Everybody's got one of what? A mobile phone! In the Student Tech Survey conducted by Computer Services last fall, 97% of respondents indicated they had a mobile phone with them on campus.
While there are benefits and disadvantages to the proliferation of student mobile phones and devices, I'm going to approach this week's post with a few positive ways to take advantage of the ever-connected student body.
Texting:
Have you had an instance where sending a text to students would be extremely convenient, but you simply don't want to give out your mobile phone number to the class? Enter remind. Remind is a web-based texting tool. You create an account or login using your Google account, then create a class. You'll get a URL to email to your class. The students in your class subscribe to your messages by supplying their mobile numbers. You can then type a message to send to all students. You can remove people from your class list, and you can schedule text messages for future delivery. Check it out at www.remind.com
Polling/Surveying/Quizzing
You can create on-the-fly poll questions, quiz questions or in-class surveys using Poll Everywhere. When you create a question, the site provides a unique number and code for texting results. Students follow the directions for submitting a response, and answers are immediately recorded. You can embed the questions into a PowerPoint or you can simply present them from the Poll Everywhere interface.
Sharing/Capturing
Dropbox is "a place for all your stuff, wherever you are." It's a cloud-based file storage system. Dropbox also has the option of sharing all or some of your stuff. "What does this have to do with my students bringing mobile phones to class?" you ask. Well, let's say you're an avid user of the white boards in your classroom. And let's say you just spent the last 50 minutes composing the most incredibly brilliant collection of notes on that white board. Instead of simply erasing it before the next class starts, you could set up a shared folder on Dropbox for class notes, then ask a student to capture the notes with a mobile phone and put the image in the shared Dropbox folder. It's quick and immediate.
How do you use your own phone for productivity? Do you have a policy regarding mobile phones in your classroom? Do you have other tips to share regarding students and their mobile phones?
I don't have a phone, so am unproductive. I've never needed to have a policy regarding phones in class, because there's only been one student who was a real problem. (A teacher education major, ironically enough...)
ReplyDeleteIt's handy, when I need a fact in a pinch, to know there are any number of students who can reach out and get that information.
Bruce, I encourage my students to use phones to follow up on facts, thoughts, etc. Once, the students were moving into groups for discussion, and one student had his phone out. I was right next to him. I said (loudly), "I am RIGHT HERE!" He looked up, startled, and said, "I'm looking up the population growth in Cedar Rapids!" I apologized. And I learned a valuable lesson about making assumptions. Now, I assume students are using their phones for good rather than evil... Plus, I am SO GRATEFUL when I can say, "I don't know. Someone, look that up and let us know." It helps expand learning without losing the idea or losing time.
DeleteI have a phone, but like its user, it's not 'smart'.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about Remind. I use texting at times to contact work-study students or research students when I feel that they need to know something soon or I wish a quick response. However, rarely for my classes is there such urgency. Also, I don't want to enable students when I think that they should be responsibly checking Moodle and their Coe email.
PollEverywhere is a different story. I haven't explored 'clickers' much, but this seems like a simple and convenient alternative, though probably not as powerful. I can see using it to start class off with brief question about the reading or a relevant personal experience as way getting students engaged. However, I worry about the 3% who do not have phone. I suspect, though, that Lisa could help me develop a compensatory plan.
I like the texting option re: not sharing my phone #...thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have toyed with the idea of using texting polls for student engagement surrounding events, etc. typically this type of response that I'm looking for can also be done on Twitter and Facebook, so I haven't tried it yet. I like the texting.. might come in handy for info for student orgs!
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about having some type of 'back channel' open during student engagement events? You could use it as away to foster additional involvement, gather questions, etc.
DeleteI've used Poll Everywhere various ways and really like it. I don't remember to use it often enough! I've also found Dropbox extremely useful. I actually use it for most of my own personal documents because I can access them from anywhere if I happen to be without my laptop. It's great peace of mind when I spend time on two different campuses!
ReplyDeleteAs for my phone, I am guilty of being on my smart phone way too much, and am trying to balance the value it is adding to my life with it being a pure distraction. I appreciate text reminders, and have found them to be helpful with student staff members as well. Thanks for sharing these resources!
(I'm having trouble with Blogger--this is the 3rd time I've typed these comments--they keep disappearing when Google has me sign in!)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the information about Remind. I may offer that to students and just use it along with my email list that I use for updates.
I haven't used phone surveys in class. My classes are very small, so a phone survey seems like overkill. I think they'd be great for a big class! I have once or twice had students do a Survey Monkey survey in class (when we're in a class with computers). The instant pie charts make good discussion points.
Yes, I have students look things up on their smart phones--fairly frequently. I like how it gets students involved in knowledge production and gives them a position of authority in the classroom. I often ask quiet students to do this so they have something to add to the discussion.
Occasionally I have students who are clearly using phones for non-class-related activities during class. At the beginning of the term, I tell them the advantages of being "unreachable" during class :-) And if they are acting suspicious in class, I'll just wander over to them, or ask loudly if they've just looked something up for me.
I love doing 13 Things simply for these little tips and tricks. I may not have a use for them now but almost always find a use in the next week or so. Thanks, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently trying to limit my phone use so I can stop using it as a crutch for boredom. At the same time, I wish smartphones were around when I was a college student.
I heard about poll everywhere several years ago and thought it would be a great way to assess students knowledge in a quick non-threatening way but haven't as yet put it to use. Since I don't have a smart phone I tend not to think of using them. Actually have a Dropbox account---don't see the need to use it either.
ReplyDeleteI guess I also think of the small percentage of students who don't have that smart phone. How do they feel when we ask students to look something up or participate in the poll and they can't? Ok, maybe that's my excuse for not learning how to do it.
I have to say having a smart phone is beneficial to me as a student supervisor. Communication between my students is improved as well as with me. They can contact me more easily when there are problems or if they are going to be late. I know they will always read a text even when they don't always read their emails.
ReplyDeleteDropbox is a Godsend for sharing large files like photos. Gone is my frustration over the limits of email.
ReplyDelete