Using Smartphones in Schools

I find it interesting that one of the teachers comment that it is a generational thing. I think it is more of an educational thing where the teachers do not understand the technology or understand the need for the technology. If the teachers were schooled on the technology and its usefulness, the teachers would understand why kids feel the need to have the phones with them 24/7. This would certainly allow the teachers to better control the use within the school system. Banning them outright does little in making the students and the teachers daily lives better. "If you can't beat them, join them" as the very old saying goes. This goes not mean you have lost the battle, you have just embraced the true nature of the situation and life is not as simple as it was a gerneration ago. Life is getting busier every year and we need advanced technology and advanced social awareness to handle the added responsibilities and added stress. Going back to the days of no technology is good for some but this leaves you isolated in the end and cut off from the rest of the world that is moving at lightning speeds.

One way to minimize the use of personal mobile phones in schools during class time is to provide a form of public electronic communications that allows everyone including teachers to communicate with others in the school plus limited communication with people outside the school. If more privacy or more specialized communications is required then personal phones can be used during off times like lunch or in designated zones which require pre-authorization.

Just my 2 cents on this.

Bob

Microsoft MVP - Windows Mobile Devices

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I agree completely. This technology is here to stay. Why do we continue to think that teaching school the same way we did in the 1800's is so advantageous? It is crazy to think that way.

The purpose of schools should be to teach our children to be productive adults and prepare them for continued education. To ignore the mobile technology aspect that has become such a prevailant part of society today, is bad policy.

I remember the resistance to computers when I was in school in the 1980's. Teachers claimed that computers would replace them and that depending upon a computer to teach was a bad thing. It just went to show that they did not understand the technology at all. Today we still have the archaic philosphy that anything new in education is bad.

Outright banning mobile communications is stupid considering the dangers that children face. As a retired police officer I can say that the proliferation of cell phones has decreased the response time to emergency situations exponentially. If a child can make an emergency call in an emergency situation, it can vastly increase the likelihood of a positive outcome. Think about the way criminals have had to change behavior do to the number of everyday citizens that have cell phones. It has created a network of information that has NEVER existed before. Teaching responsible use of this form of mobile technology should be part of basic education.

I've heard that schools may  be introducing E-textbooks to classrooms and also smartphones may mean that children are able to work from home or deliver their homework electronically more easily in future...
I'm sure that kids will be thrilled with the idea of a 24-7 learning environment...!! Also spells the end of "snow days"!

In schools, I can see why additional connectivity to the web would be beneficial as long as they're using that resource for the right reasons and not Facebook.

I'm a single Dad and it's so useful to have a good, efficient scheduler on a phone. In my career I work out of the office an awful lot (as I'm sure many people now do), but this has only been made entirely possible in the past few years with the improvement of smartphone and pocket PC technology.
I use a HTC Touch Diamond -http://www.mypocketpcmobile.com/FullReviewHTCTouchDiamond/tabid/247/Default.aspx

It's a pretty good gadget and I'd like to see how this type of device could be adapted to fit a learning environment.

Thanks, Craig