Before I delve into the texting articles I assembled (they'll be delved into next week), I wanted to share some interesting links on texting and some of my humble opinions on texting.
First, this will lead you to an article which gives a nice overview of the texting debacle. I will provide a short summary after the jump, so feel free hear me out if you don't have the time to read it.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/104688114_Texting_in_class_getting_out_of_hand.html
This article summarizes the glaring problem of students being distracted by texting in class. I witnessed this non-stop while I was student teaching, and is probably one of the more frustrating pieces of the classroom managment pie (lame metaphor, apologies). What was the most frustrating was when I was ask a student to put their cell phone away, or give it to me, and their response was that they needed to finisha reply to his or her parent or guardian.
The article above also mentions that steps will soon have to be taken to end the "prohibition" of cell phones. Instead of trying to work against texting, one of the principals suggests that talks should occur regarding what proper in-school texting should be. This news report I found gives a good example of what I believe school's could keep in mind.
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_pasco/wesley_chapel/teacher-welcomes-texting-in-class
Again, for a short summary, this report shows a science teacher utilizing a web 2.0 site which collects student answers via text message. I will put the link to the site (polleverywhere.com) at the bottom of this post.
I already know that there's still a debate on whether texting should be used in class or not (I vote mostly not, but I can see both sides). As far as I'm concerned, texting keeps students focused on, well, texting. I feel that it can casually be used, but until we can put constraints on who and what students are texting, I feel student concentration will run amok. But this whole 'should it be used or shouldn't it be used?' debate isn't what the articles I found on texting entail.
Which brings me to the big closing question: What impact does text messaging have on literacy?
That is a question I will answer in my first movement: S' ths Speling?
The controversy and debate over the use of cell phones in the classroom is growing more popular each year. Some teachers find cell phones extremely useful in fostering student participation and engagement, while other teachers find cell phones extremely useful in providing a distraction from learning. I agree with your comment about the lack of concrete data on whether or not cell phones are helping or hindering learning and literacy in the classroom. It seems articles either provide ideas for activities involving cell phones, or they provide complaints about students with the "blueberry thumb." I look forward to reading your next blog about texting in the classroom and its impact on literacy.
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