High School must be a different beast these days.
Not only do teachers need to deal with students and all their backtalk, but they have to deal with their phones, as well.
Calling, texting, surfing -- phones have integrated themselves in every part of our lives, including school. And teachers and administrators across the country are having to re-write their rulebooks to accommodate them.
Some schools allow them between periods, others ban them outright. But in England, among other places, I'm sure, some academics are looking to welcome them into the learning process.
In the Winter 2009 issue of "The Futurist," the regular journal of the World Future Society, Rick Docksai reports on a British study that lauds the benefits of cell phones in the classroom.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Nottingham, tracked 331 teenage students across five schools that incorporated cell phones into their classrooms. Among other tasks, the students used the phones to record lessons, access websites, create movies and set homework reminders, according to the article. They used the phones to transport homework back and forth, and to time activities, as well.
Teachers and students throughout the article celebrate the use of phones as another way for students to reach their students. "We hope that, in the future, mobile phone use will be as natural as using any other technology in school," Elizabeth Hartnell- Young, co-author of the study, says in the piece. But I'm not sold yet on the idea of bringing cell phones into the classroom (Docksai, 2009).
Certainly, they could aid the education process, as can many other tools. And maybe in the years to come there will be a place for them. But, for the moment at least ,the opportunity for phones to distract students seems too great.
Phones are more than a means of communications now, for teenagers especially. Teenagers use them as toys to play with friends, chatting casually and sharing jokes, gossip and information.
I believe strongly there will be a time when our use of cell phones, as a society, off and they will be used more for basic communication than entertainment. But until that happens, I'm afraid they're simply a distraction and should be keep out of the classroom as much as possible.
Docksai, R. (2009). Teens and cell phones. The Futurist, 43, 10-11. Retrieved April 24 2011, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/pqdweb?index=1&did=1606130781&SrchMode=1&sid=8&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1303684450&clientId=49311/.
I agree. I have a 14 year old nephew and he is constantly texting, surfing, etc. on his phone. In fact, I argued with my sister when she told me she was getting him a smart phone for that very reason. Luckily his school doesn't allow phone use, at least during class, or his grades would definitely be worse than they are now.
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