קטגוריה: סלולארי

The panic about texting and its effects on language is totally misplaced.

It adds a new dimension, enriches language, gives you a new option.

People have always used abbreviations. … They do not actually use that many in texts but when they do they are using them in new, playful and imaginative ways that benefit literacy.

My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it’s a gr8 plc.

תרגום, עבור מי שזקוק, נמצא במאמרון של פרידמן.

given that the real audience for such a mundane piece of work would probably be her friends, writing it in texting language seems to me to be completely appropriate from that point of view. Where she “failed” was in not recognising that, in order to demonstrate her writing ability to her teacher, she needed to use a form of expression that her teacher would understand.

Just came from my first period English 10 class, and in the spirit of the instantaneous pouring forth of thoughts favored by the modern world, I thought I’d share something. On many Fridays, for our warm up, I give the class what I call a poetry song. Today the song was Vertical Horizon’s “Everything You Want,” which I like to use because its ambiguity usually sparks some discussion. Today the class stared at the lyrics mystified for a long time. Nothing. I finally asked, what sort of song is this – is it about politics? Relationships? Sports? A couple of brave souls ventured guesses: yes, it’s about a relationship. Maybe it’s about God. A brief discussion, then more silence. I asked, How could we figure this out? Their answer: Google. Meanwhile, I had a Macbeth assignment for them to work on, so I said, Maybe we can google this later in the class.

And then, from the back of the room came the voice of Steve saying, “I already have.”

Steve had fired up his iPhone or equivalent and searched for the song. He said he only found a couple of comments, and they just seemed to be someone’s opinion, not a definitive answer (such as, say, the band itself revealing what they really meant).

On the way back to the English office, several thoughts populated my mind:

Good thing I didn’t see Steve fiddling with his phone and take it away before he could contribute to class.

Millions of adults are unable to spell basic everyday words, a study suggests.

Of 2,500 surveyed, 40 per cent could not spell “questionnaire”, 38 per cent were stumped by “accommodate” and 37 per cent were defeated by “definitely”.

Two-thirds blamed their inability to get words right on the predictive text function on their mobile phones.

The 20 simple words Brits are unable to spell because we are all text mad

This video is the best argument I have ever seen against the schools that forbid students to have digital devices with them in class, because the school thinks the kids will cheat.

Disciplining kids is an age-old problem. The mobile in their pockets today is a brand new and awesome opportunity to put them in touch with knowledge.

I’m sure we are not going insane, but some would probably disagree. Carla and I tried something new and, well a little bit rebellious today. We invited the grade 8/9 ELA class/students to bring their cell phones into class (if they didn’t have one we used mysask for text). Our goal, using cell phones for learning. Our objectives, appropriate use of cell phones (manners and ethics), using the calendar/scheduling, using text to discuss literature (lit circles), tracking progress and assignments/projects, and engaging the new learner. Guess what, it worked like a charm and the kids are peeing themselves with enthusiasm. Welcome to Web 2.0!!!! I needed to share.

As Carla and Gord pointed out, the cellphone novelty will soon pass, the engagement was with the ideas and sharing. Students were not really dazzled by their phones, they simply used them to share ideas, pictures, sounds and videos. The real engagement was with each other and the story. The cellphones were almost seamless.

Technology has parents and teenagers talking

Sitting round the table together for a meal was once the bedrock of family life. It is now becoming a thing of the past but Woolfson stressed that was not the end of the world.

“Now we have today’s high-tech family where family communication takes place by email, internet, webcam and mobile phone as well as face-to-face of course,” he said.

a study of how family communication has evolved

was an unscientific survey of around 1000 people. It was done solely for PR purposes and attracted a lot of publicity

attested to the exasperation of countless teachers and professors in the computer era. Their perpetual war of attrition with defiantly inattentive students has escalated from the quaint pursuits of pigtail-pulling, spitball-lobbing and notebook-doodling to a high-tech arsenal of laptops, cellphones, BlackBerries and the like.

The poor schoolmarm or master, required to provide a certain amount of value for your child’s entertainment dollar, now must compete with texting, instant-messaging, Facebook, eBay, YouTube, Addictinggames.com and other poxes on pedagogy.

The baby boomers seem to see technology as information and communication. Their offspring and the emerging generation seem to see the same devices as entertainment and socializing.

After months of outrage over a ban on cell phones in the nation’s largest school system, officials are now signaling that there may be room for compromise.

They are exploring whether to install special lockers outside schools to store the devices, a development that delayed recent court arguments on the ban.

I already have teachers using cell phones to call parents and or have students call parents regarding homework of forgotten band instruments. (This in a school where we have only 3 outside lines and none of them available from a teacher’s classroom…) I think it is only a short time before my teachers realize that by using some pretty unobtrusive (email to SMS gateways…) tools they will be able to connect with their students/families to remind them of assignments or inform them of events related to class work. I must say I’m very proud of my staff. They embrace the change because many are parents themselves, and they see the benefit of this type of communication. Of course there will be issues and concerns, but there are with just about anything. Teach responsible use and deal with those that are irresponsible just as you would do with any other rule or procedural violation. I’m also proud of my students. To date we have not had any issues with inappropriate mobile phone use.