Using Social Media andCell Phones

Using Social Media andCell Phones

J a m i e S t e f f l • K-12 Visual Art & Technology Teacher for 10 years. • Passionate about teaching & learning in a 21st Century Way.

ISTE PBS Certified Educator (International Society of Technology in Education) • To become ISTE certified your teaching and students learning must prove application and understanding of: • NETS•S: The skills and knowledge students need to learn effectively and live productively in a digital world. • NETS•T: The skills and knowledge educators need to change the way they teach, the way they work, and the way they learn in an increasingly connected global and digital society.

Why Cell Phones & Facebook? • Cell phones are more powerful than the super computers from 8 years ago. • Cell phones are valuable learning resources most students own and ALWAYS have with themselves at school. • Novelty creates excitement and engagement in the secondary classroom. • Students are using social media to connect. Use of academic social media for class extends the learning outside of the traditional classroom.

Most students use cell phones everyday • Many students from 5th grade up have and use facebook frequently. • Social media can help create a sense of belonging for students in classrooms • The trend is increased use at earlier ages. • NO COST TO THE DISTRICT

If schools ban and block these communication tools, where do students ever learn to effectively and professionally use them for purposeful collaboration?

Initial Steps • My district, like many districts, DOES NOT ALLOW CELL PHONE USE According to THE STUDENT HANDBOOK. SO….. • I initially met with my building administration to get permission for cell phone use and facebook for all art classes.

Initial Steps • Students were invited to join in a discussion about expectations and discipline. • I created a cell phone parent permission slip that addressed all areas of the study and the scope of my research. • Students and Parents had to agree to all terms to be allowed to use their cell phones and facebook.

Discussion Results CELL PHONE RULES • Upon entry and departure of class please ensure cell phones are turned off and stored in your pockets. • On days when we are using cell phones for learning please ensure they are set to silent. • Only use phones for learning purposes related to class work. • When phones are not in use on a day we are using cells for learning place them face down on the upper right side of your desk or in your pockets. • If you notice someone in the class using their cell phone inappropriately, remind them to use proper cell phone etiquette. • If at any time your Mrs. Steffl feels you are not using your cell phone for class work you will be asked to place your phone in the bin in the front of the room with a post-it indicating your name. • After the first infraction each month you can collect your phone at the end of class. • After the second infraction you can collect your phone at the end of the day. • After the third infraction your parent or guardian will be asked to retrieve your phone. If you use the phone inappropriately again during the month your parent or guardian will be required to retrieve your phone. • At the beginning of each month, you have a clean slate.

Let’s see what this group thinks about cell phones in the classroom using the free web 2.o tool • Please take out your cell phones if available.

How To Vote via Texting Standard texting rates only. I have no access to your phone number. Capitalization doesn’t matter, but spaces and spelling do. EXAMPLE

How To Vote via Poll4.com EXAMPLE

Don’t forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll.

Another example of Journaling/Bellwork using cell phones & Polleverywhere.com.

Students for phones “In the world that us teens grow up in, we have alot of technology right at our fingertips. I think that with how the world is (with all the technology) cell phones should be allowed in school in some cases. For bellwork/journaling in art, they do come in handy. But if you are taking a test, cell phones could be used for cheating or if you are listening to a lecture, cell phones could be a distraction.”

Students for phones “I believe they are more of a help than an issue. I think they can be used for a lot of better things than teachers often associate phones with. Yes, kids can be sneaky with phones during school, but I don't think it's reason enough to ban them during the day. I think they're helpful for instances like we've been doing in art; convenience, doing work in a more interesting way, incorporating more and more modern technology into the school day, etc.”

Students for phones • “I think it has a place in any room. They can be a resource if you need to study and they can make such things like bellwork and the like alot easier. As long as they are used for school in the classroom I see no reason in taking them away or not allowing them.” • “I think that cell phones should belong in school for academic purposes only. We don’t need phones in school for texting our friends, but I think that if we use technology in our classrooms then we will excel at our studies.”

Pros & Cons (Student Point of View) • Using cell phones in class is great because it’s a great way to do bell work and research. It also is a good way to show people how to use cell phones responsibly and for educational purposes. • Some of the pros are it goes faster for teachers because they don't have to look all the individuals journals and grade them. Also with cell phones it allows a student to express him or herself. • It is efficient to use and it saves trees but if you forget to have it of it is dead of if you don’t have one then it is a nuisance. • The pro's are definitely the fact that teachers are realizing that kids use phones a lot. and they are expanding the way they teach. When I heard we were going to use cell phones for our bell work, I was automatically interested. The Cons are maybe the less mature kids might use it for texting advantages, web surfing. etc.

I think it was really helpful because you can read everyone's and its fast and you can all read it in one day instead of turning in out notebooks at the end of class. And we waste allot more paper so were saving trees also. The only problem is allot of kids probably texted during class and you couldn’t really tell if that was what they were doing or not. • I think the pros are convenience, mostly for you. You don't need to check everyone's notebooks or go through them to find the bellwork; all the answers come to you in one big slur when texting. I think the only con would be that some people are a little technologically "confused" sometimes and not everyone has access to a phone all the time, unlike a pencil and paper (which ironically, a lot of people don't ever have either.) :P • The good thing of using cell phones in class is its more in touch with our lives. Teens use their cell phones allot and it may make them more relaxed in class if they are able to use them. Some kids may use cell phones to cheat though and cell phones may be a distraction sometimes. • I think the positive effect of using phones is that it gets the children who were less involved with bellwork when we wrote it to be more interested now. The negative effect could be that they might think it's okay to use their phone the rest of the period since they got to use it at the beginning. That could possibly be a distraction to their learning.

Facebook • Again administrative & parent permission were my first step. • I set up two groups for eacjh level of art I am currently teaching. • I requested all students with permission to request to “join” the group. • We have had one facebook assignment so far and will be working with it at least once a week.

Why groups not pages • Groups have security features that allow the creator (me) the ability to allow who can join and what can be seen by the group members. • Groups are a bit different than Pages. To create a group you go to facebook.com/groups/create.php and then fill in information about the type of group, and decide if it is open to a particular network or all of Facebook. You can set join permissions on groups so that they are either open to anyone, closed (where users must get administrator approval to join) or secret (invite only). Groups have administrators that manage the group, approve applicants or invite others to join. Administrators can also appoint “officers” who are nominally in charge – however, being an officer doesn’t mean the person has the ability to administer the group. • Because of these privacy settings, Facebook’s groups are analogous to clubs in the offline world. Administrators can invite members to join via Facebook mail and email, and public groups can be found via Facebook search. • I chose a closed group so my students could search for it but only members who I accept to join can see what we talk about in our group. • http://www.facebook.com/groups/247524661937283/

Facebook & Safety • Having set up this group allowed the perfect opportunity to teach students about their digital footprint and how to safely set up their pages security features.

Recommendations • Get permission from administration & Parents1st. • Survey students for cell phone possession and features. • Play around with • Implement more uses of cell phones other than just texting journal entries.

Conclusion Cell phones & Facebook are a successful way to engage students!

Questions • Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about implementing cell phones into your classroom. I have posted this powerpoint & my cellphone/facebookpermissionslip to my wiki on the page technology integration and have included my email: • Wiki: http://redwoodvalley.wikispaces.com • Email: • jsteffl@redwood.mntm.org

Using Social Media andCell Phones