Cell phone withdrawal

I left my cell phone at home a few weeks back. I couldn’t make or take calls. I couldn’t text. I couldn’t check my e-mail. But the most disturbing part of it – I couldn’t entertain myself.

 

Honestly. I was like a frantic puppy that had his favorite chew toy taken away.

 

I was driving for an hour or so, and I couldn’t sit still. I talked to myself. I scanned anxiously through radio stations, and when I found a song or program I liked, I changed it again, just so I had something to do with my hands.

 

Sad, right?

 

I was never going to be that guy. For years, I refused to get a smart phone. I was very happy with my geriatric flip model, and when I finally gave in, I was sure I wouldn’t use it more than a few times a day.

 

Whoops.

 

Within a week after I got my new phone, I became addicted. Now, I can’t put it down, and when I do, I feel completely lost.

 

Sure, it’s about the contact – it’s great to keep in touch with old friends and family. But I’m afraid for me it’s become even more about keeping busy. With texting, emails and the Internet all just a few keys away, there’s no excuse to be disconnected – from work, friends or the world.

Maybe I’ll have to forget my phone at home more often.

Technology in the classroom: Keep up or get out of the way

It almost amuses me that the debate over technology in school is a debate at all.

I understand that, with regard to change, schools move slow -- iceberg slow. But to ignore that the world is changing, and students along with it, is like denying the passage of time.

The way students communicate and learn is changing drastically. MP3 players, tablets and personal communications devices, among others, are replacing telephones, televisions and even video games after school hours, and they each have their own language. So, teachers and administrators had best become fluent or they risk losing they will discover a new language barrier.

This means incorporating these new technologies into the classroom, where they can benefit the teachers as well as the students. Many of these devices offer a broad range of audio and video capabilities that can expand the way teachers teach and students learn.

Teachers can assign a video lesson that students can watch any time on their cell phone, iPod or iPad, and  students can respond, recording their own podcast.

Or teachers can continue to assign traditional textbook readings, in hopes that students still know how to read textbooks.

About Me

My name is Jake. I'm a journalist by trade, but at some point the news industry decided to go extinct on us without warning. So here I am looking for a lifeboat, and the waters have led me back to school.

I'm two days into my graduate program for teaching, and the biggest lesson I've learned so far is that education has changed a ton over the last decade.

Suddenly, students are using the Internet, iPods and blogs like this one, among other new technologies, to expand their learning experience. And any teacher hoping to reach his or her students had better keep up.

With this blog, I'll address changing technologies, their role in the classroom and what they mean to the learning experience. In short, I'll drop some knowledge.

Please check back often -- my grade depends on it (not really).

See you soon.