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Two edges of mobile

As I’m cutting through emails, tweets and stared items in my reader, I’m finding that a whole pile of stuff happened while I was “gone”. One of the things that I remember “starting” before I left was something about Pennsylvania banning, or trying to ban cell phones (and other mobile devices) in schools. I remember commenting on this and this morning as I spotted this article in THE.

Scanning through it, they seem to identify the two edges of the debate rather well. From the pro side, there are all manner of contemporary (not freak’n “21st Century…. we are already here people!) uses for these devices ranging from simple communication between individuals to collecting images, video, GPS data and a host of other “objects” that can be used in a range of different applications including Project K-Nect:



The cons revolve around proper use and security. I wonder how this changes at all when students leave school… it’s not like schools are all of the sudden going to be more or less safe without phones than they currently are. It is my hope that schools are safe refuges from the world where students can learn, but we know that the world finds it’s way into the classroom and though we don’t need yet another vector for this to get in, learning how to use and deal with this element of life properly is a skill that our children will certainly need to have. Other issues revolve around standardization and assessment.

I truly feel that those cons are a ruse. In reality the differences might equate to using different colors of ink to write an essay, but even if the bigger pedagogical issues are there – as in the theories matching what can be done with the device to where those actions would fit on the traditional model – but if we don’t start playing around, we are forever going to be shackled by this hesitation of not moving forward because we don’t know what we are stepping into.

If nothing else, mobile devices have revealed just how conservative the educational establishment really is.

Edit, Bill Ferriter has an interesting post on this subject as well – nascent ideas I guess.

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Raj

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2 responses to “Two edges of mobile”

  1. Bill Ferriter Avatar
    Bill Ferriter

    Raj wrote:

    but if we don’t start playing around, we are forever going to be shackled by this hesitation of not moving forward because we don’t know what we are stepping into.

    This is a solid point, Raj—-and one that I think is overlooked in the mobile computing debate. Innovating has always been the first step towards any meaningful change becoming commonplace.

    The question becomes why are so few willing to innovate when it comes to cell phones in the classroom? Is it really as simple as teachers are worried kids aren’t going to pay attention or are going to post inappropriate content with their cells to the web?

    Or is it something that runs deeper—-innovation hasn’t been a part of education’s culture and we’ve never been forced to compete. That means change isn’t ever really necessary, so why take a chance on a risky change?

    You’ve got my thoughts churning this morning….Thanks….

    Bill

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  2. Raj Avatar
    Raj

    @ Bill Ferriter

    Exactly, Education is so risk averse, it is laughable. Those students who are home schooled often say that one of the reasons they like learning outside the traditional system is that they are able to take risks and be different.

    The Industrial Revolution model of student production is now decrepit and the idea that we can churn out millions of identical students is horribly outdated.

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