In this series, Nicky Hockly explains aspects of technology which some people may be embarrassed to confess that they don’t really understand. In this article, she suggests how to work with SMS. SMS (Short Message Service) is also known as ‘text messaging’ and is typically done via a mobile phone.
1. What’s to know? I already send text messages with my phone regularly.
I’m sure you do, but have you thought about how you might use text messaging with your students, both inside and outside the classroom? Have you considered using SMS with students of different ages, both adults and young learners? If not, read on.
2. OK, so how could I use SMS with my students?
In a number of ways: for admin and for language work. Admin-related text messages can include reminders about upcoming deadlines, exams, meetings or excursions, or general school news and information. You and/or the school admin department can be responsible for sending these to your students via group text message services. There are free group text messaging services, such as gText (www.gtext.com), so sending text messages to students doesn’t need to be expensive.
You can use SMS both inside and outside the classroom for language-related work. It’s easiest to start slowly, by using text messages outside the classroom. For example, by sending your students short homework assignments by text. Or by sending them idioms or vocabulary items regularly. Of course, you first need to check that everybody in the class owns a phone! The advantage of sending an SMS rather than an email is that the students are more likely to read it – immediately.
For using SMS in the classroom, simple activities include:
- short dictations (see a lesson plan for this at http://goo.gl/FM85N)
- taking part in live polls (eg using a free polling service like Poll Everywhere: www.polleverywhere.com)
- sending and decoding emoticons, or using them to change the mood or direction of a roleplay
- ‘translating’ textspeak messages into standard English
- vcreating chain sentences by passing a phone around in a small group
- creating SMS conversations between fictional or historical characters
3. But what if my students don’t own smartphones?
To use text messaging, you and your students don’t need to own expensive smartphones or phones that connect to the internet. Simple low-end phones (often called ‘feature phones’) are fine. One thing to check is whether your students need to pay to send text messages. Some phone contracts will include a large – or even limitless – number of free text messages per month, but this is not always the case. If text messaging is expensive for your students, then you can do activities using the SMS function in their phones without actually sending the message itself, or you can send the text messages and just have the students receive them.
4. Some of my students are young learners. How could I possibly use SMS with them?
If your students are under 18, then you need to work within the confines of your school’s ‘acceptable use policy’ (AUP). An AUP will typically cover a range of digital issues, such as rights over digital photos taken in school, appropriate use of personal devices, e-safety practices, consequences for cyberbullying, etc. It can include a section on the use of mobile devices in and outside the classroom. If you work with very young learners, it’s a good idea to get the parents on board by explaining how and why devices will be used with students, and how this is beneficial for learning. Some schools hold meetings with parents at the beginning of the school year to explain the rationale behind their AUP
Of course, many younger learners don’t own mobile phones. Carol Rainbow, a trainer based in the UK, ran a project using class sets of cheap feature phones with young learners, as part of a strategy to encourage reluctant readers. You can read about this very interesting initiative at http://goo.gl/JZ72K.
5. What about classroom management issues? Won’t my students just text their friends and fool around if they are allowed to use phones in class?
Classroom management is arguably more of an issue with younger learners and teenagers than with adults. You can include guidelines for appropriate classroom use of phones in your school AUP, with a clear indication of consequences for misuse (such as filming the teacher or classmates without permission, or texting inappropriate messages). The other ‘trick’ is to ensure that, during class, phones are kept visible and face down on the students’ desks. The students are told when to pick up and use the phones to carry out a specific task (such as a dictation), and as soon as the task is completed, the students need to place the phone back on their desks, face down and clearly visible to you. Having a clear reason to use the phones in carrying out a specific task – and only using them for this brief period of time – will help deal with potential classroom management issues.
And finally, don’t be afraid to discuss the use of SMS and mobile phones with the students themselves. Let them know the rationale, and get feedback from them. Including them in the reasoning, and allowing them to voice an opinion, will ensure more buy-in on the part of the students.
Nicky Hockly is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E, an online teacher training and development consultancy. Her most recent book is Digital Literacies, published by Pearson. She has published an e-book, Webinars: A Cookbook for Educators (the-round.com), and is currently working on a book on mobile and handheld learning. She maintains a blog at www.emoderationskills.com.
This article first appeared in English Teaching professional, Issue 87, July 2013.
