Ohio School Improves Test Scores with Mobile Phones!
Some 600 students in the St. Marys City Schools in Ohio were given a mobile phone, courtesy of Verizon Wireless, reports the Just Another Mobile Phone Blog. Kyle Menchhofer, the technology coordinator for the district knew there were not enough computers in the district for students to have any measurable time on them. He felt they had to prepare their students for a world where computer fluency will be a necessity. According to the blog post Menchhofer also said the following:
“What we wanted to do was to level the playing field for these kids,” said Menchhofer, “To give them the most positive education experience possible, we knew we had to get creative and look for support from the community.”
“Our vision is for students to experience learning anytime, anywhere,” said Menchhofer.
Using the Verizon phones with broadband connectivity and GoKnow! Mobile Learning Software, they piloted a program in the district. The district has seen improvements in test results. A participating third-grade class increased its overall math score by an average of 3.36% in just 18 weeks. A comparative group without the cell phones only increased their averages by 1.65%.
As I posted in my last post I think mobile handheld computers is the direction schools should move in. As cheap as netbooks have become they are still more expensive than using mobile phones or iPod Touches.
