Cell Phones in Clear View

Sitting in the back of classrooms over the last 2 years, I've watched countless students text and play games while teachers drone on about some topic or another. Most striking to me last spring was watching four students, who had been doing something on their phones, quickly put them aside when the teacher turned to grading tests using clicker technology, which immediately created a bar graph showing the percentage breakdown of selected answers on their multiple choice exam. Everyone was engaged, talking, debating, questioning. The energy level went from flat to electric. That was clearly the power of technology to enhance learning and to engage students using a method they found compelling. Their cell phones offer the same opportunity. The question is really what types of technology best push learning forward. If you can integrate their phones, which are pivotal part of their existence, into classroom learning, you can begin to open their minds to the fact that your subject is relevant outside school.