Can We Please Stop Calling Them Cell Phones?

Can we please stop calling them cell phones?  Does anyone, other than your grandmother, have a phone that's just a phone?  "Cell phones" are really a computer that just happens to make phone calls for those folks who still make phone calls.

I bring this up as school systems across the country are struggling with outdated policies designed to keep "cell phones" out of the classrooms.  Part of the problem is those folks making decisions about policy are operating with this old "cell phone" mindset.  If that's all these devices could do, I would understand it.  After all, who wants kids making or receiving calls during your biology lecture that you have honed over the past fifteen years and have down to a science? (I couldn't resist!)  Let's work on restructuring our schema and begin to embrace the potential these devices can have on enhancing that well-worn biology lecture.

I do not know about your school/system/agency, but that ones I am familiar with are having a heck of a time trying to keep up with technology - budget constraints, new innovations every time you turn around, etc.  Meanwhile, many of our students are coming to school with "cell phones" that are even cooler (and more powerful) than ours.  Outside of school they connect and collaborate through social networks, conduct their own inquiries on the fly, and get answers to their questions in real time.  In school? Well, that's another story.  In some schools, kids go to the computer lab once a week to learn typing skills or Pixie, or some other skill that someone in this current time, or more likely the past, has deemed important for our kids' future.  Even when computers are in the classroom, their use is still controlled by the teacher, not driven by the children's curiosity, providing them with opportunities to assume control of their own learning. Many of these same kids have access to technology, albeit "off and away during the school day" in their backpacks, or the sly ones, in their pockets. Talk about a disconnect!

So, Mr. know it all blogger, what do we do?  Well, let start with the biggest hurdle, by acknowledging things are changing and that education needs to change as well.

How should kids be using technology?  How do use it?  Do you see any disconnects?  What do you do when you need information right away?  Card catalog, Dewey decimal system, wait a week for the computer lab, ask the teacher if you can use the eMac in the back of the room, or do you pull out your mobile device and just Google it?  I thought so.  Kids need the same level of access to information that we enjoy whenever we need it and that they experience outside of school.

Let's stop calling them cell phones and start giving kids the power to take more responsibility for their own learning.  "Take those smart phones out of your backpack kids.  It's time to learn!"After all, it is the 21st century, no?

Things Are Always Bigger In Texas!

Let's hear it for McAllen Independent School District in Texas for what might be the largest deployment of IPads and IPods in the country.  This week they are distributing 6,800 devices with the hopes that every one of its 25,000 K-12 students will have their own device by next year.  Talk about BYOD on steroids.  Assuming they are an affluent district?  Wrong! Two-thirds of their student population is economically disadvantaged.  One thing that is obviously not at a disadvantage in McAllen - visionary leadership.  You can read the piece from ABC news below:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-district-embarks-widespread-ipad-program-15804858#.T00Lt3F9m6E

Implementing a BYOD Program - Three Successful Programs

So you want to bring a BYOD program to your school?  It may not be as hard as some folks have made it out to be.  Many school systems already have the necessary Acceptable Use Policies in place, other need just slight revisions.  This article from Tech Learning highlights the BYOD programs in three school districts: Lake Travis Independent School District in Texas, New Canaan Public Schools in Connecticut, and Osseo Area Schools in Minnesota.  I am still having a hard time figuring out why there aren't more folks out there taking advantage of the technology many of our students come to school with every day.  You can read about these school districts' experiences below:

http://www.techlearning.com/article/52179

What Do You Mean, Not Everyone Loves BYOD?

I came across this article about students in Temecula, California being allowed to use cell phones in their classrooms, with teacher permission of course.  I continue to be encouraged to read about innovative school systems who are taking a leap of faith to take advantage of the technology many of our students are carrying around in their pockets.  I think, given the current economic times, BYOD makes a lot sense.  Apparently not everyone agrees.  You have to check out the reader's comments at the bottom of this article.  It's kind of shocking, but also enlightening to realize BYOD might be an uphill battle, one worth fighting, though.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/temecula/temecula-headlines-index/20120117-temecula-students-can-now-use-cellphones-in-classes.ece

BYOD with a Bullitt (As in Kentucky that is)

Bullitt Kentucky Schools- another school system jumps on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) train.  Recognizing the need for students to have cutting edge technology while trying to work within increasingly tight budgets for schools, Superintendent Keith Davis is encouraging parents to send their kids to school with their own computing devices.  You can check out the story in the Courier Journal below:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120111/ZONE10/301110011/bullitt-schools-device-computer?odyssey=mod|newswell|text||s

BYOD in Texas - Yee-Ha!

BYOD (Bring your own device) or BYOT (Bring your own technology) is catching on across the country.  Maybe it should be BYOMAD (Bring your own more advanced device).  Chances are, the devices kids are being allowed to use in school are superior to the technologies that currently exist in their classrooms.  Is this BYOT movement a result of the current economic conditions impacting school budgets or the result of forward thinking district administrators?  Who cares?  It makes sense and I'm hoping more school systems in the coming school year see the benefits.  Here is a link about a school system in Texas that is saving $150,000 by allowing kids to bring their own technology into their schools. 

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/08/3643863/weatherford-school-districts-bring.html