This week, I will continue with my Mac Tips in the first part of the post and then give some commentary on an article that I read about using cell phones in the classroom.
Mac Tips:
Brian Storosko included these two tips in his weekly letter to the Junior School teachers:
1.
Software Update – it is good practice to click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your tool bar and select – Software Update – this will review your Apple software and let you know what needs to be installed.
2. It is easy to run a
slide show from a picture folder (vs using iPhoto). Just go to the folder, select all, right click on one of the photos and select quick view, by selecting full screen you get the option of running it as a slide show.
Thanks Brian!
Here are some applications that you may not have had time to explore on your Mac. If you click on the Launchpad (looks like the rocket ship on your dock), you will find these:
New Oxford Dictionary: Type in any word and it will look up the definition. It can also serve as a Thesaurus.
Solver: This is a great app! From this you can create calendars, pro vs. con sheets, To Do lists, calculate a loan, and print various sizes of graph paper. There are other time management and personal/business finance tools there too. Check it out!
Stickies: Click on this tool to create an electronic sticky note on your desktop.
Grapher: Click on the Utilities to get to this graphing tool. You can create various types of graphs in 2D or 3D.
Equation Editor: Math teachers, go into the folder entitled Microsoft Office 2011 (other) to find this pretty nifty equation editor. Maybe this could replace the one in Word Perfect???
Outlook Signature: I have noticed that many of you have set up your signature in Outlook the way that Natasha has asked. This is great. However, for many of you, your signature is crammed right up against the text of your email. To give yourself some space (instead of having to hit enter to move the signature down in the body of the email), go back to where you set up your signature (Outlook-Preferences-Signatures) and insert some spaces before the signature. You can also increase your font size by right clicking (two fingers) on the text of your signature and scrolling to Font-Show Fonts.
The Only Thing We Have to Fear is... 120 Characters
Kevin Thomas and Christy McGee recently published this article (see title above). It was their contention that our fears about allowing cell phone use in the classroom are keeping us from harnessing an incredible learning resource. They explain that, "This paper explores the current research to refute the claim that cell phones are responsible for aberrant behaviours and to explore the potential instructional benefits of cell phones in the classroom."
Some of the common concerns about cell phone use in the classroom include: "textease," cheating, cyberbulling and sexting. They address each of these by looking at the research. Here are their findings:
Textease: "Along with having no foundation in fact and being largely the product of the media, this fear of adulteration is nothing new. Teachers often fear anything written or spoken that does not use standard English. These fears were illustrated in the fight over Ebonics and Black English." They go on to contend that,"students, like adults, are able to 'code switch' between modes of communication." The authors also quoted a research study conducted in 2008 that found that not only did textease not have a negative impact on students' abilities in terms of writing and spelling, but that those students actually wrote better. I would love to see that research.
Cheating: The authors quoted a 2010 study that found that one-third of high school students reported using their cell phones to cheat. However, they remind us that cheating is not a new phenomenon. In 1980 (pre-cell phone), they say, 75% of students reported cheating at school. In 2006, still 74% of students admitted to cheating in school. Therefore, their contention is that,"Students cheat due to an 'erosion of ethics, self-centredness, not being held responsible for their actions, and pressure from high-stakes testing and parents- none of which have to do with technology or mobile phones."
Cyberbullying: The American Life Project found that 26% of teenagers have been bullied via mobile phone by calls or text messages. However, the authors remind us that bullying definitely pre-dates mobile phones. They say, "Cyberbulling is the latest technological incarnation of this harmful behaviour." However, "Banning cell phones is not going to make students stop bullying."
Sexting: As you probably imagine, their research found no evidence to support the claims that cell phones increase student's discussions about sex or participation in sexual misconduct. The authors state, "Inappropriate behaviour is the result of the lack of guidance and mentoring on the part of adults." Furthermore, they argue that, "An alarming number of students are injured or killed in traffic accidents each year, but no one blames the car for these tragedies. It is accepted that driver error and the the car itself is at fault. The same is true of cell phones used for inappropriate activity."
Thomas and McGee then went on to describe various ways that cell phones can be excellent learning tools. Their focus is on using cell phones for creation, collaboration, differentiation, assessment and reflection.
Texting: "Texting can be used to support three types of student interaction: student to student; student to teacher; and student to content." They suggest that teachers could use text messaging to remind students about homework, projects or upcoming tests. Texting, by way of SMS messaging, can also be used by teachers to assess students in the form of pop quizzes or polls.
I have mentioned the site called
Poll Everywhere before. Using this really easy Web 2.0 tool, teachers can keep students engaged and attentive, while collecting valuable content data.
Digital Photos: Almost every cell phone has a digital camera today. Thomas & McGee tell us that there are a number of classroom applications for digital photos: collection of data; scientific visualization; facilitation of reading,writing and visual communication in English; mathematical analysis; providing a context for mathematical problem solving; as an inquiry tool in social studies.
Audio/Video recordings: Cell phones can be used to create podcasts by students; record classroom lectures; record themselves speaking for oral assessment; conduct interviews for projects; and create multimedia projects- to name a few.
Internet access: Cell phones with internet access puts the world of information in the palm of the hand of the learner. They can also access emailed information from teachers and they can access hundreds of educational applications and websites.
E-texts: Students can access and read e-texts for their classes using their cell phones which do not take up as much space on their desks as do laptops or print textbooks.
In summary, Thomas and McGee think that, "Technologies, when used appropriately in the classroom, have the potential to create student-centered learning environments where the teachers have a more facilitative role."
Thomas, K.M. & McGee, C.D. (2012). The only thing we have to fear is...120 characters. TechTrends
(56). p. 19-33.
I would love to hear what YOU think. Please leave your comments!
(Command key) – On some Apple keyboards, this key also has an Apple logo (
)
(Control key)
(Option key) – “Alt” may also appear on this key
(Shift key)
(Caps Lock) – Toggles Caps Lock on or off