Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

Today I had a young 20 something year old teacher share with me the ringtones that students use that supposedly adults can’t hear (but she can–she’s but a babe!). She invited five of us into her empty room, and played the tone (which apparently is a free download.) I had heard of it before, but not sought it out to test it. And to be honest, I was leery of whether or not the tone existed. Of the five of us, one other teacher was a young 20 something year-old, and she suddenly clutched her ears and begged for the sound to be stopped, exclaiming how uncomfortable a sound it was. Amazingly enough, the three forty-something year-olds in the room did not hear it at all. We were surprised at the demonstration, and quite taken aback. I shared with some network friends and CRStengel of Pittsburg sent this link to me. Horrors I’m getting old! See my scores at the bottom! (<blush>)

This opened an interesting conversation anyway, both at school and with my network.  You see the same teacher shared with me that her students could manipulate a streaming video in her class with their little bluetooth phones (which according to our school policy, must be OFF during the school day.)   The video would stop and start for no apparent reason. She tested her suspicions with her own phone after class and discovered the kids’ phones were indeed causing interference (though she wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not.).  So she remembered me showing that you could use the bluetooth on the computer to detect active bluetooth devices in the room, and has since each day showed her students that she can “see” their phones which are supposed to be off.  Her students have also tested her with the ringtone that is supposed to be silent for adults, and they know she can hear it. So she has a power I do not have–young ears that can hear. But I enabled her to be able to see and count the number of devices interacting or interferring with learning, though I’m sure this teacher could probably find a way to channel this ito something positive.  It was an enlightening experience today even still.

Don’t laugh at my scores from the ringtone test. Try it. You may be surprised.

Attribution:

Image: ‘Blackberry‘
www.flickr.com/photos/13604571@N02/2094946972
Image: ‘Mi abituo al silenzio‘
www.flickr.com/photos/58971759@N00/2110611859