Kids get smarter with smartphones?
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Here we go again. The Yes-or-No-to-handphones-in-classroom debate 
Pay Attention
Great video which I missed all the while.
One key point here is the use of mobile phones in schools.
Well, it is always controversial, especially in primary and secondary schools. I must admit I am apprehensive of this idea too.
Questions like ‘What if kids steal phones?’, ‘What if kids use them just for casual SMSing during lessons?’, or ‘What if kids developed a mobile phone race for the trendiest model?’ often pop up from teachers’ mind.
I believe these questions are valid, since school teachers are always concerned of classroom management and discipline of pupils. I would not say teachers who expressed concerns are ‘refusing to enter the digital age with their teaching practices’. There are just too many issues needed to be addressed before mobile phones can be brought into classrooms, hence most teachers are as apprehensive as I am.
Singapore being a ‘SMS Nation’, schools should be tapping on mobile phone technology in teaching. In fact I have seen and heard the use mobile phones in teaching, but mostly only during Infocomm competitions and sharing sessions of pilot projects.
I certainly look forward to more positive developments in mobile phone technology in education in the near future.
SMS Nation
TEENAGERS here are not surprised at the trends shown by the Sulake survey but some admit that the preferences for SMS and virtual communication can be unhealthy.
The global survey – which polled 58,486 youths aged between 11 and 18, in 31 countries worldwide – revealed that fewer Singapore teenagers prefer face-to-face communication with their friends compared with their counterparts in the rest of the world. Instead, more of them like to “talk” to their friends through SMS or instant messaging…
Ironically most government schools in Singapore ban pupils from using handphones in school. Are schools missing out a valuable learning tool? Or, are schools doing the right thing since ‘preferences for SMS and virtual communication can be unhealthy’?
