1. Teaching by Texting Starts to Take Hold
Karen Schwartz
(May 2) -- Texting can be a teaching tool.
That's what some believe. So, for subjects ranging from Spanish to science, from
homework help to exam reminders, teachers around the country are beginning to allow
students to text in class.
"You've got a classroom full of students walking in with a computer in their pocket. Why
would you not use it?" said Ron Smith, who has defied district policy for the past five
years to allow cell phone use in his high school art and design classes in Hollywood,
Calif.
At Chester Middle School, an hour north of New York City, Principal Ernie Jackson, 52,
challenged his staff to teach poetry using text messaging. He then gave an old version of
a state test to those students who texted in summaries of the poems and to those who
learned the poems in a traditional manner.
Dominick Fiorille, Times Herald-Record
In a sixth-grade class at Chester Middle School led by teacher Mel Wesenberg, standing,
students, from left, Samantha Serrano, Elmer Palmer, Stephanie Calle, Julia Troisi and
Jenna Sharp use text messaging.
.
The result: Those who texted averaged 80 percent on the exam, versus 40 percent for
those who didn't.
"If the kids are motivated they do better than if they're not. The kids are very motivated
about doing this," Jackson said in a telephone interview with AOL News.

2. Sixth-grader Jenna Sharp, 11, was one of those who used text-speak to summarize her
poem. She thought it was a great teaching tool.
"Usually kids don't like to read," she explained. "But you read in text messages."
Opponents of cell phone use in classrooms argue that not all students have phones. And
even those who do might be paying hefty fees for text messages.
Spanish teacher Katie Titler, 30, required her students at Pulaski High School near Green
Bay, Wis., to have their parents sign a permission slip before they could use a cell phone
in class. Parents had a few choices: They could opt out, allow the phone to be used only
for recording speaking assignments or allow full cell phone use, including texting.
To ensure that all students can participate, Titler has them work in pairs to text in
complete answers in Spanish to questions such as, "What is your favorite board game and
why?" She uses the website Poll Everywhere, which allows her to project the anonymous
replies to the entire class. The students then collectively check them for grammar and
spelling.
"Being able to text in class is just something new and in a way rejuvenates us because it
is not the usual 'take notes, then do homework,' like we do in the rest of our classes," 16-
year-old Pulaski student Kevin Dunford said. "It's a new flavor."
This is Titler's second year using cell phones in class, and she has not had any problems.
She said the students understand it is a privilege to be able to learn in this interactive way.
She also believes that her students are learning a larger lesson about technology. "They
are aware that what they write and publish affects others," she said.
If the students have their cell phones out when they aren't supposed to, Titler enforces
district policy: The phones are taken away and turned into the office.
Most teachers who use cell phones in class also find it useful to blast text messages to
their students, reminding them of homework assignments and tests. Titler gave parents
the option of signing up for the texts so they could keep better tabs on what their children
were working on in class.
Of course, once a teacher texts a student, the student then has the teacher's cell phone
number. But the teachers interviewed said students have not abused that. Although Smith
recalled one student in his video editing class who often called late at night.
"I never got mad a him for calling," Smith, 53, said. "I'd just tell him if you call after 9
you're taking your chances" that I might not answer.
Sheila Moore, 55, head of the science department at Croatan High School in Newport,
N.C., said she decided to allow students to use their cell phones as calculators five years

3. ago, and it progressed from there.
So far this year, they used the video function on their cell phones to make a public service
announcement about recycling for Earth Day; the camera function to take pictures of
organisms for later identification; and texting to stay in touch during a field trip. Students
without a cell phone pair with those who have one or borrow traditional equipment from
the school.
"We're 23 percent free-lunch students, yet they have a cell phone," Moore marveled.
"They've got this magical tool that we don't have to pay for that's right at their fingertips."
http://www.aolnews.com/tech/article/teaching-by-texting-starts-to-take-hold/19459259