100 Mobile Tools

In many classrooms, it is common to find educators restricting use of cellular devices rather than embracing them and incorporating them within their classrooms. Thus, when I came across the article "100 Mobile Tools for Teachers" by Cherrye Moore I was curious to see how there could be so many tools available with mobile devices consistently being under used in the classroom. Overall, I felt that many of the resources were useful and I thought they would undoubtedly benefit students if integrated within the classroom.

One tool that I felt could greatly assist educators is "Google Alerts". This tool allows educators and students alike to subscribe to notifications to their mobile device any time a key word from a lesson appears in a news article, piece of media, or the like. I felt that this could be particularly useful in connecting current events to concepts being covered in the curriculum. Furthermore, google has a tool entitled "Google Groups" which can be accessed through one's cellular device and used for student collaboration on a variety of projects.

There are several tools the site listed which could also be utilized with one's cell phone to improve students' organizational and time management skills. For instance, educators can create a class calendar for assignments on "Google Calendars" that students can sync their phones with to keep track of approaching due dates and the like. In addition, "MySchoolog" allows students to create multiple to-do lists on their cellular device which they can access at any point in time.

Furthermore, there were several mobile tools which were specifically designed to aid students in test preparation. For instance, the app "Cramberry" allows teachers to make flashcards and track student progress as well as allowing students to see their own progress. Similarly, there are tools such as "Flashcard Exchange" which allows students to create and swap flashcards with their peers.

This article exposed me to a multitude of resources which can be utilized within the classroom in conjunction with mobile devices. After reviewing the 100 tools presented in the article, it became clear to me that a definite argument can be made for the integration of mobile devices in the classroom, particularly with the vast variety of resources currently available to students through their devices.

Link to Article

Facebook and Twitter in the Classroom

I found the article "How Twitter and Facebook are Fueling Classroom Learning" by Virginia Seatherton to be particularly interesting. Very often, many individuals deem Facebook and Twitter as hindrances to student learning and as mere distractions to be used by students as tools of procrastination. Seatherton however, makes the assertion that both forms of social media can and should be used within the classroom to aid and bolster students' learning.

In the article, Seatherton asserts that Facebook and Twitter serve to: develop community, increase participation, facilitate information delivery, and foster creativity. According to the article, some educators have formulated a requirement that students must friend one another on Facebook and begin following one another on twitter as well to establish a sense of community. While I found this to be interesting, and certainly innovative, I was led to question whether or not this is overstepping boundaries. Students' social media sites are formulated for the purpose of their socializing with their peers and thus it seems as though requiring them to use these same technologies to interact with their peers and quite possibly teachers is an intrusion on their social life. This led me to consider: where should the line be drawn in terms of social media integration?

Despite the concerns which I had about these social sites developing a community within the classroom, I enjoyed Seatherton's commentary on the use of Twitter and Facebook as a means of facilitating information delivery. I am not particularly familiar with Twitter, for I do not actively use it, so I found it interesting to find that students, or even educators, could use the site for polling purposes, to find where certain topics are being discussed, or track a name or subject. I feel that these uses could benefit students greatly if this site was more heavily integrated in the classroom.

My favorite portion of this article was Seatherton's discussion of how Facebook and Twitter can be used to foster creativity. She made a point that Twitter can be used as a tool to construct a "tweet dialogue" between two characters in a written work or as a means to compile a "tweetstory" through the tweets of each student. Furthermore, she revealed that Facebook could be used in an equally effective manner by having students construct fake Facebook profiles for fictional or historical characters that depict their described interests and the like. Seatherton introduces a clear, well-constructed argument as to why Facebook and Twitter benefits students within the classroom and provides innovative approaches for educators in regards to these social sites.

Link to Article

Interactivity #5

Updated NETS-S Spreadsheet

I recently interviewed a math teacher, for the ninth and twelfth grade, in the Parsippany Troy-Hills School District about the NETS-S and NETS-T. The teacher interviewed seemed familiar with NETS-S and NETS-T  but based on their responses, I do not feel that they were extremely knowledgeable about the subject. For instance, when I first asked about NETS-S and NETS-T the teacher seemed unfamiliar with the term and did not understand what I was talking about until I provided a copy to them. Furthermore, when we talked more in depth about NETS-S/NETS-T the teacher seemed to view NETS as solely the integration of technology within the curriculum and school but did not show any indication of understanding that there are several components which comprise NETS-S/NETS-T.

It seems as though the school district has begun to implement the NETS-S and NETS-T. According to the teacher, the district currently has three main target groups for technology initiatives: ninth graders, special education students, and the remainder of the student population (10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders). The teacher indicated that in the coming year, all ninth grade and special education students would be receiving iPads and that these would be used consistently throughout their classes to enhance and further student learning. The teacher stated blatantly that most other students aside from these two populations are being ignored and that this can largely be attributed to the fact that NETS-S/NETS-T is not being employed in a standardized fashion for both students and teachers. Nonetheless, the teacher believes that come 2016 NETS-S/NETS-T will be incorporated more fully within the district and will target the whole of the student population as well as the educators in the various schools.

For the most part, I was not surprised by the teacher’s responses because I did not expect the teacher to be particularly knowledgeable about NETS-S/NETS-T seeing as they are relatively new to the teaching profession and have not had thorough training in this area. Furthermore, the teacher made clear that technology incorporation is not heavily emphasized on a standardized level within their district which led me to infer that NETS-S/NETS-T was not employed fully, if at all, in their school and thus the teacher could not be expected to be overtly familiar with these standards. Despite this, one response from the teacher did surprise me, their statement that “students not in the ninth grade or special education are currently being ignored.” I was surprised by this solely because I did not think that any group of students would be overlooked in terms of technology integration initiatives.

 As a future educator, I plan to stress the importance of NETS-S and NETS-T to my colleagues and administrators because I feel that they are not implemented and utilized to their fullest potential. As an educator, I would emphasize the need to incorporate these standards at all grade levels as well as subject areas so that technology integration can occur through pedagogical strategies used to complete curriculum content goals.

Cell Phones in the Classroom

I recently came across an article "Cell Phones in Education-An Interview with Liz Korb" which served to analyze cell phones role in student learning. Oftentimes, cell phones are disregarded in terms of educational forms of technology and deemed a distraction. The true benefits of these devices are undermined seeing as many view solely as tools for texting, calling, and the like rather than understanding the true benefits of cell phones and the impact they can potentially have within the classroom setting.

I found the most interesting part of this interview to be Liz Korb's explanation of why cell phones essentially matter in education. One strong point she made is that over 75% of secondary students had cell phones in the year 2007, and the number of students possessing cell phones has probably increased since the time of the survey that collected this data. The fact that so many students possess these devices indicates that this is a form of technology which is prevalent in the lives of many students and thus it can be assumed that they are well versed in the uses of these devices. If students are familiar with using these devices for social purposes, it will be relatively easy to instruct them on how to use the device for educational purposes. Another point Korb makes is because so many students have access to these devices, their integration will come at little to no cost to schools.

Later in her interview, Korb addresses what is needed to change the perception of cell phones as negative in education. She states the main obstacle is familiarizing educators with these devices and changing their perception of them from "toys" to "tools". Korb argues that many educators need to have professional development to familiarize them with the advantages of mobile devices so that they can effectively model them as educational tools.

I found this article to be interesting because the debate of cell phone integration within the classroom is ongoing and widely disputed. Seeing as this issue is so prevalent and oftentimes cell phones receive little recognition for their benefits and contributions to student learning, it was enlightening to see someone defending their use in the classroom.

Link to the Article