Letters: Cellphones in the classroom
In his 11th grade U.S. History class, teacher Jonathan Klomp tells his class to use their cell phones to rate the President's speech about Osama bin Laden's death after watching it on their smart board at Amityville Memorial high school. (May 3, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Karen Wiles Stabile
Adding cellphones to classrooms is a flawed idea ["From textbooks to texting" News, Oct. 17]. Teachers and administrators have reported that cellphones are a major distraction in classrooms. Additionally, a 2009 Stanford University study found that multi-tasking with digital devices adversely affects what is retained and understood, and that cellphones contribute to students' already compromised attention spans.
The Newsday article presents some hopes, at best, for greater learning by having a cellular telephones. But the "students like cellphones" rationale is the epitome of unscientific reasoning.
When student are permitted to bring cellphones to class, 1) they will call and text their friends, surf the Internet and play games; 2) once permitted, cellphones will be impossible to remove.
No mention or thought has been given to how to train teachers to teach with cellphones. No administrators or college professors have coursework designed to this end. Is this a good time to budget for cellular workshops in every school on Long Island?
In support of classroom texting, there are methods that could be adopted to optimize this teaching tool. For example, a classroom could be equipped with modified mobile devices limiting the phones' function to the particular classroom lessons, while including students who do not possess mobile devices.
This may even open the door for designing specific lesson apps, or applications, by tech-savvy teachers, information technology support or even students themselves.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 38: State champions On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra, Michael Sicoli and Tess Ferguson recap the the state championships in baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, plus Jared Valuzzi has the plays of the week.
