In a recent article in Principal Leadership, October 2009, the principal of a large high school discussed the use of cell phones at school. She was using cell phones to text with her students as another way to increase communication. She stated that texting helped student report things like fights and other personal issues that students didn’t necessarily want to talk about in person. Recently there have been other publications including Curtis J. Bonk’s The World is Open, and an article from the New York Times “Industry Makes Pitch That Smartphones Belong In Classroom.” B0th Bonk’s book and the article suggest that cellphones are no longer simply instruments for talking or even texting, they are similar in speed and power to many classroom computers. Plus many schools have extremely limited computer to student ratios. The book and the article argue that it is time for administrators and teachers to join the 21st century and welcome cellphones, especially the new generation smartphones, into the classroom and let students use them for the learning tools that they have the potential to be.
I would like to know what others have to say about the use of personal technologies such as smartphones in the classroom.