WPP Part A-Description of Need or Opportunity

Click here to listen to the need/opportunity to teach with mobile device.
As an instructor, teacher, professor, deliverer of knowledge, part-time parent, friend, nurse, "aunty," etc...it is easy to get lost in the demands of my teaching profession and be pulled in multiple directions. But with all that still comes a sense of self-value and appreciation for my worth my that makes my choice in career all worthwhile and satisfying.

Yet there is a daily nuisance in my classroom. A nemesis resides within that I cannot compete with. An opponent so powerful, I cannot, with all my strength, resources, and wits, overpower. This archenemy pulls the interest away from me to him. He is impatient and controlling. He is alluring and pressures my students to ignore me and pay attention to him. He tries to be discreet but his presence is ever dominate and powerful. Yes, I am talking about the CELL PHONE!!!

For years cell phones were prohibited in my school and for good reason. Some students were recording unknowing victims doing embarrassing things or they students were spreading rumors and even bullying other students in cyberspace. Cell phones were stolen or lost leading to upset students and angry parents flooding school offices with already limited staff, time, and resources. Cell phones were overall a distraction and disruption in our school and were therefore not allowed. However, last year it was decided by the Saginaw Board of Education that students would now be allowed to carry their cell phones in school and even in the classroom.  Students are free to have their cell phones with them at all times. Teachers were given the authority to create and enforce rules for cell phone use in the classroom. And we teachers decided that phones are to be turned off, not in use (even though most of us preach), and if they cause a distraction they would be confiscated and returned to a parent or guardian only. Early last year I confiscated so many that I actually lost track of whose phone belonged to whom. The phones were not causing  a disruption. I just saw that my students would often peek down at their lap during my presentations or lectures which told me that 1) they are not paying full attention to me and 2) the phones must be on, which is in violation of teacher rules which meant I HAD to take it. Rules are rules and other teachers get upset when all the teachers don't follow the agreement. I soon realized that confiscating the phones was far more distracting and disruptive that a student quietly peeking at his/her phone.

So I decided to no longer make a big deal about a student having a phone that is turned on. This was a battle  that I was just not going to win. I just explained to my students that they were not allowed to use them socially in class. I later learned that many students had smart phones and had useful apps that would benefit their learning in class like dictionary apps, book apps, Google, etc... I even started sharing useful apps that I had on my own phone, suggesting they get them like Chegg, ConjuVerb, Kahn Academy Mobile, etc... So I eventually began encouraging students to use their cell phones in class. On SSR (Silent-sustained Reading) days or work days I even allowed students to listen to music on their cell phones. The classroom was much quieter, there was less talking and more concentration.

Now I want to REQUIRE students to use their phones to complete classroom tasks, assignment and even projects. Research has found this to be where the future in education is headed. Click here for more details. After discovering that numerousl schools across the nation had equipped each of their students with their own personal mobile device for learning (see how Flushing  schools has approved Ipads in their budget). So I decided that is the direction I need to take my students in.