The Great Prohibition: Using Cell Phones Outside the Ban
- When: Session Three: Saturday 2:30pm–4:00pm Where: Room 313 Who: Lisa Nielsen, George Engel
Affiliation: The Innovative Educator Blog, Blogs.cellularlearning.org Conversational Focus/Audience: High School, Middle School
I’ve attended several conference presentations about the role of cell phones in learning. Generally, the conversation tends toward, “Yes, they’re important in learning,” and then moves to a discussion of tools.
While I see the possibility for that here, I’m also hopeful for a discussion of pedagogy and the thought processes surrounding building lessons utilizing these devices. I’m hopeful the conversation will include consideration of standard lesson plans and how mobile technologies an be transformative to the learning outcomes of those plans.
My questions heading into the conversation are:
- How do you know if you’re using mobile technologies simply because they’re shiny rather than using them because they’re the ideal tool?
- What are the best approaches to designing lessons that allow for students without access to mobile technologies that don’t water down the assignments?
- How can we better harness the communication power of the technologies along with the creative power?
- Are teachers using their mobile devices in the same way they’re asking their students to use those same devices?
- What are the implications of mobile technologies in how we approach reading, writing and research instruction? More simply, how, if at all, does the incorporation of mobile technologies require us to teach differently?
- What are the inherent properties of the devices that can assist learning apart from additional apps?
- What’s the scholarship around mobile devices in education?
I’m glad Lisa and George are leading this conversation, and I look forward to hearing what the other folks in the room have to say. I’m hopeful, as the title suggestions, we’ll be able to move past the bans and focus on the pedagogical implications.
Where will you be conversing during Session 3? How are you starting to build your context for the conversation?
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