“From Toy to Tool: Audioblogging with Cell Phones”
This
was an interesting article to read because I would never imagine a teacher
allowing her students the use of cell phones in class. This article makes it
clear how to properly allow the use of cell phones in class and how to prepare
students to properly use the program. To resume in quick the teacher shares
with us how she uses cell phones with her students to give them the opportunity
to interview and do other projects using their own cell phone device. She gives
them step by step instructions in how to set up their account and how to use
the blogging sites and then be able to post their messages and recording they
do with their cell phones. She points out that most of the students if not all
carry a cell phone to school, so what better way than to put them to good use
in their education. 
The
teacher also shares with us various sites to use blogging and the instructions
as to how to set up an account and begin blogging. The instructions seem very
simple and easy to follow so it shouldn’t be difficult to set up an account and
in the plus side these are free sites you can use through Google and
Gabcast.com. In addition she point out the positive and negative things about
this program starting with not everyone having a cell phone, and data plan not
enough. She mentions some solutions like maybe using home phone or class phone,
and maybe teachers doing research and then purchasing cost efficient cell
phones for those students whom don’t have one. 
This
program meets the NETS for teachers and students because the teacher is aware
and teaches digital citizenship by informing students about copyrights, what is
personal and should not be posted, how to keep students protected, and how to
post things that are proper, along with the teaching the use of technology. I
am very surprised by the way this teacher is implementing a toy for students in
their everyday lives, into the classroom setting as a tool to learn and develop
skills.
I
don’t know if I will be able to use a program like this in the future but it
does seem temping to try and plus in the future every student would probably be
using a cell phone as a regular thing in their life so there will be no need to
spend my own money. I enjoyed reading this article and had the opportunity to
share it too with some friends and family.
References
Kolb, L.
(2006). “From toy to tool: Audioblogging with cell phones.” Learning and
Leading with Technology, 16-20. Retrieved from www.iste.org
It is amazing how far cell phone technology has come over the years. I have heard of teachers also using smartphones as a way for students to take small quizzes and get instant right or wrong feedback. On one hand it is a cool tool and idea. On the other hand there are still some kids who do not have smartphones or normal cell phones. It can also become an easy detraction if used in class the wrong way by students. It is like any piece of tech, as long as the students are responsible, then they should be able to use it
ReplyDeleteHello Rocelia,
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your blog I really enjoyed looking through the websites you provided. My favorite was the second one because it had links to different apps that are helpful for different students. When looking around I found some very cool apps that would work great for students with Disgraphia. Also, I loved the think that talked about helping students with their organization and study skills. It can be a hard enough task for students with disabilities to learn new information but then to have to remember it too can be a lot of processing leading to a lot of frustration. I think that it is great that there is technology out there that can help combat that.
Shelby