I wonder what we ever did before we had them....
How did we find each other in the mall? Grocery store? Keep up with our families and friends?
Teenagers don't remember a world without them. If you study cell phone use by teenagers, it doesn't take long to realize they don't talk on them as much as they text with them. Why do you think that is?
How can teachers harness all that energy and enthusiam for texting and use it for learning?
9 comments:
I agree with you in regards to the cell phones. I see kids all the time sending text messages and alot of the time they can get their phone out, type up the message, send it and put their phone away in no time flat. But the kids now-a-days would go absolutely insane if cell phones did not exist anymore. They would truly understand what it felt like for us growing up without the use of cell phones. It might also help with the obesity problems that you hear about in the news with the average weight of high school students on the rise!!!
Before cell phones we really worried more about loved ones when they weren't home on time. Now we can just call them, and if they don't answer get mad or start worrying about them. What do you think is next in the line of communication? I mean we had the pony express, then telegraph, then telephone, computers, cell, then what........
I think teens use text because it can be done without any one realizing that they are doing it, especially in places like the classroom, the mall, the lunchroom, any place they are not focused on.
Cell phones have become an appendage, no doubt. I, too, am amazed at the amount of texting going on. From an English teacher's standpoint, the lack of grammar rules in use for texting concerns me. Bottomline, communication is a key component in our society, and grammar has been the facilitator of that component. However, if we can communicate without grammar and its importance is diminished, what will happen to our language as a whole?
I believe that we have become more disconnected as a society due to technology. My teenager would rather text a friend than talk directly. "It allows the person to decide what to do without making it personal." How to harness that energy? Throughout history, there has always been "outside interests". Making learning meaningful, incorporating group chats about learning, and connecting with the students may help. Texting is important because it connects to peers. Have authentic learning connecting with peers.
My son, Ryan, prefers to text message because it is faster. He always sharet that you get to the point without the unnecessary chit-chat. I believe that speed for kids is important.
I agree with you. They do not understand how the world operated without cell phones. Based on my first year of teaching, they "push" you to "catch them in the act". They feel that we are not savy with what they are doing especially if we are a "little" older. I have found that my powers of observation have been sharpened and surprised them with "eyes in the back of my head" concerning their "slight of hand" practices.
You are dead on, kids need those cell phones like air it seems. I don't think they could go a day without them, I cant imagine the high school without them.
Cell phones with their texting capabilities have proven to be a great boon to our hearing impaired students. Their phones provide a means of social interaction with peers that is fast, flexible, and overcomes the language barrier - so few proficient in sign language...
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