Can you hear me now? Not if you're over 30.
I love it when a technology gets turned on its head, but this one could cause some serious consternation among educational professionals. Some students apparently have started downloading a ringtone to their cell phones that is of such a high frequency that adult ears don't pick it up. Thus, if kids have this ringtone on their phones, teachers will never hear the constant beeping as they text message each other with the answers to that math quiz.It's a simple byproduct of aging - as we get older, we lose the ability to pick up on high-frequency sounds.
The ironic thing? The ringtone is a spin-off of a technology designed to drive off teenagers loitering in front of shops without bothering the older, more genteel shopping clientele.
[Check out the New York Times for more.]
posted by Tom Ulrich at 9:59 PM
3 Comments:
What will they think of next? I think this device is quite humorous. I see a pretty easy fix as a future educator...ban cell phones in the classroom. Students can bring them to school, but leave them in their lockers--especially on test day. There is no good reason why a student needs a cell phone in the classroom anyway. They can't talk on it during class. They can't text message during class. So, what's the point? As educators, we must draw the line somewhere, so I say NO to cell phones in my classroom!
I don't know if I would ban cell phones completely. Do teachers leave their phones at home? What if there was an emergency? I know you would say, the parents should call the office. But what if the student got sick, really ill, and there emergency contact and their parents couldn't be contacted. Their cell could be valuable. What if their cell is the only calculator they had? There are reasons to keep the phone. Here is my solution, use vibrate, not loud as ringing option.
Leah,
I don't have a problem if students bring their cell phones to school, but not to class. They can leave them in their locker. If a student is really ill and nobody can be reached, the school as access to open the student's locker. It is highly unlikely for that situation to occur. As for the calculator--they really need to get a proper calculator. My school required a specific type of calculator for every student, so I can't agree with you on that.
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