Cell phones are an enormous part of our everyday life. Whether texting friends or posting on Instagram, many people are on their phones from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep.
In many ways, cell phones make everyday tasks easier, but they can also be distracting.
Virginia Whitehead, a teacher at Ernest Righetti High School for 25 years, has seen her share of change in classroom technology and culture.
“Every class is a little bit different,” Whitehead said, and thus every class is impacted by modern technology in different ways.
It began with pagers and walkmans, and now almost every student has a cell phone. Students are allowed to have their devices on most school campuses, including Righetti, for emergency situations. However, students often use their phones to text friends and update social media rather than to call their parents.
About three years ago, Whitehead realized something needed to change. The clothing-construction class instructor said it’s important that her students stay focused on their work, especially when using sewing machines or working collaboratively.
“‘Problem solving is the mother of invention,’” she quoted.
It was Whitehead’s ability to problem solve that created the original idea that led to the Cell Hotel.
The idea began as a parking lot for the devices. The cloth parking lot had numerous cell-phone-sized pockets and hung from a wall in the classroom. At the beginning of each class, the students put their cell phones in their appropriate pockets. At the end of class, they took their cell phones, and, occasionally, they were rewarded with some type of incentive to keep using the parking lot.
However, it is costly to provide regular incentives for students, and during class the cell phones weren’t secure. If a theft took place, responsibility would fall upon the teacher.
Whitehead knew that she had to streamline her prototype, which became the Cell Hotel.
“Physically, it’s like a suitcase,” she said of the invention.
The suitcase has 40 cloth spaces for cell phones. Each “hotel bed” has a number and a corresponding lanyard. Inside the Cell Hotel, students have the opportunity to charge their phones. The chargers provide incentive for students to arrive early and be rewarded with one of the limited amount of charging cords available.
Using the Cell Hotel shouldn’t be a punishment for the student, but a privilege.
“I started with a little cloth bed with armbands, but now I use lanyards,” Whitehead said.
A lanyard is given to each student with his or her number and color somewhere on the cord. Easily washable, the lanyards can be sanitized each week to prevent germs from spreading.
“My invention gives teachers the freedom to handle it the way they want,” Whitehead said, meaning that the Cell Hotel can be used whenever and however each teacher wants, depending on their classroom procedure.
“It’s kind of like a coat-checking system,” she explained.
The portable suitcase can be easily removed from the classroom by unplugging the charging strip that runs along the inside of the hotel. In case of a fire or other emergency, all of the cell phones can be returned to students once everyone is safely evacuated from the classroom.
The invention isn’t only for the classroom, though. Whitehead has visions of her idea being used in a variety of different settings.
Camp Cellie is her model for elementary-age children and boasts 25 individual cell phone beds. The Cell Hotel is for high school classrooms and has 40 spaces. Finally, the Cell Chalet is for professional offices and small businesses and features 20 cell phone holders.
Whitehead wants the Cell Hotel to become an expected and automatic part of a regular routine. She and her husband, David, will travel to Pittsburgh in June to debut the invention at an INPEX showcase.
She hopes to one day sell the patent-pending idea to a company that would manufacture the product.
“I can envision what this factory would look like,” Whitehead said.
Intern Emma Fuhs wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via mail, email, or fax.
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 5, 2014.