Chapter 2 of Teaching With Tools Kids Really Use, Brooks-Young discusses how cell phones have the potential to become a classroom norm. The chapter starts off with some surprising statistics about cell phone usage and implementation in general. The one statistic that surprised me the most was that only 79% of teenagers use a cell phone. I would have assumed that number to be a little higher because it appears in today's society everyone has a cell phone. Also, Brooks-Young mentions that of the 79% of teenagers using a cell phone, 20% of them are using a smart phone, or a phone with the ability to take advantage of sending and receiving data. 20% sounds about right in what I notice of teenage cell phone usage, however, I expect the number of smart phones being handed to teens to increase, especially with the ever growing popularity of the Apple iPhone or phones that can run applications. Another statistic that I found intriguing was the fact that kids as young as six years old have cell phones. I found that to be a little too much in respect to the use of technology. I did not obtain my first cell phone till I was able to drive and that was even extreme then. I just do not see why kids that young will need a cell phone. Maybe it is just me.
Brooks-Young list several advantages and disadvantages to using the cell phone in a classroom environment. My initial reaction to reading this portion of the text led me to develop a so-so opinion toward using such technology in an instructional setting. Though after thinking about it, I think I would lean more toward the advantage side as opposed to the disadvantage. Some advantages I see of using cell phones in class is that it would strip the students of the burden of distraction. I would hopefully see the teachers intention that if students are allowed to use them in the classroom, they (the students) would not feel it necessary to use them without permission. Also, I using a cell phone in the classroom leads to an unexpected medium that students would not normally use. This could create some excitement or even some extra motivation toward a student's academic success. On the opposite side, using cell phones in the class room can work against the teacher's intentions. The number one challenge I can see is that not every student has a cell phone. Some parents are still old fashion or simply can not afford one for their children. So the idea of using cell phones would only work as long as each student has access to one. Another disadvantage would be students can be using them for activities other than class work. Sure the student can say they are participating via the cell phone in classroom activities when in fact they are simply texting their peers. I see a fine line between the pro's and con's and it is one that needs to be treaded on very carefully.
In addition to the advantages and disadvantages discussed by Brooks-Young, there are several different classroom applications mentioned in chapter 2. The only practical one that stands out to me is the idea of using the cell phone as a responsive tool to surveys. I have used several different versions of websites in my own presentations that allow for my audience to interact with my material via a poll and they simply text in their responses. The concept of using cell phones for activities other than that seem a little shady to me and even at that a little unpractical. I would be afraid that teachers and students in general would be too focused on the concept of using the cell phone in class versus actually teaching or learning the material at hand. I am not against using the cell phone, I think it is too early in the educational world to mainstream such a technique into everyday classroom instruction.
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