Smart Phones in Schools

The twenty first century has come with a whirl wind of improved technology which has made its way in the classroom.  The cellphone now has become an interesting teaching tool more than the actual instructor.  Already it is hard for the traditional teacher to hold students' attention.  Now, with the electronic rival, the traditional teacher's position has become less prominent though still important.

What is clear to me is that the educational administrators in some countries need to find ways to incorporate the use of smartphones in class.  This is where the water gets murky,  Many of the students who are great consumers of the cell phones have found creative ways in using them that is not truly educational.

Many of the students do:
1. snap shots of students doing not so good things and post them.
2. pornography shoots.
3. graffiti shots.
4. cyber bullying
5. texting or making calls in class
6. Facebook posts that are unbecoming of a studious person.
and many more!




But the positives of the smartphone out weighs the bad and if a good teacher is honest, when the device is incorporated in the lesson, the combination makes good learning environment that can be exciting to both teacher and the learner.

It is important that teachers do their best to be current.  Where I am, many of  the older teachers shy away from the use of the smart phones and label students as being distracted by the gadgets.  I guess when one is accustomed to having "chalk and talk" and not updating their  teaching styles, they will become intimidated by anything that removes them from the sole  instructor.  The thought of sharing  instructional role in the classroom seem to reduce them to a lesser role is too much and as a result, they resist changes. This gives room to the younger "hip" teachers to take charge of the classroom integrating the smarter cellular phones along with the face-to-face interaction.

Even though the phones are smarter, no none cannot take away the direct effect a good teacher has on an interested student.  More teachers need to update their teaching skills and make use of the technology available.  There is a need to understand the technology trends and how much they impact on students learning.  It is important to do so or else teachers will find themselves obsolete!