ETEC 511 Blog

Can we teach against technology?

 All the high schools I know have "electronic devices" policies, all prohibit the use of cell phones in classrooms. The reason for such policies is clear: prevent distraction. But how many of us are effective in implementing such policies? Or do we see occasional uses during instruction but instead of admitting defeat, we let the incidents pass, pretending we did not see students smiling at their groins? Or perhaps we give repeated warnings only to deliver the same warning again sometime later?

Optimally, I wish that my students find math so interesting that they would not waste a second of their time looking at their phones while in class. Unfortunately, that is far from the truth. I find myself more irritated about having to spend my energy and class time on playing police with the phones than the violation itself. In fact, my reminding students to put the phone away, taking their phones away, or sending the students along with their phones to the office cause more distraction to the flow of the class than students doing whatever with their phone. But. of course, I know that students can't learn and text their friends at the same time so I keep intruding.

And then in one of those professional development days, a teacher who is known to be a more effective math teacher at school tells me that he encourages his students to use their phones because there are many apps which can make math learning much easier. I was skeptical at the time, but I keep thinking about the validity of his claim. I know that I am fighting a losing battle with the virtual appendage, and thus I must adjust my strategies.

At the beginning of this school year, I told my students that if they needed to use their phone for whatever reasons, they can always step out of the classroom and then come back when done. I told them that they didn't have to ask for my permission, and that I trusted them to use that privileged responsibly and if they felt that they wanted to play with their phone more than learning then they could stay out for the whole period. I assured them that my feelings won' be hurt as much as their texting in class. I had students download graphing apps onto their phones and used the phones to graph when I wanted to demonstrate graphical behavior of functions.

I notice that students still use their phones for purposes other than learning but very briefly. When we work on graphing assignments, students seem to be more interested in the colorful graphs on their screen. Overall, I think I am more relaxed because my focus is on the teaching and not on playing police, and students are more respectful toward my requests to be on-task because they know they can step out to use their phones (although there has not been such incidence). I look at similar findings and see that some schools are changing their cell phones policies to adjust just as I have. The embedded video is a reminder that even totalitarian regimes fail against technology so may be I should learn to teach with it and not against it.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-students-welcome-end-to-cellphone-ban-in-schools-1420646138

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb11/vol68/num05/Should-We-Allow-Students-to-Use-Their-Cell-Phones-in-School%C2%A2.aspx