A few days ago I arrived at work and discovered that I had left my smart phone at home. I immediately panicked as though I had forgotten my ticket to the World Series. For a few seconds I debated whether to jump back in the car to go get the phone or to wait until lunch to retrieve it then. No surprise, I got back in the car. As our dependence on mobile devices increases, we are at an interesting place with how to accommodate this technology in school. I know that most of our students, like me, feel at a loss without a phone in their pocket. Our quandary is how to let students use their phones at school without having to fight a battle against the distraction of texting etc.
Mobile devices are of course here to stay and as such, I feel that it is a mistake to ban them from schools. For after all, this technology offers a myriad of ways for students to improve their productivity. The benefit of having instant access to all that is available is simply too much to ignore. Getting our students to lay off the texting and use the phones as a resource will take some doing. Based on what other schools are doing, this is doable. To get us there will require teachers to incorporate their use in their lessons. This fall we will be advancing policy to our board that will guide the use of personal devices including laptops in school. If interested please provide comment on putting things in place for this important next step in our students’ learning.
3 Comments
Socio-economic concerns will arise when including the use of personal mobile devices in daily lesson plans. The cost of a smart phone and a sufficient data plan is beyond the reach of many of our economically disadvantaged students. While this should not preclude moving towards integrating these devices into classrooms, efforts should be made to ensure that these students, who often struggle in school, are not further disenfranchised from the school experience.
I agree that it would be a mistake to depend on the home to provide the mobile device. Key is to allow them for those who have and provide them for those who don’t.
Our pilots with I-touches and I-pads are allowing us to work out the kinks on how to make this happen.
While I agree not every student can afford a smart phone, there are other devices available capable of doing the same things as the smart phone without the data contract and to boot all of our schools have desk top or portable lap tops avaiable for student use. So in reality we are only stretching our available resources by allowing students to use personal mobile devices such as smart phones, lap tops, wifi readers.
I realize there is a need to monitor what students are actually doing on such devices but I am all for providing and encouraging the use of technology.
Many times I feel the economically disadvantaged drive what and how we instruct. It is time to come out of the box and help where we can but not to the detriment of other students, In the real world there are many levels of economic status and to limit what is taught because of the disadvantaged is just as unfair as teaching to the lowest level of learners. It is time to invest in high achievers as well.
The future is not going to slow down just because it might be unfair to someone. Lets show the disadvantaged the way out. strive to be the best in all areas of life.