Calling All Classrooms

I bought my first cell phone at the age of 18, a few years behind most people my age. It took me a few weeks to familiarize myself with all the bells and whistles, which, compared to the model I use today, were next to nothing and unimpressive to boot. Nearly a decade after that first egg-shaped, no-color-screen model, I use my phone for just about everything: I send and receive e-mails, network with friends and coworkers, keep track of my budget; heck, I even place the occasional call or two. I'm not alone in having my mobile device practically bolted to my hand. Students, from elementary-level to college- and university-goers, use cell phones each and every day.

Sure, students use their cell phones to text, game, and Tweet. But the usage isn't limited to frivolous social communication and idle entertainment. Students are also using these devices to help them learn. They are using built-in calculators to help solve math problems, search engines to find sources for research papers, and teacher-recommended apps to train and challenge the mind. Some school districts are even using cell phones to help students perform well on standardized tests.

Yes, there are many negative possibilities when phone usage is permitted in a classroom. Distraction is perhaps the worst. Teachers have to either patrol the aisles like a hungry hawk or trust their students to stay away from Facebook and Angry Birds. Using technology moves away from more traditional, proven methods of education and encourages a turn-to-technology-for-everything environment. These are just a couple issues in an angry sea full of potential difficulties and complications.

It is a sea upon which we must set sail. The simple fact is that cell phones (and tablets like the iPad along with them) are too prevalent and potent to ignore. Thinking back to my archaic school days (the nineties), I wish I could open a rift in time and drop my phone into the youthful me's bulky backpack. Equipped with this space-age technology, younger me would have an entire new world of possibilities before him. He could schedule testing and project due dates. He could choose a list of books to check out from the library rather than scratching his head baffling over the Dewey Decimal System. He could download games that helped him practice in an effort to correct a persistent difficulty with math skills.

Oh, what might have been!

The students of today don't have to lament a lack of possibilities, nor wait until they're 18 years old to discover them. The world little me didn't have already surrounds them. The tools for a deeper and more effective education exist. Let's put them in the hands of our students and start soaring.