Mobile Learning Lab

Below is a screen capture of the poll I created for the parents/guardians of my students to take via cell phone.

I really like the idea of students being able to use cell phones at school, for educational purposes. I think it's a great way to help resolve the constant battle of teachers trying to eliminate cell phones in the classroom. I think, if, instead of trying to ban cell phones from classrooms, teachers tryed to embrace the idea and teach students how to use them for educational purposes, it could really cut down on the time teachers spend fighting with students about the issue. I realize there would be some students who would abuse the privilege, but overall I really think most students (and teachers) would love it, and it would increase the level of student engagement and motivation to complete assignments. I know this is something I would have loved as a teenager.

As a first grade teacher, however, I don't really see the need for students to use cell phones in my classroom, nor do many of my students have cell phones (both due to age and the socioeconomic status of many of the families). I actually have yet to see one of my students with a cell phone (aside from the toy ones they love to bring to school). 

On the other hand, I do know that many of my students' parents/guardians do have cell phones and I think this may be a GREAT way to increase parent-teacher communication. In fact, I notice that many of my parents even e-mail from their cell phones throughout the day. Thus, I thought using Poll Everywhere, may be a great way to get feedback from my parents. I could post the polls in my weekly newsletters or on the webpage and get their feedback. For example, the poll I created asks parents how they feel about their child having homework on the weekend. This is a battle I fought at the beginning of the year. Having parent/guardian input on issues like this would be great for the upcoming school years. Again, this is definitely something I can see myself using in the upcoming years to improve parent-teacher communication.