Texting

Karen Kelly The Neilsen Company reported that in the second quarter of 2010, teens sent an average of 3,339 texts a month. It is no surprise that texting has become the number 1 reason why teens want cell phones. Texting has become a way of life for our students—most of them would prefer to text someone rather than actually talk to them. Teens said texting was easier and faster than making a voice call. Since teens enjoy texting so much, why not show them ways in which they can use texting to benefit them in an educational or professional setting? How about letting students text in class to communicate with the teacher and the rest of the class?

In her book, Cell Phones in the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Educators, Liz Kolb cites two studies to support texting in school. The first study was through the University of Cape Town and it was there that researchers concluded that the anonymity of messaging lead to greater participation in learning environments and in turn helped to create greater knowledge growth (p.104). The second study was conducted at Coventry University in 2010. Researchers there claimed that students could gain phonological awareness via text messaging. Their findings showed that student spelling had improved as a result of this increased awareness. 

If you are ready to start text messaging in your classroom or wanting to learn more about how teachers are using texting in class, take a look at 'Texting in the Classroom' and 'Texting: Home/School Connection'.

Preparing your Classroom for Cell Phone
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