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Title:
Source: The Conversation, Academic rigor, journalistic flair
URL:
Critical Question: How does the presence of mobile phones in schools impact student achievement?
Key
Points: "We found that not only did student achievement improve (by banning phones), but also that low-achieving and at-risk students gained the most. We found the impact of banning phones for these students equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days."
Intended
Audience: Teachers, students, administrators, parents, lawmakers, taxpayers.
Relevance: This is relevant because the trend is toward allowing cell phones in schools, while this data shows this allowance to be detrimental to learning, most notably for low-achieving and at-risk students. Post cell phone ban gains in learning are most prominent among the lowest achievers, and changing policy to allow phones in schools has the potential to exacerbate learning inequalities.
Also see accompanying (linked) study from the London School of Economics titled Ill Communication: Technology, Distraction & Student Performance
at http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1350.pdf
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Sunday, October 30, 2016
How smart is it to allow students to use mobile phones at school?
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this is a very interesting study. The findings are slightly surprising to me. I am willing to accept that students do not need to be on their phones however I do think that a cell phone can be an incredible educational resource. I think that creating times for certain projects or activities where students could use their phones could be very beneficial, especially for some of our sped students who will need the resources phones can provide to help them manage their daily lives.
ReplyDeleteI think that phones are a resource that can be effectively used in the classroom setting but only if done correctly. I notice that in my classroom that I observe, phones are out constantly however, most if not all students are on social media or listening to music. It drives me crazy because I do not believe the students are able to do their best work when they have a constant distraction in their hand. With that being said, there are many educational apps and resources on cellular devices that can benefit students education. I think it comes to technological management by the teacher and finding a balance between powers of good and powers of evil in regards to technology.
ReplyDeleteThere has been a lot of debate on this. I have seen that phones can be both a boon and hindrance in learning. I think the trick is 1) how the school community as a whole approaches the subject, and 2) how the teacher approaches it. I have often used my phone with my students as an instant resource. I think high school, however, is when phones should be allowed to be used as tools in the classroom. Jr. high school students don't seem to have the level of maturity yet that would allow an appropriate use of the resource.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic to explore and study. Battling students every day over cell phone use is at an all-time high. While I do agree that cell phones and other electronics are fantastic tools for education, I also believe they impede growth in certain areas. One specific area being that of verbal communication. Just the other day I had a discussion with students regarding how often they communicate with their friends and family. Several of them mentioned they communicate all the time with various people. Then I got more specific and asked how often they verbally communicate either face to face, via phone, or via video chat. This drastically changed their responses! They all looked at me as if I was out of my mind for asking such a question. Not only would removing cell phone lead to an increase of academic performance, as this study mentioned, I envision it also boosting relationships for the better by forcing students to learn the wonderful art of verbal communication.
ReplyDeleteAlong with other comments on this thread... I agree that the use of phones and the technology that can be leveraged can be integrated into the classroom with set restrictions. I see some high school classes that have students use their phones for quizzes (kahoot, scorative, etc) but when the teacher states that phones need to be off and out of sight, the kids respect the culture of the classroom and obey. I think it depends on how you structure your classroom's environment and use of technology, but agree that middle school students shouldn't be using the cell phones as they wouldn't have an immediate need where as hs students might (jobs, children, etc).
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