Student Devices on School Networks

Teachers are starting to give up the cell phone battle. Think about it. Kids walk into a classroom with a powerful, tiny communication device and are told to turn it off and put it away. So the devices go under desks and into pockets where students continue to use them. When technology goes underground it becomes subversive and a classroom management headache. On Tuesday, I heard a student panel at Forsyth County Public Schools who were frustrated with the class time wasted by teachers asking students to put away their technology.

Some schools in the district have adopted a BYOT policy (bring your own technology). Students bring laptops, itouches, mobile phones, and even Nintendo DSI’s…whatever they need to be more productive and more effective learners. Teachers want to see the technology on desktops, face up when it’s ok to use and face down when it’s time to focus on the teacher. This is a respectful policy for everyone–teachers and students.

Many school districts are finding that if you open school networks to laptops, you’re going to find that many students prefer to access the Internet, calendars, and take notes on tiny devices rather than lug a heavy computer with them. A middle school in the Paradise Valley School Unified District in Arizona has this story to share about using cell phones as teaching tools.

If you are interested in the topic, ask about my talk: Disrupting Technologies: Welcome to the Jungle.