The reason I chose Ms. Carey for the interview is because of this article I found when I was searching for people to interview. She seemed to be quite the advocate for using any technology in the classroom. As a matter of fact, she attended the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit in Boston, MA this past week.
The first question I asked was, "What prompted you to try using cell phones in the classroom?" She responded by stating that at the school she worked at, most, if not all, students had cell phones due to the affluent nature of her district. Furthermore, she read a Pew research study about how smartphones were more readily accessible and used by those of lower socioeconomic status than traditional DSL Internet. Moreover, booking laptop carts or computer labs can be problematic. Besides, she pointed out that the power of smartphones these days are more powerful than the technology used to get man to the moon.
Ms. Carey explained that she originally had the students use cell phones as a quick reference device and a way to diagnose student climate on particular content via Poll Everywhere. Socrative was a tool that she began to use in place of poll everywhere because she liked it more and students had access to 3g/4g internet. She has also had students take notes. She says that she has been able to manage disruptions and/or behavioral problems with a one strike and you're out policy and through moderation of use.
I took this break to ask Ms. Carey a personal question about advice she would give to me on trying to convince my district to allow cell phone use in the class. She stated that her current school gives teachers the power to determine whether or not they want to allow cell phones in the classroom and that students do have the ability to use their cell phones personally, but only on break periods. She also stated that a good policy for a school would be for students to "bring their own devices." However, the issue of inequality would need to be addressed. The biggest problem she has seen is cheating. In addressing that problem, Ms. Carey believes that tests should be authentic and not based on facts that students could just google.
The next question was regarding school policy. Again, her current school maintains a policy that allows teacher discretion in the use of cell phones. She mentioned that in her current school, students in yearbook club or students on field trips were expected to buy disposable cameras, get the photos developed, and then scan the photos to be used digitally. Not only does that cost a lot of money, but also time.
My next two questions were about student and parent response to using cell phones. Ms. Carey stated that the students are always excited the first time, but then realize that is still work and thus becomes less exciting. She states, in response to the second question, that she never told parents about cell phones in the classroom and no parents seemed to ever care or notice. But, of course, when a cell phone is confiscated, the parents call.
I then asked Ms. Carey if she ever encountered technical problems with cell phones or technology. She responded by stating that she never had any big problems technically, but that technology becomes a scapegoat for some students. For example a student might say that they had trouble blogging, but in actuality he/she never even logged in. So, technology has a way of verifying the truth about whether a student did or did not complete an assignment.
The final question I had planned was about the evidence that Ms. Carey has observed in justifying the future use of cell phones. She stated that at her current school, all students have an email address provided to them and could access it from school computers, but they rarely checked it. After being frustrated by this, she had her students get their cell phones out and had them sync their email accounts to their phones. That was just a quick fix that cell phones allowed for. Ms. Carey also applauded cell phones for giving students more autonomy, flexibility, and productivity with note taking via EverNote. She gave another example abour how a student on a long bus ride to an athletic event can easily study or share notes. Cell phones provide portability and flexibility.
I ended the interview by asking Ms. Carey if she had anything else to add. She stated that kids are going to make mistakes whether they have cell phones or not. We, as teachers, must guide students on how to use technology through guidelines and expectations. Teachers need to learn how to use cell phones in the classroom through professional development and that administration needs to back policies firmly. Banning cell phones, she states, simply does not work.
You can find Jennifer Carey online @TeacherJenCarey or check out her blog.
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