When I ask teachers to identify the one thing above all others that they want from their administrators in the realm of educational technology, they tell me this: we want support to take a risk. More than money, gear, or time off, teachers want to be supported and respected as innovators.

posted by Jason Ohler
Oct 20, 2009

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Florida School Allows Cellphones in Class

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I told a group of school administrators this week that when it came to addressing the needs of digital kids in school they had one primary choice to make: a) Did they consider kids to have two lives, a non-digital, traditional life at school and a digital-infused, wireless, collaborative life out of school, or b) did they feel they should try to bridge both worlds and actively include the new technology, skills and perspectives of digital kids within the school environment?

I further told them if they wanted to opt for choice A then everything I had to say was going to be irrelevant.

I also told them that I thought most of them would feel most comfortable with pilot projects rather than full school reform... a way of wading into the ocean of change. Identify a teacher or two and support them to experiment with using cellphones, Facebook, social media within a limited context and see what happens. It is better than nothing and may well lead to everything.

Which brings me to the article in Teacher Magazine about Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, Florida. While most school districts are shutting out much of what makes our kids' world different than the world of the school board members who control their educational experience, a handful of schools like Wiregrass are taking the risk.

Here is a wonderful snippet from that article:

Jennifer Gould ended her class announcements and told her students to take out their cell phones.

"I need at least three people who can get a signal in here," Gould said to her advanced placement literature class. "We're going to be studying the works of D.H. Lawrence, and I want you to find some things about him that you don't already know."

Nearly everyone whipped out a phone and began tapping away. Within moments, the teens were sharing their Internet discoveries.

"He lived during World War I."

"He had relationships with men and women."

"He lived the second half of his life in exile, considered a pornographer who had wasted his talents."

With each detail, Gould pulled her students deeper into a discussion about the author. When the talk had run its course, the students set their phones down and turned their attention to another author.

Read the entire article.

(photo appears through a paid license)