Category: Uncategorised

Troy: positive integration of cell phones in the classroom

Brian: Alternatives to cell phone use

Joel: challenges with cell phone integration in the classroom

Raphaela: Current School district policies regarding cell phone use in the classroom across B.C.

1. Positive Integration of Cell Phones in the Classroom

Cell phones allow students to have: access to a calculator, documentation through a camera, as well as access to the internet. With the advances in smartphones, phones are often able to act as a personal computer that can be taken beyond the classroom provided that students have access to the same resources or tools at school as if they were at home (ensures transferability of work from school and home, barring internet connection). Phones are an equalizer in education access and a portal to the internet, Thomas and O’Bannon mention that as many as 80% will have access to mobile devices by 2015 and two thirds of high school students will have access (2013). Situations where a set of computers are required can call for advanced planning and setup for teachers to enable their students to access the internet. Rather than deal with cell phone use some schools have outright banned them. Phones are an extremely powerful tool as they can act as a vehicle for: content creation, assessment and reflection, camera feature for documentation of projects, (Thomas, et al. 2013). Phones can act in the same way as computers do, but with added flexibility. Access to cellphones in the classroom can provide opportunities for cooperative problem solving, research, and general collaboration. Phones have built in mathematical tools to perform calculations which can reduce a burden on many students to buy a calculator (graphing or simple). Students could learn through a video or an audio which would not be readily available otherwise, a second source of learning has been found especially useful in a class like dance (Li,Zhou, Teo 2018). Having access to phones allows for the submission of surveys quickly and anonymously. 

2. Alternatives to Cell Phones in the Classroom

Much of the polemic surrounding cellphones in public schools centers on a dichotomy of a blanket ban on cellphones, claiming they are a disruptive menace to learning  and those that begrudgingly accept their presence as an inevitability and we should we utilize their positive attributes in order to assist learning as much as possible. I think the only solution is a compromise. Teachers should try to explore alternatives to cell phones in the class and not use it as a default tool of learning (Hance, 2019)I would start with something as simple as a cell phone holder on tables in class.  Cell phones would be placed in holders at the start of class and only come out when the teacher instructs them to do so to facilitate the lesson. The cell phone therefore is visible to the teacher. Second, students constantly on their phones in class is an indicator that they are not engaged in the class material. Students should be given clear objectives in each class and transitions between each activity in the lesson need to be smooth and efficient as it is in these pauses that students instinctively reach for our phones. When students interact with each other meaningfully, or possibly competitively, they build social and communication skills and will forget about their phones. For example, if students are not actively participating in an activity, they should be given the task of evaluating peers. Introverted students can articulate opinions on exit sheets to be submitted in lieu of active vocal contributions. Lastly, one of my main concerns about cell phone use is its deleterious effects on memory, or digital amnesia.  To address this, I would encourage using ‘brain dumps’, in which research indicates improves long-term memory when we are routinely asked to pull ideas from memory. We should encourage students to do brain dumps on what they’ve learned recently as opposed to reflexively telling students to reach for phones.  Extensions to this could be making lists, drawing pictures and free writes

The following are additional alternatives tools which can replace cell phone use in the classroom.

Hance, M. 2019. 5 Ways to keep students off their cell phones in the classroom https://www.teachhub.com/technology-in-the-classroom/2019/07/5-ways-to-keep-students-off-their-cell-phones-in-the-classroom/

10 no-internet remote learning activities. (2020, March 30). Retrieved from https://ditchthattextbook.com/no-internet-remote-learning/