“Take Out Your Cell Phones! It’s Time for

Class!”

Tampa, Florida

March 9-12, 2010

Cell Phone Conundrum

To ban or not to ban? Conceding the battle to win the war

Cell Phones & Students

99.7% have a mobile device94% send and receive messages27% own a smart phone

Source: 2009 study by Ball State University (IN)

How Do Students Communicate?

59% use SMS to keep in touch17% call and talk9% send IMs7% send e-mail

And in your classroom?

62% admit to texting during class

Last Year’s Conference

One or two great ideas

Polleverywhere.com

Replaces “clicker” response systemsLet’s try it out first!

Take Out Your Phones!

Clickers vs. Cell Phones

Clickers:Extra expenseOccasionally lostGiven to friends to

“click in” for each other

Something else to carry and forget

Cell Phones:Non-incremental

costRarely lostNever given awayAlways brought to

class

What the Service Offers

Anonymous text responsesAutomated attendance-takingEasy way to engage and interact with

class

What I Did at NAU

Tried it FREE firstUp to 32 responses

Bought an education subscriptionUp to 400 responses$699/year

Created ONE poll per class periodCheck engagementSpark discussion

Sample Slides

First Day – “Who’s Here?”Most popular Internet featureResponse to in-class videos

Driverless Cars in 10 Years?

GM predictionFirst tests in 2015First real road deployment in 2018

Issues We Encountered

Not all students have unlimited text plans

Classroom walls blocked cell reception

What Students Had to Say…

70% participated every time we had a poll

95% said it increased engagement in class material

93% would recommend it to other teachers

Comments From My Class To You

“It will save your students money” “Easy way (for me) to participate in class

without others knowing my opinion” “Helped me pay attention more” “Do your students a favor – they always have

their phones and it’s fun!” “I got my parents to pay for an unlimited text

plan since I’m using my phone for education!”

On the Horizon…Project K-Nect

Qualcomm-sponsored pilot test for math educationOnly 31% of 8th graders score at/above

proficient level

Southwest HS in Jacksonville, NCStudent-generated & videotaped solutionsIf they get this in K-12, they’ll expect it

from US!

One Last Question…