Phantom of the Cell Phone?

Buzzzzzzzzz

www.ckler.com

So we have all heard of phantom vibration where you think your Smartphone is ringing or there is an incoming text, and when you go to check, nothing. Sometimes it is disappointing right, you were expecting your friend to hit you back or waiting for that call from your significant other and it is just your imagination playing tricks on you. I stumbled across a recent article on phantom phone vibrations, thanks Feedly, and was surprised that there are researchers that have actually studied this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, there is probably a study for just about every behavior known to the human race, but still. I was hooked however, because I have some "ring-xiety" myself and wanted to see how this was going to turn out for me.

Makes Sense
The article quotes a research psychologist who studies how technology affects our minds, Dr. Larry Rosen. Rosen talks about how technology is affecting the way our brain processes information and possible obsessive behavior with our devices and backing away from them may be a way to keep ring-xiety down. I can't help but think of other situations over the years that seem to bring on similar behavior as phantom phone vibration. If you have children, how many of you would wake up multiple times a night thinking the little one was crying, only to find them sleeping soundly. Or sitting on the couch and you think you hear a car pull up in the driveway, walk all the way to the front door to look out and nobody there. Hopefully you have experienced something similar, if not I may need to take a little time off.

                                                        Moderation

Martin Cooper

As time changes and technologies become more prevalent in our lives I am sure our brains will process things differently. Moving from a chalkboard to whiteboard probably caused some dryerase-xiety in the past, just as phantom phone vibrations are making news again now. Dr. Rosen makes a good point about backing away from your devices every now and then. We all know that to much of anything is not a good thing, so take a break once in awhile from that device, it will be there when you get back.

That table sure is Smart!

Touchscreen technology has been around for quite some time, with IBM creating some of the first touchscreen devices in the late 60's. Restaurant employees have been using touchscreens for years to communicate with the back of the house and create that bill we all enjoy paying after a great meal. If you ask a student today about touchscreens, they will pull out their iPod or iPad and show us what a multi-touch device is capable of, kind of makes those card games that were placed in bars years ago look a little silly. A few years ago I came across a video on Microsoft's multi-touch table, this video is a little newer than the one I watched, but you will get the idea. About a year after seeing the multi-touch video I ran across the Smart Table at a conference. I quickly thought of the Microsoft table, however Smart (think Smart board) had primary age content loaded on the table. Fast forward a couple years and our district has purchased (with grant funds) 4 Smart Tables, that will be delivered tomorrow to Kindergarten classrooms at each elementary school. The Kindergarten teachers have received professional development on the basics of the tables and have future training scheduled on using the software provided with the tables to create their own content that is transferred to the tables using a usb flash drive. The tables are going to be a great addition to the classroom, and they are a very student centered device, which is where the technology should be, in the hands of the students.