Created: 11/20/2007 11:07:44 AM 
Pfafftown, NC -- Known as a smartphone, it's making the lives of some student teachers a little easier. WFMY News 2's Erica Taylor shows us how this pilot program is a school solution.
"We're working on turkeys and times four," said 3rd grader Emma Hayes, about her assignment.
If you're 8 years old, learning how to multiply is a little easier when it's hands on.
"We can count what's on our paper," said Hayes.
"You get to stick it on there and I don't have to draw and my arm doesn't get so tired," said 3rd grader Reynolds Craver.
Being a student teacher is a little easier with your hands on a smartphone.
"Your's was so awesome, can I take a picture of it?" student teacher Kate Hughson asked a student. "Give me a smile. And beautiful!" she said, as she snapped the photo.
"Parents like to have pictures of their kids; they like to see them learning," said Hughson.
There's very little the smartphone can't do. In addition to email, taking pictures, capturing video, serving as a real phone and recording information about students, it also helps teachers stay organized.
"All of my grades are right here, they will go to my Excel file and they're organized right there," said Hughson, who is working at Vienna Elementary School in Pfafftown.
She is one of 12 student teachers using the smartphones this semester. Program organizers feel it's a useful tool in tracking student progress.
"Let's collect data, let's improve our teaching on a daily basis rather than at the end of the year and let's look at what we're doing over time, find trends, make sure each individual student's needs are being met," said Dr. Kristin Bennett with Wake Forest University.
The size is another advantage.
"I could do a lot of this, I'm going to say, on a laptop," said Hughson. "However, the laptop would be cumbersome. I'd have to carry it around; I couldn't walk to kids' desks individually."
One concern about the smartphone is that what makes it user friendly could also be distracting. So far, that's not happened here.
"She uses it when not many people really notice. So it's like a little thing that doesn't really make noise but does lots of stuff," said Hayes.
"It has amazing features that could really bring education to the next level," said Hughson.
Student teachers at four Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools are using the smartphones.
In the event a phone is lost or misplaced, the phone locks after a period of time. It is also password protected so student information remains confidential.
A $10,000 grant is covering the cost of the phones as well as an optional voice mail system.
WFMY News 2
