Technology & Learning - January 2009 - (Page 42)

THEY SAID IT An Open Text To the President by T&L blogger Bob Sprankle TO: Pres-Elect Obama FROM: Joe Student SUBJ: PLEASE Keep the BlackBerry! First of all, congratulations and good luck. I followed the election and your transition on my SmartPhone (when I’m not in school) and I realize that you’ve got a lot going on so I’ll keep this brief. Since you’ve been called the first “Technology President,” big things are being asked of you to help bring the rest of the country into the 21st Century. I’m joining in to ask you to do one other thing: don’t let them take your BlackBerry away. If the most powerful leader in the world can’t use his personal technology at work, then what chance do I have to ever get to use mine at one of the places that I need it most? Right now, when I come into school each morning, before I’m even allowed to sit down, I have to put my smart phone in a box with all the other students’ phones. It stays in this box all day behind some teacher’s desk. The phones must be shut off before being handed over and if your phone actually goes off and rings inside the box, you will be sent to the office and given detention after school. I get that teachers want to control the phones because they are worried about kids texting friends instead of paying attention, or worse, using the phones to cheat. Here are some answers to both of those concerns: 1) If kids are texting instead of paying attention, then maybe the lesson needs to be more engaging or exciting. 2) If they’re using their phones to cheat on tests, then maybe the tests need to be more challenging, asking students to synthesize information, rather than just spit back facts. One other thing: there are actually teachers out there who want to use cell phones in their lessons, rather than ban them. They see them as tools for learning, much like the slate, or paper, or ink, or pens, or calculators. Of course those tools didn’t always have acceptance in the beginning either. Cell phones are the new “scratch paper.” You know, the paper we’re given to work out our problems on during a math test? One of my teachers said we have that so that we can use it to work out the “mundane tasks” of computation so our minds can be freed up to work on the harder, “higher level” stuff. I trust you’ll do the right thing, because after all, you’ve already got your Weekly Radio Addresses up on YouTube and clearly you’ve changed the campaign game with your use of the Internet. Thanks for taking the time to read this text—on your BlackBerry. LOL Sincerely, Joe the Student, Class of 2009 42 | TECH & LEARNING

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - January 2009

Technology & Learning - January 2009 Contents Editor’s Desk News & Trends Put to the Test VS Revo Group Mimio Studio 6 Software NewTek TriCaster Type to Learn 4 Pure Digital Flip Mino Video Camera Get Better With Your Tech The Future is in Your Hand Write On! A Guide to Buying Printers January 2009 What’s New What They Said

Technology & Learning - January 2009

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