NEW GROUP! Includes discussions from the Administrators and Professional Development groups. What will it take to move our schools into the 21st century? Please share your thoughts and leadership strategies here.
Cell phones in school
I'm planning on talking to my building leadership team about changing our policy on student cell phones. Currently students are to have their cell phones off and placed in their lockers when they enter the building. Guess what? Probably 99.9% of the student body has his or her own cell phone. This is what brought me to this possible policy change. There has to be something more productive and exciting to do with this technology. Has anyone taken this step to embrace the cell phones in their school by incorporating them into certain content areas / lessons- and if so would you mind sharing some ideas that you've found to be successful or unsuccessful.
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In our school we ban cell
In our school we ban cell phones completely. And like your school I believe that virtually all of our students have them and have them with them in school.
I think that instead of a ban, an acceptable use policy designed by some teachers and students and submitted to the administration would go a long way to empowering our students to responsible use and also effective academic use.
I would love to hear from other admins who have policies that work.
Principal
Thanks for posting this issue. We are facing the same situation in our school and any information/suggestions will be appreciated. The cheating is growing and most faculty/staff members realize that our kids are much better at this than we are. How to turn this potential from a negative to a positive is a goal. We have procedures in place, however the procedures are outdated and need an upgrade. The realities of this situation require us to find the ways to incorporate the technology into our instruction while providing our faculty/staff with the tools to implement effective practices. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Joe, Ed, Bruce: thanks for
Joe, Ed, Bruce: thanks for raising this topic. Because cell phones are so ubiquitous, it seems like they have great potential to be a good classroom resource. But at the same time, they definitely can enable cheating and distractions. I want to make sure you've seen these two Edutopia blog posts from a few years ago where Ron Smith talks about the possibility of using phones to help connect with students, among other benefits:
First post: http://www.edutopia.org/cellphonesinclass
Second post: http://www.edutopia.org/ringing
What do you think? Could this work in your schools?
Hi George, Thanks for your
Hi George,
Thanks for your response. I will share your postings with others and use them for further discussion. This issue cannot be ignored.
Thanks George, I'll certainly
Thanks George, I'll certainly check into the two postings you've provided. It is a large issue with many different points of view. Ed, this means getting to that 'acceptable use policy' is going to be interesting to say the least. Bruce you're right, we cannot ignore it because this issue is certainly not going away. There has to be a win-win solution to this issue.
aspiring administrator
I recently attended admin training at Sacramento County Office of Ed. and I have to tell you that ALL of the attendees had their laptops and cell phones and were constantly multitasking. So, how do we transfer that behavior into an acceptable use policy and integrated our academic agenda into the students' existing framework of technology. Thanks for posting this topic. I'll watch for more.
Melissa, Thanks for the post.
Melissa,
Thanks for the post. Your experience at the conference seems to be the norm and is indicative of the direction that we must go in. This is a very important issue for many and by the lack of clear guidelines and response, it appears to one of interest, but one that lacks a clear direction. We need to be careful as to how to proceed as this is new ground. I am reading a book by Nicholas Carr, The Shallows, What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains and find it to be of concern. It does not negate our responsibility regarding this issue but it certainly sounds a cautionary note. I need to hear more to feel confident in how to proceed.
We looked at a change in our cell phone policy this year, but a majority of our teachers were resistant to the idea of change. The result was that we stayed with our same basic policy. Right now we allow students to use their phones before school and once the final bell rings. Otherwise, students can have their phone taken from them if it is seen or heard during the school day.
use the free technology for good!
At our high school we have decided to embrace the technology. Our students have phones and know how to text; most have unlimited texting plans. Beginning in January we began training our students and staff on how to use the web site www.polleverywhere.com appropriately in the classroom. Teachers create polls (multiple choice questions) on the website, for free, download into a presentation and then present the questions to the class. Students use their own cell phones to text in responses in live time! Bar graphs grow and change in real time in front of the class, using just a computer and LCD projector. We set it up with lots of structure, but the students are engaged in a new and exciting way to check for understanding.
Where you work makes a huge difference
My students all have mental health issues and the attendant poor emotional self-regulation. Cell phones in our school are a distraction at best and a way of enabling inappropriate behavior at worst. We also need to teach our students to be more social and leaving them in electronic worlds or enabling instant access to parents does not help students reach this goal.
In formulating policy, then, administrators and teachers need to look at the strengths and weaknesses of students. One size does not fit all.