Here in New Jersey all new administrators have to go through a 2-year mentoring program. In the second year of the program you have to conduct an action research project. I am three-quarters of the way through the program. My research project is exploring the use of student cell phones to enhance instruction and learning in the classroom. I am also looking at ways to reduce the distractions cell phones cause as part of the school day. I started this blog as a way to report on my findings. Below are the research questions I will be seeking to answer as as part of my research.

1. Is there a way to eliminate the power struggle that ensues between teachers and students when the teacher tries to confiscate the cell phone during class after a cell phone violation occurred?

2. Are there steps schools can take to reduce the number of cell phone infractions that occur during the school day?

3. Can students be taught and expected to use cell phones in a responsible manner during the school day?

4. Given the ubiquitous proliferation of mobile phones in both the business and consumer market do schools have an obligation to teach students how to use their cell phones in a socially responsible manner?

5. Are their legitimate uses of student cell phones to enhance instruction and learning in the classroom?

I welcome feedback and input on my research questions regardless of how you feel about the issue. You can comment on this blog or email me at kbals@holmdelschools.org . I have written extensively on this blog about many of my findings and what we have done here at my high school. Below are the posts related specifically to my project and what we have done at the high school I work at:

What is more disruptive - Banning or Embracing Student Cell Phones?

Cell Phone Disruption by the Numbers

To Ban or Embrace

No Big Deal

Use Outlook to Send Text Message Reminders to Students

Using Student Cell Phones and iPadio to Record Student Conversations

Using Google Voice in a World Language Classroom

Why did I name the blog Living in the 4th Screen? Watch the video below.

In the recent edition of Liz Kolb's Cell Phones in Learning Radio Show she talks with Katie Titler of Wisconsin. Katie teaches Spanish 2 & 3 in high school. Katie talks about how she used Voki in her classes this year. From the Voki homepage it says:

Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.

Katie also talks about sending text message reminders to her students to remind them of upcoming assignments, tests or quizzes. I think it is a great idea to use the students cell phones this way. Kids today are very attached to their phones (stating the obvious or what) and you will definitely get their attention if you contact them via this medium. My only caution is that if you use your own phone to contact them then they have your cell phone number. I remind students about detentions they have to serve but I use Outlook to perform this task (see my post here).

Great podcast Liz and Katie.

 Want to send text message reminders to your students but don't want them to know your cell phone number? Use Outlook (or any email program). You can send a text message to any cell phone via your email account. To send the text enter the student's phone number in the address bar and add the proper suffix for the students cell phone carrier and the email will arrive on their phone as a text message. If a student's cell phone number is 888-123-4567 for example, and they use Verizon as their phone carrier, you would put 8881234567@vtext.com in the address bar for the email. Put in a subject in the subject line and type out a short message in the body of the email and hit send. This works with all phone carriers. Below is a list of all the extensions for all the major phone carriers.