This post is a little different that usual – but I ran into something that I thought was too good not to share – an article that outlined a couple of smart ways to use cell phones in the classroom. I’ve had a few offline discussions with different people about the merits of online learning and technology in the classroom. The following suggestions demonstrate that it’s not a question of if cell phones belong in the classroom, it a matter of making good use of them.

Cell Phones for Oral Reports…

Ideas for the Classroom

• Have students do their oral reports using Google Voice. If they don’t like how they sounded the first time, they don’t have to send the message. They can re-record until they have something with which they are happy.
• Use Google Voice as an assessment tool to easily capture student’s reading level. Not only to have you have a recording, you have a transcript too and a place to keep notes. Rather than talk to a parent about how a student has progressed across a year, let them listen to it their child themselves.
• Have students share something interesting about themselves and post the recordings on a class page or in a blog where other students can listen or comment.
• Text Talk: Classroom Stories – Spanish
  • Students in Spanish class can practice their language skills on the phone. On their own time, students call the teacher’s Google Voice number and read something in Spanish or create a dialogue which is sent to the teacher’s Google Voice account.

Cell Phone Video

• Ideas for the Classroom
• Have students act out chapters of a book they are reading and record it using video. Acting out a chapter helps solidify understanding.
• Record mini lessons and how to’s using the video on your cell phone. These can be stored on the classes online space as well as emailed or texted to students.
• For teachers using the reading workshop, taping accountable book talk between pairs or in book clubs is powerful. Students can go back and look at their talk to see how they did and what they might change, teachers can listen in on conversations they wouldn’t usually be able to and doing so provides documentation of growth.