No offense Regina...but I really like going to Roller Doll matches to watch the textthemob screen. Its great! The premise is the the audience can text messages that appear on a huge screen in the arena. Most nights some unsuspecting dude stands in front of the screen while people send messages about him.
I walked into first block on Monday -- 7:15 AM.
"Everyone take out your cell phones or go sit by someone who has one"
Odd glances went across the room as they TIMIDLY pulled out their devices that were previously banned!
"Tell me what you know about the Design Cycle"
I had them post their thoughts by texting them to the specified address.
It was a great success! I had students who are typically quiet respond to the question. While I only had three responses. They really enjoyed it!
I can see that if they had a couple of more times to practice more people would have been more successful, they would have been quicker and I believe they would start responding to one another!
They were really engaged .... I can see this as a great opportunity for secondary teachers!
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I totally agree, Tonia. I'm planning on using textthemob next term. Since we do so much group work, the chances of at least one student in each group having a phone will be pretty high, I think.
Of course, I wonder how many of them will "forget" their phones at home once we start using their own technology "against" them! ;)
Tonia,
I used textthemob.com in a presentation I gave at a conference last week. I created a math quiz in advanced and passed it out to the audience members. Each question had its own text number so the data were collected separately. Here is how it worked: No one, not one single adult attending this education conference responded. Zip, zilch, zero. I was shocked. A couple people spoke to me afterwards and said stuff like, I just don't text. I don't know how. I wonder if that is how our students feel when we ask them to write in pencil on lined paper about an unrealistic activity like a favorite camping trip. Students do text. Students would love for their teachers to make an effort. So, I applaud you and Todd for trying this out.
There are drawbacks, but they just might be worth it to attract more members to our tribe of student believers.
I'm with Todd. I'm looking to incorporate textthemob next term. Thanks for sharing, Tonia!
This site looks sweet too: http://www.polleverywhere.com/
I have found one issue with texthemob. Kids who have Cricket phones can't directly text the access number... they have to access the website first before they can send a vote. :p
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