I was reminded in a recent #Edchat that there once was a time when calculators were not allowed to be brought to class. I remember math teachers in a building I worked in during the 70’s. Teachers said that, if for some reason all of the batteries in the world died at once, kids would need to be able to do math without calculators. Dead batteries means dead calculators. I was only an English teacher, so even though that scenario sounded a bit beyond reality, I did not question the Math people, who convincingly spun that tale, after all Math teachers are always so factual.
After years of continuous battery success, as well as outright battery evolution, we have taken a great chance with a dependence on calculators in education. Math teachers have developed curriculum around the use of calculators. Today, they are required for most math classes. Parents cringe at the cost as calculators appear on items to be purchased for class supplies lists. Many districts supply them to their students. In this instance this tool of technology was successfully integrated into education.
The obvious connection now would be for me to jump to the Mobile learning Device. You may know it as the Cell Phone or Smartphone; however, I am not yet ready to go there. Technology is developing at a pace faster than we are able to absorb into our education system. Teachers have a need to fully understand something before they incorporate it into what they teach. This requires professional Development. Districts provide PD, but it takes time to put it together. It then requires time to fit it into the busy schedule of teachers. Unfortunately, by the time the PD is put together and workshop sessions are worked into teachers’ schedules the technology may no longer be relevant. Since our students are more comfortable with technology and less encumbered for a need to fully understand technology before engaging it, they move forward with its use, leaving their teachers behind. At this point educators are being affected by the technology as opposed to controlling the technology to their advantage.
If we believe the goal of education is to prepare our students for future employment, then we need to ask what future employers are looking for. Many employers need their employees to be able to access technology to acquire information, collaborate with others, create projects to meet a need, and communicate that out to others, either locally or globally. All of this requires the use of technology. Many of the tools which enable people to do this are Web 2.0 tools. They are free for the most part, and they are continuing to be developed in vast numbers.
It would stand to reason, that if employers are looking for perspective employees to be able to acquire information, create content, communicate content, and have a global perspective, we as educators, should be teaching those skills. Of course this would necessitate the teacher’s awareness of the technological tools necessary for students to utilize these skills in a way that future employers would require. That would require utilizing whatever technology tools that are considered mainstream at that time. Since that may change year to year, or every six months, teachers need to teach the concepts that would apply to any tool of choice and not get hung up on specific applications. None of this requires an intricate knowledge of applications by the teacher. It does require knowledge of what applications have to offer in general terms. Students, with guidance, will be able to acquire knowledge of the application through exploration. This is a skill we need to develop with our students in the interest of Life-Long Learning.
And now I have arrived at a point in this post for the cell phone discussion. As the Calculator was once banned, so is the cell phone in many schools. We need to consider cell phones not as phones, but rather Mobile Learning Devices with phone and texting capabilities. These devices are more powerful than the devices used to send men to the moon. Why would we, as educators, not want to utilize this tool for education? I know students are distracted with texting and gaming. They don’t use this device for research. Students engage their phones and not the lesson.
Have kids ever been taught how this device should be used for learning? Mobile learning devices have surpassed the desktop computer as the number one device for accessing the internet. That fact should be meaningful to educators. This tool, however, is viewed by many educators as a distraction. I will not ask why a student would be more engaged with the cell phone than the lesson delivered by the teacher. I will say that the misuse or abuse of cell phones is a behavior problem. It need s to be addressed in a discipline policy and not a ban policy. If we are not teaching the proper use and protocols for these devices, where will these kids learn them? We are leaving them to “learn from the streets”.
We cannot hold kids responsible for the appropriate use of this tool, if we never teach it. Broadway theaters instruct audiences in the appropriate use of cell phones in a theater with every performance. Most people comply to those instructions. Technology tools whether devices, or applications need to be integrated into education. It has become our responsibility to teach appropriate use of technology tools, including cell phones. We as educators no longer have a choice in this. Our students will be required to use these tools in their lives. If we are not teaching the concepts of accessing information, collaboration, creation and communication utilizing the tools of technology, we are not preparing our students for their future.
My Island View 
Beautifully put, I hope I have the skills and experience to make this happen in my school.
It sounds so simple and reasonable and rational when you say it Tom. So, how come when I try to say exactly the same thing at school I end up being made to feel like a blithering techo idiot?
Could I maybe Skype you in to do the talking at a staff meeting for me one day?
I couldn’t agree more-before we jump to conclusions and make assumptions about what and how teachers are teaching, and why students need access to laptops, cell phones, handhelds, etc, it’s important to have dialogue, and have a plan. Once the conversation is started, I am guessing there will be much more conversation about teaching and learning than about the technology. Perhaps I am being overly optimistic-I work in a school district willing to start that dialogue.
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Nice post Tom. While in part I agree that we are educating for the workforce, I have shifted to the bigger picture shared by Chris Lehman that it is more about creating active informed citizens. The skills
Sorry- My computer just decided to post while I was typing..lol
I agree about the base set of skills and the approach and I agree in theory about cell phones. I think, the biggest stumbling block for teacher/schools for all technology is fear of losing control. Classroom management in a more open setting with multiple devices, and more collaboration is daunting for many.
Our school bans mobile phones and I love that we do not have to battle with them to not be distracted by texting and gaming. However, your opinions are the same as mine. I have mentioned to my principal that soon we will have to re-evaluate our policy due to the educational benefits of mobile computing devices. I think that time is now.
Tom – I loved your connection to the calculator battle of yesteryear. The had pretty much completely been settled by the time I was in school by NCTM advocating their use, but even now I know some math teachers still carry that “what would we do if all the batteries died” mentality.
As far as cellphones and iPod touches in my class, I don’t necessarily take dedicated time to teach proper uses (although I have used texting as real-time polling in class), I do what I can to praise students I notice are using their mobile devices for productive uses such as entering homework on calendars or to-do lists and creating flashcards with an iPhone app. I think when students see they have an appropriate use for their devices that they are more willing to put them away when they know it is an inappropriate time.
I have been wondering the same thing as I watch my 18 year old daughter prepare for her Australian VCE final year exams. She is cramming facts and figures, that she will never have to retrieve from memory again. The resources of the internet and other information systems will be available to her in whatever future workplace.
Our systems train them to pass exams that will have little impact on their reality. Her ability to ” access information, collaborate, create and communicate utilizing the tools of technology” (from your words) will be far more valuable to any future employer.
I am really not sure how, but education needs to catch up.
Tom, I could not agree more. Most of our students will spend most of their lives using technology in the workplace as well as at home, and if we are not teaching them with the best available technology, and teaching them to use it safely and effectively, then we are being negligent.
Great post, thanks!
Every student in my district from 3rd grade to 5th grade has their own Mobile Learning Device. The students are engaged in their learning. Unmotivated students have become motivated, and we are reaching all types of learners. We have eliminated the texting and the phone capabilities so they are essentially small computers. We are leveling the playing field. Now every student has internet access, word processing capabilities and many other applications. We have created an enviroment of anywhere, anytime learning. Please visit our Mobile Learning site to learn more about our initiative. http://www.smriders.net/Mobile_Learning/
I beg to disagree, well sort of disagree. I understand the need for reflection and understanding. But these tools are not new, they’re here to stay and as Tom rightly points out by the time we finish deliberating, once more we will be lagging behind.
Can I suggest that the case for ‘reflection’ is actually a product of the so called ‘accountability’ model of school management. In essence teachers are running scared. Knowing if they put one foot wrong they will be fired.
My own position is to get these devices into the class and explore their potential and work with the student to realise good models of practice.
I am prepared to accept that the price of success or failure could be high. But the time is right, technology can now deliver on its promise of effective and genuine learning tools. Its risky, but that’s why teaching is so exciting.
Seize the day
best wishes and regards
John
One of my goals for using tech with students in my Science classes is to show them how to use tech to learn. They already use the tech to play games and to socialize so I want them to practice using our iPads, laptops and desktop comps, as well as their cell phones, smart phones, and iPods to do research, write, create, and communicate to share ideas, give feedback and learn. I have students who keep asking me to “play” on the iPads when they’re “done” with their work. I keep telling them that I want them to enjoy learning to the point where they won’t need to play because they will already be having fun! Yes, learning and working can be fun when you use the right tools.
Completely agree! Students easily use many devices to arrange getting together with friends, accessing the Internet, ordering pizza, etc. I do think, however, even though they are comfortable with this type of technology, that we need to teach students appropriate etiquette and proper use of these devices. Rather than banning cell phones, for example, these classroom situations become teachable moments where students learn that class time is sacred and there are appropriate and inappropriate times to pull out these tools. They aren’t going to learn this with their friends and probably not from their parents either. It is imperative that we become moral leaders and model digital citizenship.
We also need to create experiences where students can use these tools to learn in the classroom. Students don’t find it novel to use tech tools, but rather they find it engaging and relevant to actually use the tools they currently use, in a classroom setting. I think it is a win-win situation if we blend the strengths of two generations – students’ comfort with technology along with our wisdom to create activities and experiences for them to learn.
Spot on, I have been preaching this since I started teaching 7 years ago. Teach kids the concepts of research, discovery and collaboration. Teach the ethical behavior that goes with using a phone appropriately- as you said- if we don’t teach it who will? Teach the behavior you expect kids to perform.
I work with a lot of students in leadership roles, most of th kids there are beginning to understand the concept. I had one student who recently stopped a presentation to tell 300 high schoolers to turn off their phones during a presentation. If kids know it is unacceptable we will see more an more towing the line. Great post!
“If we are not teaching the concepts of accessing information, collaboration, creation and communication utilizing the tools of technology, we are not preparing our students for their future.”
I agree, but I cannot help but imagine we are sailing close to an assumption that is untenable, mainly that if it ain’t taught, it ain’t learnt. This is wrong on almost all faces and smacks of the industrial models of learning that no longer work very well.
You cannot manage complexity and you sure as hell can’t manage chaos. And that it where we are sailing–toward an undiscovered country where learners are all manning the ship. This is not your grandma’s school and we cannot afford to think that is. This post has powerful implications well beyond the self-justifying idea of job security. We are way past that. For my current inspiration, I would highly recommend that everyone read about the “learn” button in this pdf:
http://bit.ly/aTjW3B
I spent most of my working life in project management for design and Print centric projects for business and non profits and then 7 years teaching project management to designers at an “elite” design school.
From that point of one sentence struck me
“Technology is developing at a pace faster than we are able to absorb into our education system.”
Precisely the same situation that was faced by newspapers over the last five or ten years. An under appreciated fact is that newspaper executives fully understood the challenges to their enterprises.
Their problem was that their organizational systems could not respond to changes fast enough to escape a wave of creative destruction. There was lots of avoidable collateral damage for people who had to find new jobs and new ways to work.
From what I think I see the same dynamic is now moving through education. I read this morning that by 2011 50% of the cell phones in America will be smart phones.
Verizon has started an educational program to lead the use of smart phones in K-12 education.
Yesterday I came across an article “Mobile learning at a tipping point eSchool News http://ilnk.me/5094
It’s pretty clear that a smart phone is the next evolution of the “personal computer.” It’s 24/7 access to the learning resources on the web that one carries in one’s pocket.
It seems to me that a basic problem we’re facing as educators is to move from institutional response time to student centered response times.
The challenge is that with the growing pressure of charter schools and new forms of online learning, I’m not sure we’re in the position to integrate the tech on our time.
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In the technological society that we live in today, it is vital to shift the common and erroneous view that devices like cell phones are only toys, gadgets, and fads. A greater appreciation for the huge potential of mobile learning devices needs to be developed and put into practice in the classroom. As a current student of Professor Whitby, I had never even heard of the topic of using popular technology in a school setting until I entered his classroom. That fact alone proves the need for change in the way educators are trained. How can a teacher be expected to best access the reality of their students, which is technology, if she has never been trained in it herself? I hope to see more opportunities for both current and aspiring teachers to move in a positive direction and take advantage of the extensive capabilities of new technologies.
This issue to me is similar to sex education in schools. There is an argument that it shouldn’t be taught in schools but we have learned that if we don’t bad things happen. If we teach it students learn and talk to parents about it.
Cell phones are the sex education of today. If we don’t teach it there is a large amount of blame that the education system should take responsibility for.
Thanks, Tom! Nice summary of the dilemma and exploration of the way forward. It’s so well-written that I would love to see “perspective” changed to “prospective” in the fifth paragraph, just to make it perfect. 🙂
@Terry C Elliott:
“I cannot help but imagine we are sailing close to an assumption that is untenable, mainly that if it ain’t taught, it ain’t learnt. This is wrong on almost all faces and smacks of the industrial models of learning that no longer work very well.”
I agree completely that this should be approached from the perspective of learning facilitation rather than direct teaching. However, the formulation of Tom’s that you mention–
“If we are not teaching the concepts of accessing information, collaboration, creation and communication utilizing the tools of technology, we are not preparing our students for their future.”
–doesn’t contradict that in its underlying meaning. Children will, as you say, learn how to use their mobile devices regardless, but educators have an opportunity (perhaps even an obligation) to help define, if you will, the “use paradigm.” Part of that is handling the technology responsibly and effectively, as Tom suggests, but alongside that is recognizing and understanding the technology’s great power.
An example: Many children, in the absence of guidance, conceive of and use their devices as communication and social networking tools. We can help them understand that they have in their hands, say, a complete toolkit for multimedia creation, or a node for inquiry-based science. Educators can help to cultivate that awareness. Doing that may involve some “teaching,” but its clear aim is to enable learning.
I also wanted to mention that mobile devices have the potential, more than any technology in the history of computing, to close the access gap. That takes mere power and elevates it to empowerment. Wow!
Kenni Smith
Developmental Studies Center
http://devstu.org
http://twitter.com/ThinkingSmith
that’s life …..what goes around comes around…!!!