If there is one thing that the mobile-computing era has made clear, it’s that kids love touch screens. Because those touch screens — smartphones, iPads, Kindles and the like — are an inevitable added distraction to the classroom, schools across the country are struggling to deal with the growing prevalence of the technology.
But a growing number of schools are embracing these hand-held, Internet-ready devices by creating policies that put them to use in the classroom.
For three years, Oyster River Middle School in Durham, N.H., has been letting students use their touch-screen devices in class. The kids learn how to make presentations on iPads, how to keep track of their homework on a smartphone, and what they should and shouldn’t post on social media sites. The devices can be their planners, agenda books, and pocket reference libraries all day long.
via Some Schools Actually Want Students To Play With Their Smartphones In Class.