De Bono's Hats and Mobile Phones Wiki

Colour Hat Names of students adding ideas The colour perspective Your ideas, research, perspectives and arguments

Judgement:

What is wrong with this?
Why will this not work?
Is this safe?
Can this be done?

Question 1: Who will be paying for the phone usage and who will be maintaining and inspecting the use of the phones for educational purposes rather than personal use?
The screens are too small to work on and very hard to attract high order thinking. What happens if some are not charged? Also, mobile ringtones going off every 5 sec.

There are issues surrounding the privacy and security of the information held on the mobile phones which can be posted onto blogs.
There is “fear of distraction in class, cheating, inappropriate video recording of students and teachers, and the publication of captured material on sites like YouTube.” (Hartnell-Young and Heym, 2009).

Question 2: Teachers have little resources to control the content that can be filmed in the classroom, unless the teacher checks each phone before they leave the class which is time consuming.

Question 3: No, there are serious concerns surrounding privacy and security issues, someone in the class could post videos on YouTube. Privacy of content is a serious concern. Learners can engage with cyber-bulling within the classroom.

Question 4: I believe there is a way to advocate positive learning environments with the use of mobile phones in the classroom.
“If mobile phones are to be used in schools, certain issues must be addressed, including leadership and school culture; the attitudes of teachers, students and other influential parties; appropriate curriculum activities; professional development; technical integration and support; and a new approach to mobile phone policies.” (Hartwell-Young & Heym, 2009). Parents have to be involved as well for the success of mobile phones in the classroom.


The Process:

Where are we now?
What is the next step?
Where have we been?
What sort of thinking is needed?

Question 1: We are at the stage where we are introducing the mobile phone into the classroom little by little to acknowledge the phone as an educational tool rather than a social tool.

Question 2: As teachers we understand that our learners are apart of digital world and we must engage and recognise their needs for ICT and the mobile phone is just another tool to enhance their learning environment. Using mobile phones on a regular basis as educational tools during set tasks will definitely be the next step for teachers and schools.

Question 3: Exploring the benefits and negatives surrounding the ideas of using mobile phones in an educational context within the classroom. Teachers are realising the importance of technology and ICT and how phones have the capacity to improve and ignite learning.

Question 4: Way the pros and cons of mobile phones in the classroom. Way up the educational value that the mobile phones will create during set tasks. We need to have a clear and open mind and seek support from school members, staff and parents.

Creativity:

What new ideas are possible with this?
What is my suggestion for success?
Can I create something new?

Question 1: Mobile phones could be the start of more developed interaction and communication between teachers and students. Reminding students of important deadlines. Give learners a sense of autonomy and self-independence for their own learning.
However, teachers need for students to take on their own responsibilities because in the real-world no one is going to be reminding you every second of the day on what they should be doing.

Allowing students to access information freely and instantly within the classroom and providing a tool that helps them to proof read their work and engage with other ICT. It is a wonderful portable device.

It would be a powerful tool for cutting down time for instance, from drawing images to taking a photo and providing more time for evaluation and analytical processes to transpire.

Question 2: Only have mobile phones in the classroom purely for educational purposes and supervise the content on mobile phones closely. Create activities and tasks that engage the learners, so they want to participate in an educational manner. Use collaborative design to let learners discuss and evaluate their ideas.

Question 3: I can create a new way of assessing learners work and enabling them to use ICT tools such as spreadsheets, GPS, stopwatch, pdf files and capture still and moving images.

Feelings:

How do I feel about this?
What do I like about the idea?
What don't I like about
the idea?

Question 1: Firstly I felt extremely against the idea of mobile phones in the classroom because I believed they were disruptive and were crossing the fine line of the privacy realm for teachers and all students in the classroom.

Question 2: The opportunity to record certain data like science experiments and now I feel a mobile phone has the capacity to involve students in a range of tasks and can apply to certain stages of the learning process. Right from finding the facts to evaluating them.

Question 3: I can see the point of having spontaneity with the use of the phones and being able to record still or moving images in science projects but other ICT’s like, a digital camera, can do the same thing. I believed that it will take a while before students see mobile phones as an educational tool rather than a personal communication device. Texting in class could be an issue as well, not concentrating on the task at hand. How can teachers effectively assess the activity or task?


Benefits:

What are the good points?
Why can this be successful?
Why is this a good thing?

Question 1: Being able to use mobile phones for spreadsheets, GPS, stopwatch, pdf files and capture still and moving images.

Question 2: If there are strict guidelines on the use of mobile phones in the classroom then there can be reason for action and success within the development of learners and their learning.

Question 3: Involve and engage your learners and give them access to real-life situations and prepare them for the workforce and how they can use mobile phones as not only a social network but as an educational and business orientation.

Information:

What information do I have?
What are the facts?
What information do I need?
What do I want to KNOW?

Question 1: I have read the statistics and relevant readings on the topic of mobile phones in the classroom which have enabled me to evaluate, analyse and reflect on this issue.

Question 2: The facts are leading towards gradually introducing mobile phones in the classroom. There is reason to consider using mobile phones in the classroom.

Question 3: Empirical evidence is still insufficient and there needs to be more study done in this debate on whether mobile phones should be introduced into classrooms. It is a trial and error procedure and through one study there was a finding that older students were more open to using their mobile phones for educational purposes but younger students needed more encouragement.

Question 4: How teachers and schools are going to be able to control the data that enters the phones without breaching privacy laws and creating situations such as cyber bulling?
What activities and tasks can be performed on a mobile phone and how it will serve our learners success in their learning outcomes?