Cell+Phones

Cellular phones are an excellent tool to use in the classroom. They are low cost to the school as most students already have them. Because most of them are connected to the Internet, they can serve many of the same functions that a laptop computer could. Below are just a few of the things that we can do to incorporate cellular phones into our classrooms.

Poll Everywhere

Classroom uses: Wiffiti Classroom uses: Celly Classroom uses: Flickr Classroom uses:
 * Create interactive polls that can be answered via text message or any Internet connected device.
 * Advantages:
 * Multiple formats including open answer and multiple choice.
 * Free account; up to 40 students can respond
 * Gauge prior student knowledge during an anticipatory set.
 * Check for understanding in the middle of a lesson.
 * Students can submit a brief summary at the end of a lesson.
 * Creates an interactive discussion board via text message or any Internet connected device.
 * Advantages:
 * Free to use
 * Students can answer in an open answer format.
 * Gauge prior student knowledge during an anticipatory set.
 * Check for understanding in the middle of a lesson.
 * Students can submit a brief summary at the end of a lesson.
 * Can be used to openly discuss ideas and drive classroom discussions.
 * Allows teachers to send students text messages.
 * Advantages:
 * Privacy is maintained as you will not have student cell phone numbers; user names are used instead.
 * Free to use
 * Teachers can send student reminders about anything going on in the classroom such as: tests, quizzes, due dates, etc.
 * Parents can follow your cell and receive updates as well.
 * Makes the classroom more transparent.
 * A social network that allows photo sharing and tagging on a map.
 * Allows geotagging, which is tagging a photo location on a map.
 * Can be applied in multiple content areas.