21st Century Classroom - A teacher perspective

21st century classroom

A day in the life of a teacher

As the teacher arrives at school the first thing on the agenda is to meet with the other teachers on the curriculum team to discuss the progress of the students they share. Checking in with each other to identify which students are ready to move onto the next learning objective and which students need additional help. Once back in their room the teacher gets on a video conference with teachers in their subject matter to discuss and trade different interactive learning activities that each has found or developed.

As the students arrive at school they choose which of their curriculum teachers to check in with first. The student is provided a choice of learning activities based on their needs which may entail individual study, collaborative work with students at other schools using the internet to explore, discuss, and develop material to demonstrate their understanding of the objectives. The collaborative work will frequently be working on multi-disciplinary concepts at the same time so the students see how different items are connected with each other. By allowing students choice of learning activities they may choose the learning style that fits them best or interests them that day. Once the students have completed their learning activity they will move onto their other curriculum teachers. Students may have different amount of time that they spend at school depending on how quickly they grasp the concepts they are working on that day.

Teachers take on many roles during the day. Assessment of meeting academic standards will be based on students demonstrating their knowledge of the learning objectives. This may be from webquests, videos, projects, tests, or successful completion of interactive games that are correlated to the learning objectives.

Cell phone usage in the classroom - Arnotb

Currently the Issaquah School District prohibits the use of student cell phones during the school day. However there are a number of teachers that may ignore this policy particulary at the high school level where they choose not to fight the battle. Students also are known to use their camera phone to take candid photos in their classes. Finding these pictures on social networking sites is rather easy. I have also been told that some students find ways to text during class without the teacher being aware of it. The students have become very adept at texting while not looking at their phone so they can appear to be paying attention when they are busy texting their friends. Some of the phones even have a video capture option. This could be used in a positive way to record class celebrations such as birthday songs or take pictures of class projects that can be sent to parents or students that are absent. With many of the phones having internet access it is possible to have 1 to 1 computing possible without the districts having to fund it.

But, what do we say to the students that can not afford a cell phone of their own or can not afford to have one with internet access, cameras, and video recording options. If cell phones are allowed at school or even encouraged will parents try to hold the school responsible for lost/stolen phones. This liability issue is one of the key points that the administrators at my building bring up when discussing why cell phones and other electronic devices are prohibited.

Assignments can still be designed for students to use their cell phones to take pictures. The pictures may need to be taken as homework assignments and then uploaded for later retrieval at school for editing and discussion. A top ten ways phones can be used in school is below pulled from:
Read more: "Mobile phones in the classroom…. again - Teach42" - http://www.teach42.com/2008/05/06/mobile-phones-in-the-classroom-again/#ixzz0EN9FAnNq&A

Such as…
1) Check the spelling/definition of a word
2) Research a topic
3) Look up reference images
4) Pull up maps (even with satellite imagery)
5) Document a science lab with built in digital camera/video
6) Fact check on the fly
7) Mail questions to the teacher that they might be embarrassed to ask
Classroom response system
9) Take quizzes
10) Record and/or listen to podcasts

Other websites that I found with useful information are below:
Useful articles:
Students pay to store their phone during the school day: http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/students-pay-a-price-literally-for-cell-phone-ban/

http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/

http://edutechie.com/2007/06/06/8-ways-to-use-camera-phones-in-education/