Welcome!

Welcome to the Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Schools learning blog. The purpose of this blog is to discuss various methods cell phones can be used as learning tools in the classroom. Of course in discussing how cell phones can be used as learning tools, we must also consider how cell phones can impede or infringe on student's learning. While I believe there are many articles and media reports concerning the negative aspects of cell phones in schools, I wanted to focus on some ways to utilize cell phones in schools. Since students are so engaged in using their cell phones outside of school for text messaging, taking pictures, recording movies, and talking, I believe there is a lot of potential for developing engaging classroom learning activities. This blog is dedicated to experimenting and uncovering some of those activities. The good, the bad, and the ugly! I wrote an article for ISTE's Learning and Leading with Technology (November 2006, From Toy to Tool) on ways to use cell phones as "audioblogging" tools for classroom learning. I would like to expand on and supplement that article in this blog with many more ideas on cell phones in the classroom.