Professor to students: Text away

Students' text message questions are screened before they're posted for peers to read.
Students' text-message questions are screened before they're posted for peers to read.

Georgia State University students who don’t want to yell their questions from the back of a cavernous lecture hall now have another option: They can send text messages to their professor, who reads the queries from an overhead screen.

David McDonald, director of emerging technologies and an associate professor in the Atlanta-based university’s business school, is inviting the use of text messaging during class while many educators are instituting strict rules against the practice.

The texting program—similar to handheld student response systems—is being used in about 15 Georgia State business courses this school year.…Read More

Survey: Teens’ cell phone use may cause tension with parents, schools

The vast majority of teens who own cell phones send text messages, a survey found.
The vast majority of teens who own cell phones send text messages, a survey found.

Teenagers have embraced text messaging as their main form of communication, but mobile phones are often a source of tension with parents and schools, a new survey found.

The frequency with which teens text has overtaken every other form of interaction, including instant messaging and talking face-to-face, according to a study released April 20 by researchers at Pew Research Center and the University of Michigan.

Three-quarters of teens now own cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. Of those who own cell phones, 88 percent text, up from just over half in 2006.…Read More