Students in Joe Wood's science class at Somerset Middle School in Modesto didn't have to hide their cell phones in their backpacks. They used them to take quizzes, shoot photos for class projects and create podcasts.

Wood has since been hired as an instructional technologist for the San Juan Unified School District. He is among a growing group of educators who consider cell phones an important tool in the classroom.

"Let's help them learn the way they want to," said Joe Jenkins, chief technology officer at Natomas Unified School District. "They want to use cell phones. They want to text. … They respond to it."

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