Texting and schooling: they don't quite seem to work
together. But, schools are showing us more each day,
they do.
We often tend to think of texting as a plague to education,
and maybe it has been, distracting leagues of students
studying at home and even students who find their focus
wavering in the classroom. But schools are turning the
tables, embracing the medium in a number of ways to
improve the students' experience at school. Could texting
become a boon, not a bane, to education?
One way schools are applying texting technology is
by placing it at the center of their emergency response
protocol. Many schools establish emergency alert systems
capable of sending a text message to the entire student
body in the event of an emergency. And while the testing
of emergency texting systems may be a slight nuisance
bemoaned by many a college student, the power of text
messaging to instantly spread vital information to keep
students safe is a significant advantage to campuses.
This technology has spread into many facets of college
life. Not only can mass texting capabilities help ensure
students' safety, but they are increasingly used by
departments and organizations within schools to communicate
with their members. These sorts of mass texts keep students
connected and ensure that students stay tuned in to
relevant news and reminded of upcoming events.
Some high schools have also begun to employ mass text
platforms. This use of texting not only allows schools
to ensure students receive important information about
policies, deadlines, fees, events, and any other news,
but is also a fast, effective, and direct gateway to
students' parents. Important school-wide information
as well as individual notes on students, like absenteeism;
code violations; or outstanding fees, can be sent conveniently
and directly to parents in an instant.
Texting is even being used to benefit students in,
yes, the classroom. Some professors have begun implementing
applications such as TopHat that allow students to text
in answers to questions the professor poses. This can
be a clever way to put students' devices to productive
use, making cell phones a tool that engage students
further in class rather than distracting them from it.
One especially important rising new use of texting
in educational settings is that to support high school
students considering attending college. Underfunded
high schools, generally in largely low-income areas,
often have poor college guidance programs, if any at
all, that fall short of offering students strong and
consistent guidance throughout the college search, application,
and enrollment process. Additionally, students in rural
areas may have heightened difficulty accessing any college
preparation programs and resources outside their own
high school, an institution already pinched by rigid
scheduling restraints. With cell phone access and texting
use prevalent even among low-income youth and in rural
areas, developers have begun to tap texting as a resource
to help students in such schools who may want to attend
college.
One such program in West Virginia, called Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs,
or "West Virginia GEAR UP," is the product of University
of Virginia professor Ben Castleman. GEAR UP allows
colleges to text students using numbers provided on
college applications, offering them critical information
as well as the opportunity to text back questions or
request counseling appointments, regardless of location
or access to other college preparation resources.
GEAR UP uses text messaging as a medium for communication
because it is direct, fast, convenient, and allows schools
to communicate with most students even where communication
or close guidance may be difficult to achieve. Aiming
in particular to increase matriculation to colleges
and college retention rates, this new use of texting
holds significant educational promise for youth and
especially low-income students, who are so often denied
resources for success.
In addition to preparing high school students for college
throughout school, texting is also being used to help
students with this process in those critical months
in between high school and college. During this time,
students tend to mistakenly believe their work in the
college process is done, a phenomenon called "summer
melt" in which students often forget crucial paperwork
and payments. To address this problem, Boston non-profit
uApire has begun to connect pre-college students to
college mentors after senior year ends and high school
mentorship programs have come to a close. uApire's summer
program is a continuation of college process mentorship
the non-profit offers in schools during the year, and
texting allows their mentors a definite and reliable
mode of communication with students that is convenient,
direct, and quick even when school is out.
Maybe not everyone's convinced that texting is the
latest tool in crafting successful educational experiences;
after all, phones remain a distraction no matter what
good we use them for, and many complain that the ubiquity
of texting hurts students' social lives and even grammar.
But it's certain that schools are embracing texting
to their benefit more and more, and the changes they're
making are more than welcome.
About the Author -
Sharon Housley is the VP of Marketing for NotePage,
Inc. a software company for communication software solutions.
http://www.notepage.net
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