Cell Phones in Education

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Comment by Dale Ehrhart on June 8, 2012 at 8:02pm

Saline Schools just outside of Ann Arbor has developed a pretty thoughtful BYOD policy that includes cell phones.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1ehprvXTUsVcGJOcmlmc0tRdHlIREVvbHo...

Comment by Julie Heintz on May 5, 2012 at 2:03pm

I have no problem allowing students to use their cell phones.  I think (just like anything else) that they need to be taught when and how cell phones are appropriate.  It may be a similar phenomenon like when students first started using calculators; they needed to be taught when they could use them

That being said, I really like polleverywhere.com as well.  I use it for bellringers and for exit slips; sometimes I use it in the middle of a lecture to break up the monotony if it's a long one.  It gives the students that "quick fix" of technology, then I can pull them back in for the lesson.

Comment by Amy Palmer on April 21, 2012 at 10:23am

Hi,

I am a first grade teacher, and I never thought the issue of cell phones would come up in my classroom of 5 and 6 year olds.  However, one day a student of mine started beeping.  I thought he had brought in a game or some kind of watch with an alarm, but out popped a cell phone.  I was shocked and I didn't know what to say.  I asked him to turn it off, but it kept beeping.  When I tried to turn it off I accidentally called someone in his contact list!  We finally turned it off and it stayed in his backpack for the remainder of the day.

I am not opposed to using cell phones in the classroom, but I feel that a foundation of acceptable use must first be established.  We are building this foundation in first grade with our classroom computers and iPads.  We go over safe Internet use, Twitter content, and the responsibility of technology.  That may just leave cell phones to second grade and beyond:)

Comment by Ankit Wadia on April 20, 2012 at 10:48pm

Hello,

I am a student and i am doing Post Graduate Diploma Courses, according to me cell phones is not totally bad for students, there are some advantages also. I think now in every professional courses need to give presentation and every student wish to give proper presentation but for presentation need some real stuffs like some time students wants to add some real video and pics related to their presentation but they can’t do because of no proper sources like some handy gadgets, at present cell phone is only one of the small gadgets with almost all useful features. This is my real experience I am sharing here.

I thought little bite freedom is requiring at growing stage :).

Comment by Iman Zaatari on April 20, 2012 at 10:15pm

 I am not currently teaching but with my last school experience, the policy was “No Cell phones” on school property or any other electric device. So cameras, mp3s, iPods,.., were not allowed to have during school time. However, the school is not against technology at all. But students having these mobile devices are prohibited on school premise.

If it comes to me, I am divided on this issue. I recognize the positive effects that these tools could accomplish. But on the other side, we want to make sure that they are used as learning tools only. They could be a big distracting factor in the class. A good solution would be what I read about the pilot program where it limits the function of their mobile devices. This will not completely omit all the negative aspects of these devices. But it could assist in eliminating some of its negatives. On the other hand, we need to reach out for our digital learners. So these mobile devices will definitely have our students more engaged in the classroom.

Comment by Jennifer Peraino on April 18, 2012 at 5:06pm

I am not currently teaching in a classroom, but a tutoring service. Where I teach I have students that come for reading, math, and study skills. The study skills students always tell me that they don't want to lug around a planner even after they see the benefits to having one. I teach them how to use their cell phone as a planner using the calendar that is already downloaded on their phones. So far I have had a lot of students say that it works for them.

Comment by tarakatrina11 on April 17, 2012 at 8:46pm

I am not currently teaching, and my most recent teaching experience was in the jungle where cell phone use wasn't a real issue.  There was no cell signal.  But I'm back Stateside now, and I would say I am divided on the issue of cell phones in the classroom.  I can definitely see the advantages of having internet at your fingertips, the ability to poll your students, convenient camera and video capabilities, etc. But there are a lot of disadvantages that go with it (distractions, texting during class, viewing inappropriate content on the internet, etc.).  That said, cell phones are not going away, and none of us would really want them to, would we?  And there is no way schools are going to keep them out of the students' hands while they are at school.  So, it would be better to come up with constructive ways to work with them, rather than to fight a losing battle trying to work against them.  I personally use my smartphone all the time.  Some of it is valid and worthwhile and even necessary, and sometimes it's just a simple waste of time. 
So if we want school to mirror "real life," then we need to model to our students to use the valuable asset that the cell phone can be.  We should use it, when necessary, as the tool and resource that it is.  That doesn't mean that every waking minute of classtime has to be spent integrating the cell phone.  We can still have them pull out a paper and pencil once in a while. 
I think it is safe to say that we don't all spend all day on our cell phones, but we use them when necessary...and for a nice game of Words with Friends when settling down for the night :)

Comment by Brian Jenks on April 17, 2012 at 2:57pm

I am not a teacher, so I talked to my daughter (a High School Junior) about her school's policies on cellphones.  As many other responders have also indicated, mobile devices are not allowed for any reason during school hours; the device is taken from the student if seen by an school instructor or administrator.  Cellphone use was allowed at lunch time for awhile, but because there are multiple lunch periods the school had problems with students at lunch texting students that were in a class.  Hence the reason they are now at a zero tolerance level.

Personally I am divided on the issue; I recognize the many learning possibilities  that mobile devices offer, but what is the best solution to ensure they are used for learning purposes, and not as distractions to the same?  Maybe schools could try a pilot program where a limited amount number of classes allow mobile phone use for in-class assignments, and monitor the positives and negative situations that arise.  I saw a response that indicated their location has students that use devices that are enabled for data services (accessing the Internet) only -- texting capabilities were turned off and inaccessible by the student.  I don't see this as a complete solution (there was nothing that indicated a student couldn't access email through this data link, and send an email message to another student's phone), but it might be a step in the right direction towards a more far-reaching and successful solution.

Comment by adelina moura on April 17, 2012 at 9:13am

 When we think about contents learning through mobile phones we need to think small, and simple. Micro-contents, micro-learning, micro-knowledge. 
See here how I integrate mobile learning in my classes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOvlzaqOTjI 
(Sorry it's in Portuguese language).

Some of my experiences with mobile phone here: 
http://adelinamouravitae.com.sapo.pt/

Comment by Sara Perrin on April 17, 2012 at 9:02am

I am not teaching full time yet, and have never been in a school where cell phone use is acceptable, but I am very interested in this new idea. After reading some of your comments, however, I am also seeing the possible drawbacks of using cell phones in class. There are many things that students can use them for, such as taking online polls, sending and receiving assignments, looking up information. etc. However, if they are able to use their own phones, they will probably try to text and such. As I was thinking about this I thought about all of the times my teachers caught people passing notes in class. Yet, we need paper and pencils to do our work. I think no matter what new ideas we bring to the classroom, there will always be distractions for students, but we must find some way to work around them and monitor their use. Maybe the solution is that the only phones students can use are the school's phones. Either way, I think they can bring a great opportunity for learning into classrooms. In saying that, however, in response to Linnea, it would be very difficult to try to organize this in your own classroom without some guidelines from the administration. There should be a clear and organized plan, school wide, for how the new technology will be managed and implemented.

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