The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Wired blog describes an English professor who blasts text messages to his students to remind them about assignments and due dates. The students have the option to sign up to receive these messages; the professor used a service, Broadtexter which broadcasts text messages.
Professor Todd McCann, an English instructor at Bay College, says
I just decided that, rather than rail against cell phones as being so evil, like some colleagues do, I’m trying to think of a way of going where they live.
(quoted in the blog post)
This article includes comments from readers, with a full range of reactions.
Another way to remind students about deadlines or to make announcements is to use Twitter, and have students “follow” the class tweets on Twitter (via text, smartphones or on the web). Or, use a twitter list.
Want to talk about this or other ways to use cell phones to extend teaching? Meet on Tuesday, March 9 at 10 am for a discussion. Here are details and registration.