I frequently find myself in a catch-22 these days. I am among those that have consistently urged our staff to seek new methods to incorporate technology in the classroom. I believe that we need to change our methods of instruction to fit a society that has changed over the past 50 years and that our students need to have technology integrated into classrooms and instruction. However, we are also faced with some of the negatives that these improved technologies bring. I am thinking specifically about cell phones. We are all aware that cell phones are no longer just for communication and that there are issues about privacy (cameras) and cheating (texting) during tests. So my dilemma is this how do we create a situation that allows us to embrace cell phones in the building, employ them in our classrooms and prevent there abuse?
I have a few thoughts and I present these not as a method of dictating an answer but as a place to start the discussion and looking for any and all relevant feedback.
1) We need to allow cellphones in the building and ask that students turn them in before a test is administered. Students would only be disciplined for cell phones if they went off in class or were being used.
2) We maintain the current policy. At this time we have collected cell phones from from 166 different students and many have not stopped bringing them. They simply view the losing of their phone as a nuisance. We spend at least 10 mins a day (teachers time + time in the office) dealing with cell phones and when it is inconvenient for a teacher to bring the phone to the office before the end of the day it results in uneven enforcement. I have also been told that not all teachers turn in cell phones which is a problem in and of itself. I do not think it is a great system and would like to refine or change it.
3) We let students keep their cells even during tests and instead begin to change how we test so that cell phones can't help students cheat but rather they become the data collection devices that many of them are and we teach our students to embrace this technology. (This, of course, requires that we get on board ourselves as well.)
This are simply my initial thoughts and again I welcome yours. Please contribute to this discussion.
Sorry to intrude on this blog Mr. Van Meter but I would like readers to look at this blog post and consider its ramifications. (Dave Meister)
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18 comments:
I strongly agree that we need to teach students appropriate cell phone use. By not allowing them, we're pretending it's 1993 and that drug dealers are the only students carrying them. I believe that students should know when to have phones on and off. To me, study hall, hallway passing periods, bathroom time, lunch, etc. are fine times to use cell phones. However, cell phones shouldn't be used during a lecture or when students should be learning. Our high school students should be treated like college students when it comes to cell phones. No rings allowed. And no classroom disruptions. But students should still be punished for using cell phones inappropriately.
A student suggested the following:
Allow students to carry their phones and put them out and off in plain site on top of their desks. If they are using them or hiding them write them up / confiscate.
Mr Ludeks said...I think the number one thing is enforcement. If we have a rule about no cell phones, students should not have cell phones, no matter what you feel. That is the rule.The problem is like any other rule, everyone must enforce it.If we feel like the rule should be changed,then change it. But the new rule must be enforced.Also, teachers should keep the use of their cell phones to a minimum.
I think that students could be allowed to have their phones with them. Eventually, they need to learn some responsibility on their own. I wouldn't say anything to my students about texting during class on a normal day. If they decide to text instead of take notes and pay attention, then ultimately they'll be the ones paying the price for their decision. On test days, I could collect their phones in a basket, and give them back to the students who've finished. As long as students aren't doing anything inappropriate with them, I don't really see a problem with it.
Roger Thomas
I think the student suggestion is excellent.
We are supposed to be training the kids to function in the "real world", and cell phone etiquette is something they certainly need to learn (when they should be turned off, etc.)
I still think students should be able to carry them but not access them in class. I like the idea we discussed about having a designated box in each classroom where students must place their phones (TURNED OFF) as they enter the room and then they can pick them up on the way out.
I love this topic! Me, I just got a new phone. I can text, use my camera,listen to music, and look online! It is fabulous! Now every free second I have I am trying out all the different devices on my phone. So if I am like this and I am an adult...how the kids feel should be a no brainer!
Kids love technology and they are going to find a way to use it whether we allow it or not. When I was a student and was told that I couldn't do something...that made me want to do it more. So my thought is, if the students are allowed to have their phones and know when they can use them at certain times, then they have no reason to sneak around to use them. If there are teachers who who can't stand the policy, then they should be able to collect them until the end of class. If they become an issue in the class, then they should be collected from the individual or all students in the class. It should be the teacher's right to choose. Although I think students should be allowed to have their phones, I do not beleive that they should make phone calls, text, etc in classtime unless it is relevant to the classroom lesson. I just think that they should be allowed to carry them. Cell phones open the door to so many exciting ideas for education. They have many wonderful uses these days. For instance you can give quizzes giving students the option of "open book" internet using their phones. Apple has a wonderful site for educators on resources for incorperating i-pods and phones into the curriculum. I just think if we as educators, keep an open mind and set down guidelines, then phones would be one our smallest concerns instead of one of our biggest.
I enjoyed the blogpost that Mr. Meister linked to and agree that cellphones do have a valuable place in a school. While I don't agree with Ms. Hill that they should be used freely during passing periods and study halls, I do agree that they have a valuable place in the classroom if they are used correctly. Since our classrooms only have one computer, sometimes two, that are networked, a cellphone would be a wonderful tool to help find answers to questions such as the one about the song referred to in the blog. The cellphone can be a teacher's friend if students understand that there is an appropriate time and place for them and teachers understand they can be used effectively. I have a cellphone everyday, but I do not answer phone calls if I am teaching a class or working with students. Students need to understand and extend the same courtesy. School is their job, and they need to learn what that means in terms of cellphone usage.
Since most teenagers have cellphones, the problem of enforcement is only going to become more of a problem. If we learne how they can be used effectively in school, I think we can eliminate the cellphone battle we fight everyday.
I agree that teaching phone etiqette, as Mrs. Frankilin suggested, is appropriate to these times. Then let students have phones in class as long as the student behaves responsibly with it, i.e., no calling, texting, audible ringing. During tests, make it a policy that phones are taken out and put on the desk, or that students' hands must be visible on top the desk at all times. I also agree that devising tests that use cell phones is a good way to incorporate kid-friendly technology -- except that we have to have alternate tests for phoneless kids, who do still exist!
I believe we should let students carry cell phones and provide them with clear usage criteria and consequences for misuse (i.e., cheating, disrupting class, taking inappropriate photos for posting to the Internet on school grounds, non-educational purposes, etc.). We've also talked in the past about security and safety options that a cell phone provides (emergency communication). I agree with the other responders who feel we need to prepare students for life beyond high school by demonstrating proper cell phone etiquette here at school.
I do not think that students should have cell phones in class. They can put them on vibrate and still send messages and take pictures. If they have the phones with them, they are going to use them.
Mr. Kirby on cell phones in the classroom:
Hmmmm. It seems to me that with schools on watch lists for poor performance, the issue of cell phones is one that needs to be addressed. We work in an educational setting. Students are there to learn the three ‘R’s’ reading, writing and arithmetic. I’ve had students in my classroom that are adept at using computers and cell phones but can’t read a ruler. What’s wrong with that picture?
In the event of an emergency, parents or other family members can call the office which would seem to be proper protocol. Students need to leave their cell phones in their lockers or run the risk of having them confiscated. Use of cell phones in the classroom is disrupting. Personally, I do care if a student is texting or surfing the net on a cell phone in class when I am lecturing or demonstrating the use of tools in the shop. Safety is a priority, responding to messages from buddies or girl/boyfriends is not a priority. If students need to respond to a text message or call, they can go to their lockers during lunch period and take care of business but not while in the classroom. It would seem to me that allowing phones in the classroom sets the stage for addressing other issues. I don’t particularly want to waste time dealing with those issues.
We need to make our schools as safe as possible for our students and in my book cell phones in the classroom don’t accomplish that objective. Computers in the classroom and computer labs are used for educational purposes. We “police” computer activity via the use of “fordi.guard” in hopes of avoiding the use of inappropriate sites. Do cell phones come with that same protection? Rumor has it that some students have used cell phones to take inappropriate pictures; do we want to bring inappropriate pictures into the classroom?
Again, I am in favor of the policy that keeps cell phones in lockers during school time with stiff penalties for those who don’t follow the rules.
Will I get in trouble for commenting twice? My daughter goes to South Vigo, and I asked her what their policy is re: cell phones. Theirs is much like our current policy, and they are really cracking down and planning on making it more strict. Her teachers have told her that there is even a plan to put something in the building that will scramble signals. (Now, that last part may be an urban legend.)
I have to admit that this really surprised me since I lean more towards letting kids have them if they use them properly.
Really why should it matter that students use their cell phones in class as long as it is being use in the right way? Sometimes i think that some teachers are too worried about finding cell phone rather than teaching the class! I think that students would try and hide them so much if you would just allow them to have them and not make the time to write them up ot take them too the office! Also, if you let them have them they would be such a disruption to the class and probably wouldn't cause as much trouble!
A lot of you have mention that cell phones should be used the right way. But a cell phone is technically supposed to make phone calls. So if you phone doesn't have internet you not allowed to have your phone?
I really like Ms. Hill's idea. And part of VanMeter's. We should be able to carry our phones using them in study hall. lunch, in the bathrooms and hallway. I don't really see what that would hurt. And when we're in class I'm sure we could refrain from them, because I know I wouldn't want it taken away. Sometimes we might need to call our parents if we need to stay after or something and even though we have our phones we have to go to the office. It'd be alot easier in these situations. I think this would make us students and even teachers alot happier. As long as they are on vibrate or silence and no disruptive they should be fine. Hopefully the policy will change.
I guess my fear of cell phones in class is liability. Am I liable if a student is texting someone inappropriately? Am I liable if someone in another class is texting someone in my class for answers to a test or homework? I know all about ciber bullying. It is mean and hurtful and cowardly. Until someone addresses these issues, I will continue to take away cell phones in my room.
All this discussion about cell phones? I can't believe we spend so much time justifying changing our rules when some students don't feel they have to follow them anyway. If someone uses their phone appropriately, I have no problem with it. If they use it inappropriately, they should lose their privelage to have it in class. The current rule says no phones in class. Follow it, or change it.
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