Technology in Your Pocket

Teachers are always complaining that "there is no money for technology." However, our schools are full of technology that we aren't utilizing! Cell phones and MP3 players should be allowed in the classroom for educational use. I know what you are thinking, remember I am a teacher too, but lets teach our kids 21st century etiquette. When is it appropriate to use your cell phone or MP3 player? When it is not safe to use your cell phone or MP3 player? If we teach students to use the technology responsibly, then we will be teaching them for than material on a test.

I first gave into cell phones when I was dying to create a digital story with my students. Of course, my school does not have any digital cameras for my students to use. In order to create their own stories, students need to take pictures with their cell phones and transfer them to the computer using a bluetooth dongle (cheaper than a digital camera). Before you attempt this, make sure the student's cell phone has blue tooth capabilities.

Read "What Can You Learn From a Cell Phone? Almost Anything!" by Marc Prensky for more inspiration!

I know you can't miss the white earbuds hanging out of your student's ears, so why not let students use them for educational purposes? Have students record their notes, spelling words, or vocabulary words using Audacity (free open source software) or using their cell phones at Gcast.com (podcast using your cell phone). Then, let them hook up their iPod and listen away.

Are you worried students are going to listen to music instead of their vocabulary words? When a student hooks up their iPod on a different computer, it will erase whatever is on their iPod. So, make sure to warn students that if they want to listen to their iPods to study, they will lose all their music until they hook their iPod up to their computer at home again.

As teachers, we are resourceful, so lets use the resources our students already know to empower them to create and learn!