Cell Phone Battle Royale

Ira's posted a good one over at SpeEdChange wearing the title 'Argument and Belief'.

The piece jumps straight out of the comments to a recent post on cell phones in school over on Change.org. (Cell phones have been a big topic this week, probably stemming from Arnie's comments earlier this month). A firestorm erupted in the change.org piece's comments when the author stated her personal preference that phones, laptops, and other pretty standard-issue 21st century mobile devices be left outside her classroom.

It would seem to be pretty innocuous if it weren't for the reasoning given for this preference (as well as the ultimate logical outcome of what it means in terms of the shifting models of authority in present day connected classrooms). But, I'll let you read the post, the comments, and Ira's piece to figure out where all this went.

Let's just say, one of Socol's comments to the original piece sums up one side of the debate quite nicely:

Why do your rights as a teacher trample mine as a student? Why must I function with the media and tools which make you happy? And why would you, as a teacher, refuse to help me learn the information and communication tools which I will use for the rest of my life?

I Think 'Common Sense Media' didn't do their Homework

Was considering posting about the Common Sense Media silliness about kids using technology to cheat, but Michael Kaechele beat me to it with an excellent post.

First of all, where are the teachers in the classroom administering the tests? I think cheating is not that easy if teachers are paying attention while they administer tests.... Cheating has been around for ages before we had cell phones. Don't blame phones for students behavior.

More importantly teachers should re-evaluate their tests. If tests are really at high-level thinking requiring analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and application then they should be "cheat-proof." It is much easier to cheat on multiple choice or fill in the blank than on a test that actually requires thinking, interpreting, and students writing their own opinion.

Absolutely agree.