Most of the class members raise their hands and are thinking, "What is she going to make us do? Turn them in for the class period? Shut them off? Ban them for the semester?"

Hardly! Instead, Fisher, who teaches business and accounting courses at Glendale Community College (GCC), begins to explain how cell phones will be used as an innovative instructional tool in her class. Students can provide instant feedback for class activities such as surveys, review classes and polls.

Fisher begins by having everyone text their answer to her question regarding what course major each student is pursuing. In a few seconds, the results start to show on a bar graph projected onto the large projection wall of her classroom in the newly remodeled Business building. For example, the feedback reveals there are five accounting majors in the classroom along with a variety of other fields of study.

A week or so later, a student with questions about textbook reading poses a query that likewise is posted via the projection screen. Other class members provide responses either by texting in the answer or using web-based feature if they do not have a cell phone or wish to save their text messaging for other uses.

"In a matter of minutes, it becomes apparent whether the class understands the concept or if it needs additional review," Fisher explains.

"It's kind of nice to be able to have my cell phone out in class," says Ben Marchiafara, who is studying finance after having earned an bachelor's degree in landscape management. "She keeps us pretty busy, so I'm not checking messages very often – or trying to text with my phone in my pocket."