Addicted to Social Media?

In the NCTE Inbox article Are Today's Students Addicted to Social Media? it discusses how 200 undergrad students at the University of Maryland were asked to go 24 hours without any type of electronic device; this included their cell phones, tv, mp3 players, and laptops. Students were shown to have a tough time dealing with their separation and experienced "phantom ringing", which is when a student hears or feels their cell phone ringing even though it is not with them. Are students addicted to social media? What are the positives of this study?

As the article states, UMD wanted students to become more thoughtful about the news that is around them. Instead, they are so engulfed in technology, they are not stopping and opening their eyes and ears about the news. By taking away technology, students were seen to have struggling with their separation. Many did not know what to do and one student even stated that they took at dramamine to fall asleep and "put me out of my misery".

Personally, I do believe students are addicted to social media. Just sitting in a class day to day I see students constantly clicking on their phones. Am I guilty of this? Yes. But it is part of our culture today. I do agree we need to take a step back and calm down our technology obsession, but it also is a way to keep us connected with people, the news, and other things.

Carter, D. (2010). Are today's students addicted to social media?. Retrieved from http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/are-todays-students-addicted-to-social-media/

Teaching by Texting?

In the NCTE Inbox article that I found, it was talking about how teachers are using texting as a teaching tool. In majority of the schools, cell phone use is banned and many students are to keep them in their lockers or put away throughout the day. However, a study was done through using poetry and texting. An exam was then given to students and the result was: those who texted averaged 80% on the exam, while those who didn't averaged 40%. Does this mean that texting should be allowed in the classroom? Is it beneficial to student learning or hindering it?

Personally, I believe that using texting in the classroom is not a useful tool to use. As one student was quoted in the article, "Usually kids don't like to read. But you read in text messages". This proves a great point that when students text, they are using "text" language. They are not using proper English, spelling, and grammar to express their ideas. I also think that using cell phones in the classroom can become extremely distracting. By having them available, students have the ability to use them at inappropriate times and it can hinder their learning and development in all subject areas, not just English.

Schwartz, K. (2010). Teaching by texting starts to take hold. Retrieved from http://www.aolnews.com/tech/article/teaching-by-texting-starts-to-take-hold/19459259