Three case studies on smartphone use in class
OnlineCollege.org offers a list of ten schools that allow smartphones in the classroom. Here are three of them:
At Cimarron Elementary School near Houston, TX, smartphones are actually given to students, but without messaging or calling capabilities. They’re used to access the internet, schedule homework, and send e-mails to teachers and fellow students regarding assignments. The phones allow students to conduct web searches, scan QR codes linked to relevant websites, graph science projects, and create Excel spreadsheets. Results are encouraging: students’ overall math and science scores have improved from the previous year!
Teens at Mounds View High School in the Twin Cities area were given the green light to use their favorite technologies in class, including PDAs, tablets, and smartphones. Teachers concede a few drawbacks to the new policy, but they contend the learning opportunities outweigh the disadvantages. Impressed with the positive feedback generated by supportive teachers, the Minneapolis School District recently approved a broader measure to allow tech devices into more classrooms.
Qualcomm is working with Southwest High School in North Carolina to improve student test scores using smartphones. Called Project K-Nect, Qualcomm has distributed smartphones in select courses, and teachers hope the devices will introduce high-tech applications to students who don’t have access to the internet at home. So far, the program has encouraged administrators after they determined their kids performed 25 percent better than classmates without smartphones on a final algebra exam.