The video, Mobile Stats Video by Qualman produces some pretty shocking stats in relation to mobile phones and their users practices.
- Iphone sales outpace births
- More people own a mobile phone that toothbrush
- Companies spend less than 1% on mobile devices (marketing)
- 70% of mobile searches lead to action in 1 hour vs. 1 month on a desktop
- The average person has their mobile phone within reach 14 hours a day
- Consumers redeem mobile coupons 10x more often than print coupons
- Teens increased data consumption 256% last year
While the author in this video to target companies and their practices in marketing, what does this say about education? If our customers and consumers (students) are spending this amount of time on their devices, are we doing them a disservice if we don’t tap into that resource?
While many teachers FEAR the cell phone in the classroom, there are many simple was that teachers, whether tech savvy or not, can incorporate the device to increase student learning. A recent article by Scholastic highlighted schools that have embraced cell phones in the classroom and ways that it has benefitted their students.
- Utilize the calendar and alarm functions to help students remember homework and study time.
- Using Bluetooth technologies to monitor lit circles in a language arts classroom.
If our job as educators is to prepare students for their careers and lives outside of school, we must prepare them to utilize devices. Professionals use their phones as part of their jobs, and students should learn those skills as well. The big question is how to incorporate a digital literacy and technology component into regular education classrooms. Students are our customers and we must address their needs. If there needs change, so should our product.
Great post, Ben. Totally agree with almost all your points here. Education absolutely needs to adapt to the changing needs of our students (customer). I sometimes get confused why in education we think it is acceptable to not grow and continue to improve to better meet the needs of our students. Just because a product or method worked in years past, doesn't mean that it is going to work or be as effective with each passing year. I believe educators should be able to build on previous knowledge and experiences to always be improving and adapting to meet the needs of our students the best way possible.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I feel one reason we see resistance to technology in the classroom is out of misunderstanding. Allowing technology in the classroom does not mean students only look at their individual screen, don't pay attention to the teacher, or get any collaborative work done. No, that technology is a resource in the tool bag. I know we've discussed this in our cohort but I believe that is the biggest hurdle to getting technology in the classroom. That and being open to a little bit of change and feelings of uncomfortableness. I think we see the best innovation and production when we step right up to that line of what is comfortable and what isn't. In education especially, we need to push ourselves to walk that line and not be complacent which could really be doing our students a disservice.
I think that is what I would be most concerned of as well. I think every one of us can admit to using their device while sitting in a college lecture for something other than the presentation. We'll just call it multitasking! Unfortunately, the older the kids get, the more this will become and issue. It all goes back to teaching the digital citizenship- if you teach kids the right things, and they know what you expect, it will be easier to control the off-task behavior, even if it doesn't go away completely.
DeleteI completely agree! After I initially read this post, I was driving down Glenway and saw a group of teenagers walking together, yet none were talking with each other. They all had their heads down and noses in phones. Now, aside from my personal affront to this decrease in personal interaction, it completely proves Ben's point. We must implement the technology and devices in our classroom that today's students spend the majority of their time with. It only stands to reason! Students are interested in the latest apps and devices, and even if we are uncomfortable to start, we MUST make the transitions in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI have had this experience several times, as a middle school teacher. It is also shocking to me that students can be sitting right next to each other and choose to have a conversation via text rather than talking to one another. With this being said, I agree it is our job to incorporate the use of cellphones in our classrooms.
DeleteI have had this same experience on several occasions as well. I agree that is is our job to incorporate the use of handheld devices in our classrooms, and how to use them appropriately and professionally.
DeleteI completely stopped reading, in shock, that more people own a mobile phone than a toothbrush! I am not sure how I feel about that. I guess you don't need fresh breath if you communicating digitally (still pretty gross if you ask me).
ReplyDeleteIf the stat above is not enough to get teachers to accept the role cellphones play in our world and will play in our future, I am not sure what will. As educators, it is our job to prepare our students for the future. It may not be cell phone our students will continue to use in the future, but it will be some sort of technology. Also I am not sure why teachers wouldn't want students to use something so engaging as a cell phone to enhance the learning of their students. I am definitely Pro Cellphones in the classroom!
I have a student whose father just came back from Africa. He brought her several souvenirs, one of which was a "toothbrush" that he had bought at a street market, and my student brought it to school to show her peers. It was a stick that had been whittled down at one end, leaving woody fibers exposed for the user to chew on to clean his teeth.
DeleteWhen I heard that statistic about mobile phones outnumbering toothbrushes, I thought of this African "toothbrush," and it brought to mind the importance of keeping solutions to other important global issues, like health concerns, developing along with technology. Hopefully technology will make the solutions to many other issues come more readily. I know that cell phones, particularly in Africa, have been a huge positive development because they have been implemented in areas where there has been no infrastructure for land phone lines. I could see where cell phones could be a great addition for education in developing countries as well.
We are already seeing mobile devices at the elementary level for BYOD, and I'm seeing it as a positive addition, especially with regard to student excitement and engagement. Some of the students have used mobile phones for research and writing when building computers are unavailable. Students creating documents on tiny screens is not always the best option, but even with that challenge, students don't seem to be deterred.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of augmenting what is going on in the classroom with mobile phones. Students will need a lot of up-front education about proper use, and we will need to give them a lot of concrete rules and tasks to keep them engaged in what they are supposed to be doing. Learning Management Systems should be a help with this. I wonder when there will be an app so that teachers can track what students are doing digitally while in a classroom, a way for teachers to be Big Brother. Maybe this already exists? I think that mobile devices in the classroom would be an additional resource, and should be part of what we are teaching for 21st Century skills. I appreciated the article Ben posted about mobile phones being successfully used in the UK; I think we are heading in that direction.
There is software that you can put on devices to monitor what they are doing. However, with it being their own device I don't know if that is something that Oak Hills would ever really look at doing.
DeleteI agree with what you said about the students not minding the smaller screens to do their work. It would bother me but I think that since they are so used to it, I don't think that they mind. In fact, I think that some students prefer to do the work on their devices because they are faster on them then they are on the computers and they tend to be more reliable.
These two statistics you pointed out really stood out to me: (1) iphone sales outpace births
ReplyDeleteand (2) More people own a mobile phone than a toothbrush. WOW! Really?? This truly amazes me that we are producing new iphones (not just any smartphone) faster than babies?? More people are reaching for a mobile phone than they are a toothbrush? This really shows how incredibly reliant we are now on technology. We truly cannot live without it! Cell phones have become an integral part of our lives, which really shows how important it is that we integrate them into our classrooms.
Haha, that stat about tootbrushes and mobile phones is a little worrisome. I would hope that's not true, but I don't doubt it. Maybe we can use social media to get the word out on oral hygiene and have an explosion of toothbrush sales.
DeleteThat is because most people can now virtually brush their teeth... didn't you know that, with the Crest APP. Good help us. The cellphone is as important as a wallet- it contains our lives, our phone numbers our contacts, our schedule, we have given it a lot of power. Maybe they are more important than babies to some people? I dont know..
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ReplyDeleteThe two stats that really stand out to me are how the average person has their phone by them 14 hours a day. I think about myself and probably have it by me 18-20 hours a day. Normally the only time that I don't have it by me is when it is charging. The other stat that really caught my attention was the one about coupons. My wife and I will often use Groupons or Living Social for different things we'll do around the city. We also will use our phone for tickets. I get really irritated when I have to print it out now.
With all of us using our phone for all these things, shouldn't we be allowing our students to use them? I think the examples he gave are excellent ways that teaches can show students how their devices can be a useful tool instead of just a Snapchat tool.
I agree with you Dion. If we as adults are using our phones for do many things and for so long, we have to expect our students are doing that and then some. The issue I think comes from those teachers who themselves are not comfortable with things like Smartphones and in turn don't allow or choose to incorporate them into the classroom. I would encourage these teachers that they don't need to be experts on devices - just a general level of knowledge and perhaps suggestions of how they can be used effectively for instruction.
DeleteBen, I agree wholeheartedly with your post. Essentially, what I took from your post is that if we are really preparing students for college and career readiness, then we have to teach them how to effectively utilize their mobile device and use it for good because they most definitely will be using it when they graduate from high school and enter the "real world". As teachers, we need to embrace mobile devices for what they have the potential to be, a great tool to help facilitate learning.
ReplyDeleteben Hageman- Cell Phone Use Rights Activist- the teacher's teacher! Amen Dr. Hageman, teaching kids how to use technology to make their education more productive is definitely an example of Digital Wisdom. We have got to prepare our students for the real world, and using their devices for things like graphics, organizers, writing, research, calculation is much better than their instagram app- or their twitter page.
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