as the iPad. This era should be called "the hyperconnectivity era". Seriously, there are advantages and many of them, but do we know the cons? What are some to immediate consequences of always being connected and getting tons of information at a touch of a key? Sure optimists will say digital tools will accelerate intelligence, and should lead to an increase in problem solving. And indeed these tools can be empowering. They put a world of information at our fingertips. They free people to work from home. Smartphones and tablets can also promote efficiency by allowing people to get things done in spare moments that would otherwise be wasted, such as while commuting from and to work. But we have seen since the dawn of humanity examples of things getting out of control and in this case the servant became the master. There are negative aspects of this hyperconnectivity: we have become in many way slaves of our own tools. We seem to be working more home (at least i am), I find myself often checking my e-mail and using my smartphone obsessively, even during family dinner time this was happening, until we made a conscious decision to turn the electronics off so we could have a quite decent family time. This is so sad... just the fact that I am talking about it means that at least for a while this basic human activity became challenged by those pesky, flashy addictive gadgets. What is wrong with me? I read somewhere that our beloved smartphones are the best excuse for procrastination, as if I ever needed another excuse!!! Another thing happened when we started using e-devices , word processors and texting... nothing it seems is final. We can change our minds in an instant; we can change documents etc... Is this good? well nothing is that good or bad and in some instances this is an advantage but think also of the downsides. Nothing it seems has a deadline. And do not get me started on the issue of multitasking and hyper-distraction... wait someone just texted me... just kidding, but it happens. I have been exploring some solutions to this problem. My brother who on a given day had on him a Blackberry, an Iphone, an iPad another tablet made by Nokia and his laptop started having chronic headaches. He was examined from head to toe and thankfully nothing bad was found. I e-mailed something in the morning expecting an answer when work was done but I got a response almost instantaneously. He is a runner and he uses one of those fancy watches that keeps track of your time, distance, route, calories, heart rate and who knows what else and while on vacation in Europe he started posting his results via his ipad ( as if I really care to know that he has time and $ to go to Europe and go on vacation and i do not but that is for different course) and then it dawned on me... this guy needs some heavy digital detoxification and he has slowly but surely been working on it, he has two hours during the day when he is not to use any electronic device and he gave away his second tablet and Blackberry... his symptoms are getting better but he is not yet well. Then I read about digital dieting and explained to him as I read it: "Just as the abundance of junk food means that people have to be more disciplined about their eating habits, so the abundance of junk information means they have to be more disciplined about their browsing habits". I told him he should once again be the owner of his devices and outsmart his tech. toys; we are getting better. Why do I talk about my brother and not of myself, because thanks to my line of work and the fact that my hospital does not have WiFi, I have periods when I am techno silent... that is until get home. He is not alone we start empowering these gadgets to control us more and more... they have our schedules, bank accounts, passwords etc.... Aahhh and the industry, they keep making devices faster, better, fancier with better apps, and they making us worse addicts.
And what about education? It all depends what age of students you have. For the most part cell phones have been banned in the classroom, and many schools and teachers, state that they are a serious distraction for their students; any of you have ever been into a lecture given to a bunch of physicians? You could make a symphony with the amount of ringtones and beeps you hear almost constantly because remember we need to be available 24/7 and at a moments notice. I do not teach young crowds so I am no authority on the subject whatsoever, but I do see advantages to lift bans on smartphone use and asking kids to use their phones and mobile devices as learning tools. But I leave that up to you experts to decide. If anything we should be evaluating this before passing judgement. If I was a student in this era I would most certainly promote and be using smartphones and gadgets in general to enhance my education experiences. Have you seen how many cool educational apps there are out there in cyber world, here are some examples:
Chemistry Helper

A simple app designed as a quick reference for chemistry students. Includes:
A periodic table with links to wikipedia
a tool to calculate molecular masses of compounds - with a button at the top to perform simple grams/moles calculations, calculate mass percents and do stoichiometry with that compound
a table of polyatomic ions
constants
solubility rules
tools for calculating molarity
iGeology - Android and iPhone - Free for non-commercial use

iGeology is for anyone who wants to explore their local geology virtually anywhere in the UK.
Amateur geologists, walkers and gardeners can look at what is in their local area, to find out about the rocks at the surface or the bedrock beneath.
Search using place names or the postcode where you live, then click on the map and reveal the rocks beneath your feet.
Google Sky Map - Android - Free

Google Sky Map turns your Android phone into a window on the night sky. Point your phone skywards to visualise stars, planets and constellations in real time as you scroll across the sky.
Biochemistry Lab Suite - Android - Free

Covering solutions, chemicals, proteins, peptides, metabolites and mass spectrometry. The app aims to help scientists and students working in the field of mass spectrometry based biochemistry, biology and chemistry, but it is also useful in general lab work.
Elements 2.0 - Android - Free

A comprehensive periodic table including thermal, physical and atomic properties and everything else you'd expect. A great 21st Century way to keep the periodic table handy.
Starmap - iPhone - fees apply

Similar to the Google Sky Map, this is a sophisticated interactive star-map that its makers call a "portable planetarium". Simply loint to the sky and learn about the stars and planets you can see.
Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards - iPhone - Fees apply

Need some help with your anatomy? This comprehensive app lets you test yourself - do you know how the knee bone connects to the thigh bone? You can also download Netter's Neuroscience Flash Cards.
This is so cool. Why didn't I have any of these amazing tools? I am envious of this generation in many ways. Handheld devices can change the way education is delivered because it allows children to learn "anywhere, anytime, any place" This cartoon summarizes my position and stance on the subject. These gadgets if used properly can be tremendous enhancement tools for educational purposes. The key is using them responsibly and evaluating their impact.

We are starting to see the raise of of e-books - downloaded from the internet onto electronic devices - sold over the last 12 months. It is estimated than Amazon.com now sells almost 2.5 books via its Kindle reading device for every one hard copy.This issue raises some pretty heated arguments. Should you throw your old books on the bonfire? No so fast, everything is happening very fast, there are definitely advantages from a publishing point of view to have e-books. They are cheaper to produce and easier to update, they can be enhanced with multimedia etc... but we have to let things mature before we stop turning pages in books and smelling that nice aroma of nice paper.
We must establish a vision for our students and model the use of cell phones as mobile learning devices in order to empower them to embrace them for this purpose, not for socialization . We In our current climate these devices are a huge part of our lives. Schools should position themselves to not only take advantage of this resource as budgets are tight, but also teach students about the powerful tool they possess. We should be excited to work to expand the use of mobile learning devices to improve teaching and learning and to document the value of this.