Cell-Phones in Classrooms
It is interesting to me to see where politics and school intersect. In our recent readings of Ito, et. al. (2009), we have read about the some of the amazing things youth are doing with technology, as they move from media consumers to media producers. As students work with technology in the classroom they develop real-world 21st-century skills that are noted in government documents such as the Framework for Student Learning from Alberta Education (2011). Many people are scared of digital change, yet, as Thomas and Brown (2011) put it “embracing change and seeing information as a resource can help us stop thinking of learning as an isolated process of information absorption and start thinking of it as a cultural and social process of engaging with the constantly changing world around us (p. 47).”
On March 15, 2019, Ontario education minister, Lisa Thompson, announced that in the next school year her department will be “developing a new policy that will ban the use of cellphones during class except for educational purposes” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2019, para. 6). This discussion has me reflecting on technology research and my own practice.
Cell phones have become an important part of the everyday learning of my students. The students I work with are often encouraged to engage with technology often. Students create, consume, engage, and even communicate frequently with their personal digital devices. Whether they are researching for more information on a given topic, movement, performance style, dance etc., or developing or creating their own digital videos or worlds in digital forms they are most often using technology for positive purposes. This has not come easy nor is it fool proof.
With the increase in students having personal digital devices at school, we created a family technology agreement (Thomas, 2017) see figure 1. Although not a binding legal contract, it was a way to allow for positive use of digital technologies at school, and when interacting with other students online. This contract brought awareness to students about digital citizenship, gave all staff the opportunity to work with students on digital responsibility and to help make teachers allies in the digital world rather than just ‘patrollers’ who take away technology. This contract has allowed us to have positive discussions with students about digital behaviour and allows for direct consequences if this contract is breached.
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| Figure 1. Family Technology Agreement with the school Calgary Arts Academy (2017) |
By allowing students to bring their own technology to school has reduced the number of smaller digital devices needed in the classroom. Students tend to use their own technology to do basic tasks such as videos, blog/assessment posts, agendas or calendars, group communication, and even some work on Minecraft or other school used digital gaming sites. This allows the school to purchase more devices such as laptops or other larger hardware for more intense tasks, rather than smaller iPads, or iPods.
Students need to be able to use technology that they are familiar with, and are able to interact with outside of school hours. By allowing digital devices in the classroom, learning can take place at any time within or without the school walls. Allowing them to connect personally to circular ideas, gather with like-minded individuals and collaborate with other students digitally.
Deciding on technology use in classrooms should be the decision of the teachers in classrooms and not the government. The nature of education is situative as Sawyer states, “knowing is a process that involves the person, the tools and other people in the environment, and the activities in which that knowledge is being applied” (Sawyer, 2014, p. 6). In dealing with digital technologies it is really a classroom, by classroom choice and something that should be left to the discretion of the teacher, in combination with school administration.
Alberta Education (2011). Framework for student learning: competencies for engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit. Retrieved from: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/4c47d713-d1fc-4c94-bc97-08998d93d3ad/resource/58e18175-5681-4543-b617-c8efe5b7b0e9/download/5365951-2011-framework-student-learning.pdf
Calgary Arts Academy (2017). Family Technology Agreement.
Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittanti, M., Cody, R., Stephenson, B. H., Horst, H. A., ... & Perkel, D. (2009). Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids living and learning with new media. MIT press.
Ontario Ministry of Education (March 15, 2019). Press release: 'Back-to-Basics' Math Curriculum, Renewed Focus on Skilled Trades and Cellphone Ban in the Classroom Coming Soon to Ontario. Retrieved from: https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2019/03/back-to-basics-math-curriculum-renewed-focus-on-skilled-trades-and-cellphone-ban-in-the-classroom-co.html
Sawyer, R. K. (Ed.) (2014). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Seattle, WA: Create Space.
This is a very heated topic on the playground right now, Riley. Thanks for sharing your experience regarding cell phone use at your school. My neighbourhood middle school has a total and complete ban on cell phones (use and possession) inside the school and on the grounds. If a child is caught with the offending technology, it is to be confiscated.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first told of this policy is surprised me actually. The parents having the heated debate were mostly put off because they had given their child a cell phone for security reasons and were choosing to advise their child to be stealthy about having it at the school. In my perspective, as an educator, I was wondering why such a device was so feared?
In today's trend of participatory learning cultures and social learning cooperatives, wouldn't the administration be working to find a middle ground between the cell phone as a tool for learning and a toy for entertainment? Wouldn't the objective be to harness this powerful technological tool and guide the children in responsible usage? It is an institute of learning, after all. A social contract is a very productive strategy for compromise. It constructs a framework of understanding in which the children can feel safe to experiment and explore. Just like any effective environment of inquiry, if the rules are established and enforce, one is free to practice autonomy and take agency over their own learning.
I am hoping this policy changes before my children go to this school. I would like them to be taught constraint and self control when it comes to using technology appropriately. The temptation to get off task can be seductive when presented with all of the delicious things mobile devices can do but I feel like, as educators, we need to take back the control. We can do better than bans. History has told us this does not work. We can do better.
Great conversation here! The question is whether or not we are teaching students how to be responsible citizens. When we ban such opportunities as the use of cell phones in learning environments, we are contributing to inappropriate use of such technologies. Our learning environments are the ideal place for students to learn to create and produce and with tools that they will encounter outside of our schools. We do have a lot of work to do! Keep on!
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