How Does The Use Of Cell Phones Affect The Engagement Of Students In The Secondary Classroom?

QUESTION

J a m i e S t e f f l Live in Alexandria

& Farm near Morgan

Wife & Mother of Three

K-12 Visual Art & Technology Teacher for 9 years

Passionate about teaching & learning in a 21st Century Way.

ISTE PBS Certified Educator (International Society of Technology in Education)

To become ISTE certified your teaching and students learning must prove application and understanding of:

NETS•S: The skills and knowledge students need to learn effectively and live productively in a digital world.

NETS•T: The skills and knowledge educators need to change the way they teach, the way they work, and the way they learn in an increasingly connected global and digital society.

Cell phones are more powerful than the super computers from 8 years ago.

Cell phones are valuable learning resources most students own and ALWAYS have with themselves at school.◦(97% in my classroom 30 out of 31

students)Novelty creates excitement and

engagement in the secondary classroom.

NO COST TO THE DISTRICT

Why Cell Phones

Let’s see what this group thinks about cell phones in

the classroom using the same techniques as the

study.Please take out your cell

phones if available.

How To Vote via Texting1. Standard texting rates only.2. I have no access to your phone number.3. Capitalization doesn’t matter, but spaces and spelling do.

EXAMPLE

How To Vote via Poll4.com

EXAMPLE

The StudyEngagement was defined as the submission

and completion of daily journal/bellwork topic entries.

Two Phase 10 Week Study.◦ Phase 1: Students were tracked for submission

and completion of Daily Journal Topics using traditional journaling techniques.

◦ Phase 2: Students were tracked for submission and completion of Daily Journal Topics using cell phones, texting, and the website polleverywhere.com.

Initial StepsMy district, like many districts,

DOES NOT ALLOW CELL PHONE USE According to THE STUDENT HANDBOOK.

SO…..I initially met with my building

administration to get permission for cell phone use in my ninth grade art class.

Initial StepsStudents were polled to see how

many had their own cell phones.◦30 out of the 31 research subject had

cell phones with unlimited texts. I created a cell phone parent

permission slip that addressed all areas of the study and the scope of my research. ◦Students and Parents had to agree to all

terms to be allowed to use their cell phones.

Steps Phase 1Implemented Phase1 traditional

journaling and bellwork. This phase lasted 5 weeks. During this Phase:

◦Each day a journal topic was given and students were to answer questions as posted using their student sketchbook.

◦At the end of each week sketchbooks were turned in to be graded and entries were read and tallied for submission and completion and points were awarded.

Journal Topic/Bellwork Example

The photograph on the left is of Pablo Picasso. The artwork on the right is his Self Portrait. What similarities do you see between the two? What differences? Picasso could have painted himself photographically correct, why do you think he chose not to?

Please respond in your sketchbooks with a least a paragraph. Be descriptive!

Steps Phase 1During week 4 of the study a

classroom discussion of cell phone etiquette was shared amongst all class members. As a group WE decided expectations, rules, and consequences for failure to properly use cell phones in class.

During week 5 a Pre-survey was given in written format about cell phones and student opinions on bellwork/journailing using traditional journaling methods.

Discussion Results CELL PHONE RULES Upon entry and departure of class please ensure cell phones are

turned off and stored in your pockets. On days when we are using cell phones for learning please ensure

they are set to silent. Only use phones for learning purposes related to class work. When phones are not in use on a day we are using cells for

learning place them face down on the upper right side of your desk.

If you notice someone in the class using their cell phone inappropriately, remind them to use proper cell phone etiquette.

If at any time your Mrs. Steffl feels you are not using your cell phone for class work you will be asked to place your phone in the bin in the front of the room with a post-it indicating your name.

After the first infraction each month you can collect your phone at the end of class.

After the second infraction you can collect your phone at the end of the day.

After the third infraction your parent or guardian will be asked to retrieve your phone. If you use the phone inappropriately again during the month your parent or guardian will be required to retrieve your phone.

At the beginning of each month, you have a clean slate.

Pre-Survey & Results1. Do you own a cell phone? 30 of 31 answered yes with unlimited texting2. Do you bring a cell phone to school with you? 28 out of 30 answered yes

always3. When do you feel cell phones should be allowed to be used by students in

school. Choices: Before and after school (outside of the building only), Before and after school (inside or outside of the building), During passing periods, During lecture time, During independent work time, During testing , During lunchtime, During emergency/critical incident type situations, Anytime the student wants to

4. When do you feel i-Pods or other electronic devices should be allowed to be used by students in school?

5. How many times during the school day do you use your cell phones in the classroom?

6. How many warnings or discipline referrals have you had so far this school for using your cell phone, I-Pod, or other electronic device in the classroom?

7. Are there classrooms where cell phones are acceptable for use? Choices: Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Family & Consumer Sciences, Business & Technology, Physical Education, Fine Arts (art, craft, music, etc.), Foreign Languages, Agricultural Science, Practical Arts (wood shop, mechanical, etc.), Other (Specify)

8. Are there classrooms where I-Pods or other electronic devices would be acceptable for use?

9. Do you feel it is rude or disrespectful to the teacher and other students to use your cell phone/electronic device within a classroom? Choices: Always, Sometimes, Never

10. Please, explain why you use your cell phone, i-Pod or other electronic devices during class time, and if it is beneficial to your learning.

11. How can teachers use cell phones to help you to be a better learner?

Phase 2 This phase lasted 5 weeks. Set up a free Polleverywhere.com account and “played” with the site

to gain understanding.◦ Found out a limiting factor was only 30 answers were allowed for each poll

using the free account.◦ Worked out well because I had one student whose cellular plan texts were

blocked to Polleverywhere.com so she texted directly to my cell phone. I then implemented Phase 2 where Cell phones, texting, and

Polleverywhere.com were used to complete and submit journal entries.◦ Each day a journal topic was given and students were to answer questions as

posted. ◦ In comparison to traditional sketchbook entries, I never had to collect

anything as it was all maintained by the website Polleverywhere.com and I could grade responses at my leisure even from my own cell phone.

◦ Also students could see each others journal entry real time so they started to improve in thought and If I didn’t see a students response I could immediately address the fact that it had not been completed, which also may have impacted the positive results from this phase.

During week 10 a Post-survey was hosted on surveymonkey.com about engagement, cell phones and student opinions on bellwork/journaling using texting and polleverywher.com.

This is the Poll, I ran with my students, to get their info and test the process:

http://ww`w.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/LTEzOTAzNDAzMDQ

Another example of Journaling/Bellwork using cell phones & Polleverywhere.com.

Submissions and completions of journal entries for Phase 1 & Phase 2 were compared.

Students answers and opinions from the Pre & Post Survey on their classroom engagement and cell phone use.

Teacher observation.

The Data

Post-surveymonkey

Surveymonkey.com was used for final survey and final data collection.This is the link to the survey used:http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=TTYYLACMfVvC5FuyCKdwQxuMONExYWPIU70yPxErtQE%3d

Results

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 50

5

10

15

20

25Number of Missing Journal

Entries

Phase 1 Traditional Journaling Phase 2 Cell Phones & Texting

Num

ber

of

Non-s

ubm

issi

ons

26%

74%

Phase 1Traditional Journal

Submissions

Students Not Completing Traditional Journal Entries

Students Completing Traditional Journal Entries

3%

97%

Phase 2 Cell Phone Journal

Submissions

Students Not Completing Cell Phonel Entries

Students Completing Cell Phone Entries

Students for phones“In the world that us teens grow up in, we have alot of technology right at our fingertips. I think that with how the world is (with all the technology) cell phones should be allowed in school in some cases. For bellwork/journaling in art, they do come in handy. But if you are taking a test, cell phones could be used for cheating or if you are listening to a lecture, cell phones could be a distraction.”

Students for phones

“I believe they are more of a help than an issue. I think they can be used for a lot of better things than teachers often associate phones with. Yes, kids can be sneaky with phones during school, but I don't think it's reason enough to ban them during the day. I think they're helpful for instances like we've been doing in art; convenience, doing work in a more interesting way, incorporating more and more modern technology into the school day, etc. I think phones should definitely be available to students during the day, or at the very least, passing times.”

“I think that cell phones should belong in school for academic purposes only. We don’t need phones in school for texting our friends, but I think that if we use technology in our classrooms then we will excel at our studies.”“I think it has a place in any room. They can be a resource if you need to study and they can make such things like bellwork and the like alot easier. As long as they are used for school in the classroom I see no reason in taking them away or not allowing them.”

Students for phones

Pros & Cons (Student Point of View) Using cell phones in class is great because it’s a great

way to do bell work and research. It also is a good way to show people how to use cell phones responsibly and for educational purposes.

Some of the pros are it goes faster for teachers because they don't have to look all the individuals journals and grade them. Also with cell phones it allows a student to express him or herself.

It is efficient to use and it saves trees but if you forget to have it of it is dead of if you don’t have one then it is a nuisance.

The pro's are definitely the fact that teachers are realizing that kids use phones a lot. and they are expanding the way they teach. When I heard we were going to use cell phones for our bell work, I was automatically interested. The Cons are maybe the less mature kids might use it for texting advantages, web surfing. etc.

I think it was really helpful because you can read everyone's and its fast and you can all read it in one day instead of turning in out notebooks at the end of class. And we waste allot more paper so were saving trees also. The only problem is allot of kids probably texted during class and you couldn’t really tell if that was what they were doing or not.

I think the pros are convenience, mostly for you. You don't need to check everyone's notebooks or go through them to find the bellwork; all the answers come to you in one big slur when texting. I think the only con would be that some people are a little technologically "confused" sometimes and not everyone has access to a phone all the time, unlike a pencil and paper (which ironically, a lot of people don't ever have either.) :P

The good thing of using cell phones in class is its more in touch with our lives. Teens use their cell phones allot and it may make them more relaxed in class if they are able to use them. Some kids may use cell phones to cheat though and cell phones may be a distraction sometimes.

I think the positive effect of using phones is that it gets the children who were less involved with bellwork when we wrote it to be more interested now. The negative effect could be that they might think it's okay to use their phone the rest of the period since they got to use it at the beginning. That could possibly be a distraction to their learning.

Get permission from administration & Parents1st.

Survey students for cell phone possession and features.

Play around with

Implement more uses of cell phones other than just texting journal entries.

Recommendations

Cell phones are a successful way to engage students!

Conclusion

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about implementing cell phones into your classroom. I have posted this power to my website and have included my email:◦Website:

http://www.alexandria.k12.mn.us/11302082010358443/site/default.asp

◦Email: J.clennon@hotmail.com

Questions