Blog Post 2: Handheld Devices

Karen  Bromley is an educator who is using technology to enhance her own personal knowledge  as well as designing new classroom procedures for expanding education.  In her article she discussed the educational and well as personal knowledge that can be achieved by using a smart phone as an educational tool.  She was reading the book Kakapo’s Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery. The book was fascinating and left her wanting more information.  She picked up her cell phone and started researching the topic. As she was researching, she realized that by using a smartphone, she was able to meet and fulfil common core state standard requirements and that she could have her students complete this same task when reading.  Three of the standards that are met through the use of a smart phone are increase vocabulary knowledge, increase comprehension and identify skills using technology and media.  The ability to increase vocabulary was accomplished by using the smart phone to look up words that were not located in the glossary of the book.  There were some words that Karen did not know the meanings, but by using online dictionaries, she was able to locate the correct usage and meanings that correlated with the story.  She was also able to increase her comprehension as she located the meanings of the terms in the book which led to a more complete understanding of the text in the book. Karen was able to interpret what the author was conveying to the audience and she found definitions and examples to help clarify her questions. She was able to use different websites to locate information and she had to evaluate the materials found just like she had taught her students to do when they are researching topics in the internet.  Karen was able to take her experience using her smartphone and turn it into a positive experience as she processed the steps that she could teach her students to use to further enhance their reading skills in the classroom.

I would use smartphones in the library as an extra way for students to research informational topics.  What a great idea to have the students bring their smartphones to school and have them use them to search for relevant websites for their research topics.  My school district has a no cell phone policy in elementary schools, however with permission they are allowed to bring them to school, or have them out of their backpacks.  This could work out as an incentive program that they would be able to bring their cell phones to the library for “research”.  I would also like to set up some QR codes that have book reviews that students could scan using their devices and read or watch a review.  We have eBooks and audiobooks in our library, so I am already working with the teachers and my principal to adapt our handheld device policy so that they can listen to or read books on their personal devices at school as well as at home.

References

Bromley, K. (2012). Using smartphones to supplement classroom reading. Reading Teacher, 66(4), 340-344. doi:10.1002/TRTR.01130