“We should be able to use our smartphones
in the classroom to do research rather than having to wait for the laptop cart
to arrive or having to go to the library.” This suggestion was made by JJ, a
fifteen year old tenth grade student from the Westhill School District just
west of Syracuse, NY. Westhill High School has projectors, Smartboards and two or
three Macbooks in each classroom. They use Blackboard for class assignments and
offer multiple technology courses. JJ said she was taught how to do research
online when she was in middle school. “We were given a list of reliable
websites. They told us to compare [information] to other websites.” She said
the majority of her teachers are quite tech savvy and that when she needs
assistance she will seek it from a teacher rather than a classmate.
At home she has a laptop, but uses her
iPhone to go online most of the time. JJ said she spends 50% of the time on her
phone using the internet and uses it to text most of the rest of the time. Texting
is her preferred method of communicating with friends and family, but said she chooses
FaceTime over texting with most adults because they don’t understand her
texting shorthand. “Then I have to spend time explaining what my text meant.”
Outside of school JJ spends a lot of
her internet time on social networks. She has hundreds of friends and followers
on Facebook and Twitter. On Instagram she has over 1000 followers. She said
knows 50 – 75% of them and keeps her profiles private. Those she doesn’t know
send her requests after they saw something she posted that was then reposted
by a friend or follower. JJ also uses the internet to listen to music, and
watch videos. She said she’s acquired a lot of do-it-yourself skills online.
These include things that range from how to decorate her room to how to improve
her basketball skills.
JJ was among a group of students at her
school that experienced cyber bullying. She
and the other students reported the incidents to their building administrator
and the police were called. When the bullies were identified they were
suspended from school.
Other than the time spent waiting for
the laptop cart to be delivered to the classroom, JJ had no complaints regarding
the availability and use of the technology in school. I found her suggestion
that students use their smartphones for classwork the most interesting part of
our interview. She admits that students at times use their phones in the
classroom when they aren’t supposed to use them and for things that aren’t
connected to school. She said that some
students would abuse the privilege, but she feels that most students are
responsible enough to use their phones in school for research purposes.
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