E.T Phone Home...in class?

I just got done reading Wired's How the iPhone Could Reboot Education by Brian X. Chen. Apparently, at a private school in Texas they are handing out free iPhones or iPod Touches to incoming students. The school, I'm guessing, put in a lot of money for developers to create apps and programming just for its students to use this technology.

There is an app they created that allows students to anonymously answer quiz questions. Basically, they are using iPhone/iTouch technology in the same way many schools use PRS systems. This allows those quiet students who don't like speaking up in class to still be involved and allows the teacher to gauge when students are struggling via informal assessment.

Obviously, this article wants to spin the story positively to make it sound like all this fabulous technology in the classroom is amazing. But, I start to wonder if something like this would be as big a hit in high schools. By college, as in the case of the article, students are more focused because they want to be in school - they chose to go to college. College students (usually) take their studying a bit more serious than a high school freshmen that prefers to see school as a social activity, not a learning environment. During my observation hours in various schools and while coaching, I see students' cell phones as an extension of their hands. Texting and the occasional, very rare, phone call are done between multiple other tasks. This brings up my point: are teachers, who didn't grow up with a keyboard in their hands out of the womb, able to incorporate technology like the iPhone into their classrooms successfully? And, will students be able to incorporate the technology into their learning without abusing the power? Maybe they can get a clue from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility."

Additionally, a professor asked students in the past, "Why aren't you taking notes?" The students told him that they could find that information on Wikipedia or another website and taking notes was tedious and unneeded. I agree with this. Being a student myself, I am rarely taking notes because I can just reference the text chapter, the PowerPoint on Blackboard, or Google a whole mess of information. At this point, the students in school now are used to this type of learning because they've grown up with it. To an aging professor, it seems taboo not to be taking notes. I say the behind-the-technological-times teachers meet the technologically advanced students halfway.

Bill, you will be remembered again.

Teachers need a little bit of assistance with imaginative, creative lessons. Slate Magazine just helped a sister out! Have students write a fictional story based on an insignificant object to make it a Significant Object. It's simply genius.

I can see the possibilities now:
- a field trip to the thift store with $2 per student. Buy an object.
- have students trade objects in the classroom to avoid students being able to pre-write a story.
- have students bring in their own significant objects that others (like parents or friends) see as insignificant. Students write why the insignificant object is actually significant. (I did this with a dead squirrel's tail, and now my mom took the framed poem and tail and hung it up on her living room wall. No joke.)

Handwriting is back!

I'm not really sure if 2nd graders still have a penmanship section like I did with Ms. Heid, but I feel it needs to come back. There's just something about a handwritten note, card, or letter that Times New Roman can't convey. When I discovered paperfinger I found that handwriting and calligraphy are still around. This lady, Bryn Chernoff, creates customized gifts, address labels, and letters for weddings, engagements, announcements, and other gifts. Her products are gorgeous, and I especially enjoy the "Peace of Mind" gift idea.


Now, to get writing.

What Men Read...apparently.

I found 75 books that Esquire thinks all men should read. The title and subtitle are hilarious:

The 75 Books Every Man Should Read

An unranked, incomplete, utterly biased list of the greatest works of literature ever published. How many have you read?

I approve. Being the huge reader that I am, I haven't read a one book on this list. I think I fail at life! I best get started reading.