Here are some useful resources on the topic of cellphone use in class:
Our school implemented a ‘keep it in your backpack whenever u are in classI’ policy this year. It’s only been two days and it’s worked great. We’ll c how it goes, of course
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) September 5, 2023
Study: ” 94 percent of high school students accessed social media on their phones during class”
More Info On Student Cellphone Use In Class Research
Here’s a thoughtful post from Larry Cuban’s blog.
Managing Student Cellphone Use In Class
6 Reasons to Put Your Phone Away is a great infographic.
Statistic Of The Day: Student Cellphone Use
Do Smartphones Have a Place in the Classroom? is from The Atlantic and is by Paul Barnwell.
Fomo, stress and sleeplessness: are smartphones bad for students? is from The Guardian.
Here Are Two Activities I’ll Be Doing With My ELL Students Day We Come Back From Break
New Study On Cellphones Helpful To Teachers Everywhere
France grapples with whether to ban cellphones in schools is from NBC News. The article covers a lot of ground.
Laptops And Phones In The Classroom: Yea, Nay Or A Third Way? is from NPR.
Best Article Ever To Have Students Read About Cellphones!
France Bans Smartphones in Schools Through 9th Grade. Will It Help Students? is from The NY Times.
France Moves To Ban Smartphones In Schools is from NPR.
Hide Your Phone When You’re Trying to Work. Seriously. is from The NY Times.
383 disruptions and learning wasn’t one is from EdNC.
Turn off your cell phone while studying. Put it face down. Stash it in a bag and ignore it. New research suggests that’s all futile. pic.twitter.com/OVGb2w5dd6
— edutopia (@edutopia) May 23, 2019
Problematic smartphone use linked to poorer grades, alcohol misuse, more sexual partners is from Science Daily.
Hack Your Space is by Angela Duckworth, and shares some useful research and ideas to share with students about cellphone use – once we get back into the physical classroom.
The Case for Making Classrooms Phone-Free appeared in Ed Surge. It raises important points, though I think it offers an unrealistic solution.
This is one of the more common-sense perspectives on cellphones in the classroom that I’ve seen. https://t.co/xvvt1KanV2
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) October 5, 2022
During class, our school ‘rule’ is only for academic purposes. I tell students I’m okay w/ an occasional glance, but not with obsession. I also tell them that if they get call from family or work they can take it outside. It’s generally worked well. ELLs can use it 4 translation
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) October 5, 2022
ARE MOBILE PHONES HARMING YOUR STUDENTS’ CONCENTRATION? is from Inner Drive.
Though I think the author of The Case for Phone-Free Schools (updated links) shares an unrealistic perspective that many non-teachers have about cellphone use in schools, he does share research that can be used in classroom lessons as part of developing a more practical policy.
Cell Phones and Schools is from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium.
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I teach 7 and 8 th grade science at a rural school in Florida. I teach all 130 of the 7th and 8th graders and am always trying to engage and interest them using anything I can come up with, technology included.
I have always wanted to try something with QR codes and just before Christmas break I made a simple QR code that contained the bell-ringer. Before I showed it to them I said that the entire class would get a 100 if anyone in the class could answer the bell-ringer correctly, but if there was no correct answer, then a zero. I also said that I would give a small prize for the first person that could figure out the question they need to answer. By now the class was very confused, but intrigued.
I then showed the QR code, although most students did not know what to do, a few questioned out loud whether it needed to be scanned. I said, well that was probably the only way they could come up with the question. Now they were further perplexed since they are not allowed to used their smart phones, but someone would finally ask permission to do so. I said go for it, after the first person had enough courage to take out their phone and everyone realized that I was indeed allowing it, then their was a mad rush to download the app and to scan the code. After determining the question .”What is the tallest volcano in the world?”, they then wondered if they could use the class computers to get the answer, and I said, well, you just used your smartphones…
This “experiment” worked better than I expected, but it wound up totally exceeding it. After I did this in my 4th period class, someone asked if they might be allowed to take notes on their phone. I initially was skeptical and said that I am sure it would be slower than writing notes, but immediately I heard from half the class assuring me that would not be the case. I said ok we will see what happens today and allowed them to take notes on their smartphones if they wanted as I only had about 10 minutes worth of notes to give at the end of the period. Not only did the keep up, but when I released them after the bell, I had 6 student excitedly show me their notes on their phones as they left. I was amazed, since in my seven years as a teacher, I never once ever seen nor heard about any student who was excited about taking notes, and I had 6 of them in one class!
By the end of the day the word got out that I allowed smart devices to be used to take notes, I had probably 25% of all my 7th and 8th grade students approach me to ask if they could bring in and use their smart devices. I was overwhelmed bymthis response, but was not expecting nor prepared to open this “can of worms”
Although I did not ask my Principal to do my QR code “experiment”, I did talk to her afterwards about the outcome. Since she is supportive of technology and believes that this is sort of the direction that schools may be heading towards, yet she wanted to think about it first and said she would get back to me when we return after the holidays.
If it is approved, i wonder if this is actually a breakthrough or will it be just a fad? I do not know, but to see six excited students showing me how they took notes on their phone was “priceless”.
Hi Larry – I used student cell phones in an undergraduate course. Most students were 18-22 years old. A few were HS seniors. I did end-of-course surveys for the two semesters I taught the course. Here are the results of the survey Mobile Learning: End of Course Student Survey Part II – http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/mobile-learning-end-of-course-student-survey-part-ii/ I believe in the power of student voice and they, for the most part, viewed it as very positive.