The Whiteboard Jungle

Here's what amazes me the most about texting. As with the Internet, we've gained the ability to communicate with people from all around the world, but often at the expense of those in our immediate proximity.

I regularly chat with more people from CR4 than I do with people in my own neighborhood, and certainly know more screen names than I do my neighbors' names. While note-passing in school at least allowed some level of community-building (even if, arguably, in a subversive way), students are now so enamored with those they text that they miss opportunities to get to know their classmates. This lack of familiarity has, in my experience, led to intolerance, bullying, and violence.

Sadly, that's not where the problems stop. Last year, there were two car accidents on my school's campus that were the direct result of texting. Fortunately, both were low-speed incidents in the parking lot that resulted in only minor property damage and no major injuries. But I think this further proves the point of how addicted some people, and teens in particular, have become if risk of personal injury and injury to others isn't a deterrent.

For its part, the United States Congress may pass laws that ban texting while driving. Some states are making accidents caused by texting felony-level crimes if personal injury results. There is one case in California, for example, where a man faces vehicular manslaughter charges for killing a pedestrian while texting. But if a teen can text in a classroom and not get caught, how easily will a police officer be able to spot texting in a moving car? And if students can comfortably blow-off a teacher's authority and ignore school rules, how will police officers and laws fare in this culture?

Entitlement Culture Continues to Erode Society

The reality is that cell phone-based messaging is here now and becoming ever more popular. But there's a larger story, too. This phenomenon continues a trend (reinforced by too many adults) that those in position of authority in the world of education are to be openly disrespected and have their authority undercut. In such an educational environment, is it any surprise that the U.S. is struggling to keep pace with other industrialized nations of the world?

It doesn't surprise me. And once again, it's the students who don't care to learn that compromise the education of those that do. This is where our society is failing! In an effort to reach the disenfranchised, the uninterested, and the unmotivated, I cannot help but realize that those who willingly tune-out to text cannot be allowed to consume resources and impede the academic opportunities of those who actually want to learn.

Below the related readings, I have posted some threads that take the discussion to whole new levels. As you'll see, all sides are heated and angry about some of the stories presented.

Related Readings (please note that hyperlinks will not work until future blogs are posted):

Part 1 – The Texting Time Bomb: A Year Later (Part 1)

Part 2 – Hell Hath No Fury Like A Cell Phone Confiscated (Texting Time Bomb: Part 2)

Part 3 – Why Cell Phones Make Educators Grumpy (Texting Time Bomb: Part 3)

Part 4 – From Where I Sit – This Teacher's Take (Texting Time Bomb: Part 4)

Further Reading/Discussion:

http://www.switched.com/2009/02/18/teen-arrested-for-texting-in-class

http://www.theultraviolet.com/March08/news0308.html

http://media.www.dailyhelmsman.com//texting.In.Class.A.Growing.Problem

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/02/texting

http://media.www.utmpacer.com/Stop-Texting.During.Class-3280690.shtml

http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2007/04/23/texting-during-class-can-b-distracting-4-u/

http://cbs5.com/technology/texting.while.driving.2.1103836.html

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kuehl-manslaughter-prosecutors-2364107-crosswalk-driving

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32208299

There are many reasons why student cell phone use is an issue for educators. Some reasons are professional. Others are personal. But more often than not, educators are also angry that texting is a problem with few solutions.

Schools can ban cell phones, but enforcing the rule is difficult. As one teacher explained, he's not about to look in the lap of a teenage girl wearing a borderline low-cut top to see if she's using a cell phone. Students know this, and have learned that their waists represent a "safe zone" for cell phone usage. As for blocking cell phone signals, it's illegal for public schools to do in many states.

There are also ethical issues at stake. Students can text-message questions to friends or search the Web for answers. Most texters can take, send, and receive pictures silently, thus giving them the opportunity to sell test questions to students with later sections of the same class. Texters can also store test questions digitally. This becomes increasingly serious during state-level exams, where many proctors find that patrolling for phones is more time-consuming than any other responsibility (including answering questions). With a cell phone stowed in a pocket, a student can use the bathroom, get a question answered via texting or the Web, and return to the exam undetected.

There's also an issue of respect. I haven't been totally innocent myself during long meetings or presentations, but texting is a statement that you don't care what your presenter is saying. So when I realized that texting showed such disrespect, I stopped. That students exploit a teacher's unwillingness to examine phone "safe zones" as mentioned above shows a willingness to take advantage of the difficult situation that educators find themselves in. One professor at Syracuse University has a solution, however. He is so offended by texting that the first time he sees a student doing so, he immediately ends class and leaves. It doesn't matter if there are hundreds of students in the room. Angry phone calls from parents have not discouraged him.

It's always the job of an educator to control his or her classroom environment, but why should teachers forfeit so much time and effort that could be spent on instruction, enrichment, and remediation? A confiscated phone means more than the interruption of class. It involves filling out a detailed referral, making a phone call to the student's parents, and often consulting with the assistant principal.

The Seeming Indignation of Parents

The outrage doesn't stop with teachers and students. Survey some of the forums where the topic is discussed and you'll learn that parents are flabbergasted that their children can have a cell phone confiscated. One parent even expressed a willingness to happily spend money to sue the school if his or her child had any personal object confiscated. Often, students return after a confiscation with their cell phones back in class - and they immediately return to texting. One student, who had her cell phone confiscated for a longer duration, just told her parents to buy her a new phone. Amazingly, they did.

Some parents have gotten on-board by limiting their children's text messages and outgoing calls to all but a few select numbers during school hours. But more use the technology themselves, texting their children during the day and placing phone calls to them while they are in class. More than a few times, a student will raise his or her hand and ask to be momentarily excused because a parent is calling. Gone are the days when students are called to the main office to take a call, which, in my experience, happened much less frequently.

This technology can be a wonderful communication tool, but there has to be an establishment of etiquette that is both modeled and enforced by parents. If parents show so little respect for teachers by texting and calling students during class time, what do we really expect students to learn by their actions?

Related Readings (please note that hyperlinks will not work until future blogs are posted):

Part 1 – The Texting Time Bomb: A Year Later (Part 1)

Part 2 – Hell Hath No Fury Like A Cell Phone Confiscated (Texting Time Bomb: Part 2)

Part 3 – Why Cell Phones Make Educators Grumpy (Texting Time Bomb: Part 3)

Part 4 – From Where I Sit – This Teacher's Take (Texting Time Bomb: Part 4)

Resources:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/02/texting

As a teacher, I rant about "entitlement culture" all of the time. Nothing can be more irritating than a person who feels that he or she is owed something for nothing. This is not an unabashed swipe at teens, either. While I tend to focus on them because they're in my sphere of influence, I see the entitlement ideology everywhere, unfortunately.

Perhaps this is the root of the reaction. If you want a sure-fire way to move a student from calm to explosive, ask one to hand over his or her cell phone. Sadly, the reactions I've witnessed don't vary all that much. My colleagues report the same predictable behavior among their own students.

Bordering and perhaps surpassing the threshold of obsession, some students see their cell phones as much of a necessity as the air we breathe. To deny students access to this vital resource is (at least in their minds) akin to physical or mental abuse.

I wish I was sensationalizing this, but don't think I am. These attitudes and behavior aren't the case for all students, of course; however, more and more educators report that students, when asked to put phones away, pull them back out again within minutes. Student cell phones may be furtively hidden beneath desks, behind purses, or in the pockets of hoodie sweatshirts. One student even threatened to attack a substitute teacher if she didn't give him back his phone. And I work in a district that is usually tied for dead-last in our region for frequency of violent behavior in school. This isn't exactly an environment that encourages violence and threats.

Student Culture or Dangerous Obsession?
I won't pretend to understand how the adolescent mind works anymore. I am too far removed. And I admit to taking part in more than my share of note-passing during math class. So why do today's students become so enraged when a phone is confiscated, even if it's just for the remainder of a class? This isn't just about personal property. Confiscating a baseball cap and releasing a tidal wave of hat-head compressed hair may seem like a large embarrassment, but it nets only a fraction of the outrage.

In my opinion, this aspect of student culture speaks to a growing obsession for instant contact with friends and family that is unhealthy. Without constant electronic stimulation, students seem to grow agitated. They'll check their cell phones constantly to see if they've missed incoming messages. And with the development of the Blackberry and iPhone, which allows access to the Web, e-mail, instant messenger, and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, those students who can afford them are now sitting at a desk with a computer and tuning out the rest of the room.

Ten years ago, studies showed that students could handle about 7 minutes of a video clip before "zoning out". But turn on a video clip nowadays, and see how long it takes before heads quickly look downward for cell-phone communication. Is this a scenario where a student could, as he or she might say, "quit if I want to, but I just don't want to"? Or has growing-up on instant access to communication and information become such a part of the norm that being without it causes anxiety and stress? Is there yet another addiction to be chronicled? Does it belong in DSM-V, due out in bookstores in May 2012?

Related Readings (please note that hyperlinks will not work until future blogs are posted):

Part 1 – The Texting Time Bomb: A Year Later (Part 1)

Part 2 – Hell Hath No Fury Like A Cell Phone Confiscated (Texting Time Bomb: Part 2)

Part 3 – Why Cell Phones Make Educators Grumpy (Texting Time Bomb: Part 3)

Part 4 – From Where I Sit – This Teacher's Take (Texting Time Bomb: Part 4)

Resources:

http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2007/04/23/texting-during-class-can-b-distracting-4-u/

http://cbs5.com/technology/texting.while.driving.2.1103836.html

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kuehl-manslaughter-prosecutors-2364107-crosswalk-driving

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32208299

During the summer of 2008, my first CR4 blog entries examined how text messaging was beginning to surpass e-mail as the premier communication technology among teens and young adults. In the year that's passed, whether it was because I was paying closer attention or because of technological proliferation, a dramatic increase in texting is evident everywhere. For me, this is most disconcerting in two places: the classroom and the car.

But there's an even more disturbing trend among almost all of the teens I come into contact with. Confiscate their phones and prepare for their wrath! But why do they become so angry about losing their phones for an hour? Join me in this multi-part series that will investigate the culture, trends, and obsession with teens and texting.

By The Numbers

Last spring, my building conducted a survey to gain a better understanding of cell phone use and text messaging during the school day. Students, being more aware than they were given credit for, saw right through the "fact finding" purpose of the survey. Honesty would result in tougher restrictions. My homeroom laughed while completing this exercise. Some students even refused to answer any of the survey's questions. They knew what would happen if they were honest, and said so off the record.

Teachers were also given a survey. Personally, I was shocked to learn that a whopping 20% of my fellow educators opposed a cell phone ban at the school. This suggested that students weren't the only ones with a digital addiction. Although some students did characterize their classmates' obsession with texting as annoying and distracting, recent polls by Fresno State University paint a broader picture in more concrete and measurable terms.

According to Fresno State University, around 70 % of respondents admitted texting during class, while 89% said that they used their cell phones for messaging on a regular basis. More disturbing was the MySpace poll of high school students by Dr. Tamyra Pierce, a Fresno State associate professor of mass communication and journalism.

Dr. Pierce's study revealed that just fewer than 50% of responding high schoolers text, and that 10% admitted to texting during exams. Furthermore, 64% of those polled informally (just fewer than 2 out of 3) admit that texting affects their attention span and distracts them from the material presented during lectures. Although some students say that they use texting to stay awake in boring classes (thus allowing them to hear at least some of the material), others who don't text claim that the constant vibrating of phones and clicking of buttons is distracting.

Dangers Behind the Wheel

Beyond the classroom, the hazards of texting continue to be mind-boggling. Recently, a girl fell down a open manhole while texting as she wasn't watching the road in front of her feet. And for the average driver, texting or messaging while driving increases the likelihood of an accident by a staggering 2300%! Furthermore, the time spent looking at the cell phone was often long enough to take a driver's eyes off the road long enough to travel the length of a football field.

Since teens are the most inexperienced drivers behind the wheel and the most likely to send text messages, organizations such as The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute are calling for bans on any cell phone use by newly licensed drivers. But would that be enough?

Related Readings (please note that hyperlinks will not work until future blogs are posted):

Part 1 – The Texting Time Bomb: A Year Later (Part 1)

Part 2 – Hell Hath No Fury Like A Cell Phone Confiscated (Texting Time Bomb: Part 2)

Part 3 – Why Cell Phones Make Educators Grumpy (Texting Time Bomb: Part 3)

Part 4 – From Where I Sit – This Teacher's Take (Texting Time Bomb: Part 4)

Resources:

http://wcbstv.com/local/texting.manhole.raw.2.1081403.html

http://cbs5.com/technology/texting.while.driving.2.1103836.html

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kuehl-manslaughter-prosecutors-2364107-crosswalk-driving

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32208299

ePals wasn't to my liking, so I asked my school's tech coordinator for other options. He suggested a low-cost alternative that allowed personalization of student blogs in a closed environment. I was interested enough to look further. This was how I started working with 21Classes.com

Simple Design, Moderate Cost

21Classes.com allows educators to create a blogging environment which they control with a homepage known as a "portal". Each student who creates an account (verified by the teacher, of course) becomes part of the class blog.

When a student posts, a snippet of the blog displays on the portal page for all portal members to see. Clicking on the title takes the surfer to the author's blog and the full entry. Students can subscribe to each other's blogs to follow their favorite student authors, and can even leave comments and ratings of 0 to 3 stars. Comment and blog moderation is also an option, so teachers can choose to approve any post prior to publication.

Unfortunately, 21Classes.com isn't as consumer-friendly as it used to be. Educators could sign up for a free account and get 50 free student accounts. That was good enough to get me through most courses that I taught, and it allowed me to create a different account for each course. If you needed to go above 50 accounts, then there was an $8.95 monthly fee. Bulk pricing allowed up to 100 teacher accounts, but was somewhat pricey ($200 per/month – granted, only $2 per teacher account). I was allowed one paid account for a course with three sections (and 85 students), and the use of free accounts for my remaining classes.

After the recession hit, 21Classes.com gave teachers only10 free accounts instead of 50.. This mandates that you either have multiple accounts for each class, or move to a paid subscription. I don't blame 21Classes for going in this direction, but the site isn't as good a bargain as it used to be. My school paid $90 a year for my one course, and I was able to run free accounts for four other courses. Ultimately, this limitation may force me to look to EduBlogs for their free service while keeping my paid account with 21Classes.

EduBlogs – A Division of WordPress

Another option is EduBlogs, which seems to have a cleaner design than 21Classes. EduBlogs has many of the same features that WordPress offers its regular users, but is in a controlled environment. It isn't quite as user-friendly as 21Classes.com, but does have some advantages.

EduBlogs allows text editing, video posts, and advanced formatting far beyond the simple style used by 21Classes. There's also a free version of the site, although it's limited to only the most basic functions, albeit with no limitation on student accounts.

There is a complex upgrade package that allows educators to dial their way up from free usage to using the site for a small fee that decreases based on length of sign-up. The upgrade costs $6.95 on a month-to-month basis, or $3.33 per month with a 12-month term. There is also an offering called EduBlog Campus which, while pricey, allows a district to offer it to an increasing number of teachers. The smallest plan, which offers all the bells and whistles of the upgraded package for up to 100 teacher accounts, comes with a $900/year price tag. If a school district has 100 teachers looking to use a common blog experience (allowing students to have a common platform – once they learn how to post, they know it for all classes), EduBlog Campus is a bargain. For larger districts, unlimited teacher account packages with all sorts of support enhancements will set the district back $6500/year. Keep in mind, however, that this seems to be the Cadillac Escalade of teacher blogs.

In conclusion, my best advice is to start free and figure out what your needs are. From there, you can pick which platform best fits your style and approach. Be sure to use your tech coordinator, too. And use your colleagues as resources. There is no sense trying something that several other people have found difficult to use or that students have struggled with in the past.

Related Readings (please note that hyperlinks will not work until future blogs are posted):

Part 1 – Student Blogging Communities - Blogging About Blogging? (Part 1)

Part 2 – Student Blogging Communities - Free Opportunities Are Out There (Part 2)

Part 3 – Student Blogging Communities - Pay to Play (Part 3)

Resources:

http://21publishblog.21publish.com/

http://edublogs.org/campus/

http://edublogs.org/campus/licences/

http://pmody.edublogs.org/