By Rich Payne, August 4, 2024
Through my professional work and personal life, I have observed an ongoing need for continued dialogue on the issue of adolescent smart phone management. The role schools play and how they interact with parents is evolving and of growing importance. This year many new policies came into effect. This project attempts to pull together resources for parents and teachers in order to facilitate conversations and make informed decisions. Thanks for reading https://sites.google.com/view/adolescentsmartphonemgmt523-a3/home
Hello Rich,
I found myself chuckling as I was completing your quiz in my head under Tools for Teachers, and found myself so heavily one-sided in my beliefs, in that technology integrated classroom IS the future, and overlooked how parents, other teachers, and community members may be more concerned about cybersecurity and bullying online, access to inappropriate content, and distractiveness of technology, that I really had to check my own biases.
I do find that smartwatches are infiltrating the classroom quite a bit, and often underpins a discussion around safety. I do recognize that parents want their child to be safe at school, and have a way to directly connect to their child at any time is important to some parents, but it often undermines a teacher’s role and responsibility to the safety of their students, and can often infringe on our role and Duty of Care to our students. The limited functionality of smartwatches in comparison to personal devices like cellphones or tablets do create better boundaries for learning purposes, but I do find the cons of having them in the classroom outweigh the benefits. Teachers can ultimately respond better and faster in the case of emergencies and that these smart watches can cloud the conversation and judgement of a teacher to enact on their responsibility.
I am glad to see the discussions finally happening in Canada in the public realms and look forward to hearing what insights the discussions produce, as these blanket banning of smart phones is concerning, but addressing the concern is still a priority.
Hi Rich,
This was a very timely forecast to read as I had just finished listening to a podcast called your undivided attention with the guest by the name of Jonathan Haidt. He is an American psychologist that touches on many of the points you’ve raised in your presentation. I’ll post it below if you’re interested.
I also agree with Joel that I appreciated the balance in your presentation. I think forecasting this way by showing trends through existing policies and programs really allows us as educators to come to our own reasoning.
The area that I enjoyed reading the most was the policy framework section as I do not have much insight into how school districts are balancing the use of smartphones with students and their parents. In particular for the Burnaby school district, it was encouraging to see the code of conduct had been updated to explicitly call our “safe choices” with technology, including cell phones, AI, or social media. I do think this a fulsome resource.
Thanks for this!
Reference
Jonathan Haidt On How to Solve the Teen Mental Health Crisis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omaShTNfT70
Hi Richard,
I appreciate your time to go over my project and your valuable feedback. Yes, Jonathan Haidt is very thought provoking, I’ve read his two most recent books: The Coddling of the American Mind, and The Anxious Generation. He may not have everything exactly right, but he is definitely an academic who is moving important conversations into the public, hense the podcast, I will check it out – thank you. Haidt kind of inspired me in regard to collaborative approaches as while smart phones are very personal, they are also keeping us ever connected and ubiquitous in our lives. How youth choose to engage with them somewhat depends on how others around them are, which comes back to the parents. I chose to put forth some of Burnaby’s resources because they are quite forward thinking. I’m glad that you had a positive interaction with this OER. I feel very much that you understood where I was trying to go with it and that I tried to keep impartiality in the spirit of educators and parents engaging their own reasoning.
Rich
Hello Rich,
I enjoyed reviewing your A3 presentation. The topic you chose is timely, especially in light of the recent shifts in academic policies across Canada regarding cell phone use in classrooms. As these policies evolve, the conversation around mobile devices in educational settings has never been more relevant.
You presented a wealth of valuable information on classroom management and the use of mobile devices. I particularly appreciated how you explored the challenges and opportunities of this technology. Your insights into leveraging mobile devices as powerful educational tools rather than distractions resonated with me. You’ve put much thought into understanding this issue’s complexities.
I also appreciated that you included a component for parents in your information. I have often had questions about this topic expressed to me during parent-teacher interviews, highlighting that many parents do not know and that your resource could benefit them.
The trend toward banning devices is driven by a mix of reluctance from educators and policymakers, who may be hesitant to embrace best practices for integrating mobile devices into learning. This hesitation often leads to calls for outright bans, which might not be the most effective solution, as you’ve pointed out. Your presentation provides a balanced perspective on this critical issue, offering practical strategies that could help bridge the gap between technology and education.
Your thoughtful analysis highlights the importance of not just regulating technology use but also educating both students and educators on how to incorporate these tools into the learning environment effectively.
Thank you for your thorough research and the balanced approach you’ve taken. I look forward to seeing how your ideas influence future discussions and policies in this area.
Hi Joel,
Thank you for your comments.
I appreciate that you mentioned it was balanced as I tried my best not to incert my own opinions and bias and respect that there are very much two sides to the issue, and both ‘camps’ have both parents and educators in each! To me, considering the effect that these devices are having on society, I feel there hasn’t been nearly enough conversation, debate and frankly research on the effects (positive and negative) on young learners. Therefore my main point in this project was trying to contribute some ideas to a platform to facilitate further conversation.
Thank you reading and your feedback.
Rich
Hi Rich,
Thank you so much for this important resource. Cell phones are certainly an issue in classrooms today. While many provinces are implementing ‘blocks,’ these only restrict access to certain content when using WiFi. Anything beyond that is left to the teachers’ discretion. Many students do not have their own laptops, and there are not enough computers for each student to use during work periods so many (over half the class) need to use their phones to complete their work. However, students often take advantage of this and do not use their devices responsibly. As one of my colleagues says, students are really struggling with self-regulation skills.
Perhaps if they realized that they could use their phones during free time when they finish their work, they would actually do their work during class time instead of saying, “I can do it at home,” and then doing no work at home or at school.
I think your resource for teachers, detailing the importance of creating rules and guidelines from the start, is very important but something I often fail to do. It is something I want to focus on more this year to help develop some real boundaries while not cutting out phones entirely, as I really do love my interactive presentations and games! Is there any thing you could suggest to ensure students use their devices responsibly when participating in class activities?
Thank you,
Jasmine
Hi Jasmine,
Thank you for those very real insights. Such a hard balance with motivation, disipline, access and management. Not an easy task to manage for an educator in the classroom these days with technology.
Awesome to hear that you are striving to balance both utilizing interactive presentations and games along with setting boundaries. Regarding your question, well, you will likely have more experience than me in front of a class, but what I did learn in that position is the time to be strict and lay down the rules is in the beginning. You can always get easier later on, but if you start out easy going, very hard to walk it back later. I think the same thing with parenting, better to set the correct behaviour and discipline down while they are still young, because once they are teenages it is too late to suddenly get strict. But if we have laid a good foundation, hopefully adolence is a time when we can start to let them responsibly take on more freedoms.
Good luck ~ I am sure the kids appreciate your cool presentations!
Rich
Hi Rich,
Thank you for such a thorough and consolidated guide for Smart Phone Management for both parents & educators. I never realized we needed this before going through your project! You have used simple language that makes a deep impact and the way you have organized the resources helps one easily understand the flow. I especially loved the questions you provided to start a conversation about digital devices and their use, and the way you encouraged educators to take the first step if their school or organization was not.
I strongly believe that only through working collectively can we make a difference, and the fact that you made this project keeping the collaboration between educators and parents at the forefront is very encouraging to see. Also the pros and cons of smart phone usage mentioned side by side, as well as adding each province’s policies really make your project a one stop shop for all we need to know about Smart Phone usage in youth.
Thanks for this!
Hi Mabid
Thank you very much for your thoughtful and kind feedback. We are very much aligned in our thoughts in that (to quote you) “only through working collectively can we make a difference”. I believe that because we need multiple stakeholder buy-in to make effective policy. The other reason is the ubiquitous nature of these personal smart devices. I dont know if there has ever been anything else that overlaps every aspect of our lives including home and school the way they do. Therefore I think we need a collaborative approach. Thanks for your positive feedback, I am glad you found it useful.
Rich
Hello Rich,
A major concern I’ve experienced from my students’ families, are how late their children stay up with their phones…3am…not waking p for class…and opting out as early as 13 years old… I know I’ve never had the privilege or confidence to ever push boundaries with my mom. I still can’t believe the amount of flexibility kids have these days with their sleeping time, phone use, and wi-fi access. Management I feel is determined by the parent(s) or families by building boundaries and having stricter rules around the house. It’s okay to say no. The kids will survive. When we had wi-fi outtage at school, we make do and continue along with our lessons!
Digital media access and constant connection to the digital world needs to be cut off to maintain health and well-being of the child. There is not much we can do at schools if rules are not established or being followed at home. Management starts at home and therefore can be reinforced at schools, rather than the other way around. As this often causes major burden between teachers, families, and students. That clear line of educators and parentings are becoming converged in which is conflicting and tiresome. In my opinion, smartphone management needs to start at home.
Context-driven media and AI-designed teaching resources are almost essential as a supplemental form of learning for students these days. It should not be the driving force of teaching or pedagogical decisions but it opens students up for better comprehension and a shot at their literacy, critical thinking, and idea generation. It’s a tool that I use to personalize concepts, vocabulary, or to investigate images/concepts that are difficult to grasp.
Students are now so exposed to all forms of new media – I call it “mishmash media.” It can be informative, definitely creative, but confusing. For example, a simple reel/video meme on Tik Tok/Instagram uses green screens, AI-generated characters in the background, incorporation of audio, use of costumes, bring in well-known meme ideas. That’s a lot to take in and to produce just to communicate one general thought. All in 30 seconds. As an educator, I can pick apart the function of the factors listed above to create context-driven content. But that makes teaching and student engagement much more difficult. Especially, when analyzing the differences, uses, and significance of primary and secondary sources. It’s not stimulating like the context media they’re so used to. It’s slowed down. And therefore, how can we as educators re-teach stimulation and learning, and patience. Breaking things down with authentic thought and philosophical discussion before committing to the next scroll. How can we indulge student engagement in-person through supplemental adaptations of open devices?
Hi Clare,
Too true. Boundries need to start in the home. I appreciate that you also raised the imporance of sleep. “The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours”. (CDC). Clearly some youths are not getting that due to mobile screens in bed. I do agree with you that smart phone management needs to start at home and that yes, the line between parenting at home and educating at school is overlapping when it comes to these devices. I think schools and districts, not just teachers perhaps have a new role in play in helping to educate or bring resources to parents to help them learn the importance of and the how tos of device management as well as digital literacy, citizenship and safety.
You raise another really important issue around ubiquitous exposure to media and social media, a “mishmash”, absolutely. It was hard to focus the project in, but definitely could have gone way into that as well. I am currently reading The Anxious Generation. The author believes that one of the solutions is for like minded parents to form groups that agree as to how they are going to manage these things with a shared guideline (for example on when to allow their child to have a phone or when to allow access to social media). The research showed that a lot of kids when surveyed would rather not be on social media and recognize that it is unhealthy, but only if other kids were also not on it as they fear missing out/being left out.
Even as an adult I personally find it hard to manage the powerful useful aspects of my smart phone in balance with the addictive aspects of it. Absolutely for parents and educators and youths alike, they are charting new teritory, and this may be the biggest challenge.
Thanks for your thoughts Clare.
Rich