PLN 11-2 (22)

An interesting post that caught my eye is called Pocket Texting and Open Phone Tests by Will Richardson which reveals a story of a 14-year old boy who uses his available technology to help him get answers for school like his cell phone and his computer. The 14 year old boys name is Insoo and he is able to send texts without taking his phone out of his pocket. “

Insoo doesn’t even have to take the phone out of his pocket to send an SMS. He
knows how to slide it open, which buttons to push how many times to reach the
“Send SMS” menu option, compose the entire text message, and hit the send button
— all without even looking at the phone. This is especially handy when he needs
to send an SMS during class.”

Also, there is a website on the internet called Naver Knowledge iN which is a popular online Q&A service with some 70 million entries. All you have to do is post a question you have on the website and in a couple minutes, someone will post a legitimate answer. In this article, Will Richardson asks a highly debated question that asks, is it cheating when students use the technology around them to help answer a test question? Will Richardson makes a good point when he says we should teach them how to make good use of those resources instead of pretending they don’t exist, but I feel like it is cheating. Using these resources is very helpful while studying for a test, but actually using them during the test is considered to me cheating. I believe we should be taught how to use these resources and acknowledge there existence, but I believe we should do that while studying, not during the actual test because if the technology is being used during the test, the only knowledge being demonstrated by that student is their knowledge of the technology, not the actual test material. In my school, the majority of the students own a cell phone and/or computer which they are able to access easily. Useful information can be passed or searched through these devices. During tests, some students do send text messages to find the answer to a certain question which I believe is horribly wrong. Many students know this and I’ve never witnessed it before, but I’ve heard of instances like this occurring. Students around the world have access to this technology as well and hopefully are using it wisely. I believe these technologies should be used for the purpose of learning the material, not just copying the answer because you will never fully understand those concepts by just copying them down.