Cell Phones in the classroom
This week’s blog assignment was to find online resources that motivate and increase student’s interest in science and that prepare them for the highly technological world in which we live. In order to compete globally, all students should be able to bring 21st-century technology skills into the workforce.
What better device to accomplish this task than the CELL PHONE!
As a middle school teacher, my students are all fully equipped with the latest and greatest of cell-phone technology. The school prohibits the use of the cell phones during school hours but they students are always trying to access them at every minute that they can. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to utilize the cell-phone as a classroom resource?
In reviewing the Georgia Physical Science standards, I discovered that there are two content strands that can be cited and which would permit the legitimate use of the cell phone in the classroom.
The two standards are:
GA S8P4.e – relate the properties of sound to everyday experiences
GA SPS9.e – relate the speed of sound to different mediums The above standards fall under the specific content area of Sound Waves and Motion.
I would begin to implement this content into my classroom by engaging the students in a Warm-Up lesson on the History of cell phones (see websites below). This would definitely utilize the students’ prior and current knowledge of this topic. Secondly, I would begin to relate to Physical Science content.Turning Speech Into Digital
Speech is sound in motion, but talking produces acoustic pressure. A telephone reproduces sound by electrical means. However, in wireless technology, a coder inside the mobile telephone converts sound to digital impulses on the transmitting side and on the receiving side it converts these impulses back to analog sounds. A coder or vocoder is a speech analyzer and synthesizer all in one. A vocoder is found in every digital wireless telephone. In this process, sound gets modeled and transmitted on one end of the vocoder and on the receiving end, the speech synthesizer part, interprets the signal and produces a close match of the original.
When you hear sound, your ears are responding to tiny, rapid changes in the pressure of the air. These changes are called sound waves. They can have a single frequency and constant amplitude. Hearing is a complex mixture of waves with different frequencies and amplitudes. Sound waves range from pure sine waves to complex combinations of waves. The normal human ear can perceive sound ranging in frequency from 20 to 20,000 Hz.
And so on and so on….
Websites
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/the-evolution-of-cell-phone-design-between-1983-2009/
In Pictures: A History of Cell Phones
http://www.pcworld.com/article/131450/in_pictures_a_history_of_cell_phones.html
Phones in History pictures
http://www.freakingnews.com/Phones-in-History-Pictures--1842.aspCell phones in the classroom/ Evolution of the cell phone
http://historytech.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/cell-phones-in-the-classroom/ You Tube / with music
The Physics of Cell Phones
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2003/4/03.04.07.x.html
Cell Phones That Never Need To Be Charged? Sound Wave-Powered Devices Possiblehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081201162127.htm
I love your idea of using something students already love and incorporating it in a way that is "allowed" by the school. I was trying to think of how you can use this tool to meet the standards you mentioned. Perhaps they can conduct some type of inquiry about the properties of sound through the use of their cellphones. Even if the activity could be ocnducted without the use of cell phones, I think that incorporating cell phones is a wonderful way to spark student interest.... especially in an age group that can be difficult to inspire! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteJeannette, this is a great idea. There are so many ideas you can use with the cell phone. Students could research and explore how cell phones have advanced and improved over the last decade. They could also reserach which cell phones have the best service and why some cell phones have difficulty receiving service. If possible they could engineer a cell phone prototype to understand the inner workings of a cell phone. There are endless possibilities for this lesson. Your students will love this lesson.
ReplyDeleteCell phones are always a hot topic in a middle school. In my school there are advocates on both sides and they tend to be divided into two age groups as well. I have also found that individuals that don't use cell phones themselves have a very narrow minded view about the good of cell phones.
ReplyDeleteStudying cell phones is a great connection to teens. It is, after all, their 5th appendage. Great idea.
I tend to have a knee jerk reaction toward the kids having cell phones in the class, since they often are using them to do things they shouldn't be! They are very inventive and creative when it comes to that type of thing, for sure. Of course, since their teacher also has a Droid, I'm not as behind the eight ball as they like to think!
ReplyDeleteI have allowed them to use the phones to take pictures of their experiments (as I have used mine) and as stopwatches, timers, calculators, and whatever other "positive" way I can think of using them. Since we lack computers in the class most of the time, we occasionally use them to look up the answers to questions that arise that aren't immediately answerable by the text or any of the people in the class. I figure it's important for them to see them being used as tools, not just toys.
Eileen
Jeannette,
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to improve student motivation!! I think cell phones can be used as an asset to the classroom. As long as the perameters are set, it is a good way to encourage sound decision making. If they do not follow directions, they learn about consequences. Thanks for the resources!