Northern Virginia Magazine’s Post

📴 #Ontario has now banned #cellphone use in classrooms across the province. Do you think this was a positive move? Do you think it will be an effective move in reducing tech distractions in the classroom? 🤔 I’m excited to see the impact of this change on my upcoming placement. While students in grades 7 and up are allowed to use their phones if directed by their teacher, I’m interested to see what scenarios teachers may ask them to use their phones. 👩🏫 I have seen cell phones used productively in the classroom. Often, students need to use their cell phones to research if a school does not have access to enough Chromebooks or laptops. Activities like #GoogleCardboard require cell phone use. Teachers often use games like Kahoot to increase student engagement, but again, this often requires the use of a phone. ❔ So, where do we draw the line between productive and unproductive use? Do we go back to pen and paper and the use of physical whiteboards? Are there strategies we can implement in the classroom to mitigate potential distractions when using cell phones with permission? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Attention, Teachers, and Parents! Did you know that only a few states, like Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Vermont, have introduced or enforced cellphone restrictions in classrooms? According to a recent article by AP News, there is a lack of consensus and consistent policies regarding cellphone usage in schools. According to the post below and the National Center for Education Statistics, "77% of U.S. schools say they prohibit cellphones at school for non-academic use, but It does not mean students are following those bans or all those schools are enforcing them nationally." The question remains: should there be a ban on cellphone use by students in the classroom? Let's start a conversation about this topic and work towards creating a safe and productive learning environment for our students.    Check out the article for more information: https://lnkd.in/eMt625AA

Explore my latest article, 'Why We Should Ban Phones in K-12 Schools: A Changed Perspective.' Uncover the reasons behind the growing call for a phone-free learning environment and its impact on student well-being and learning.

UPDATE: Los Angeles Unified School District School Board agreed to ban the use of cell phones by students beginning in January... Here is the article: https://lnkd.in/dCFTht6c Now more than ever schools have time to engage with the community and help the students and parents embrace WHY this is necessary and come up with a plan to make it happen. As a parent- you might remember if your child used a pacifier when they were babies how difficult it may have been to get your child to stop in time for school? Now imagine the challenge of disengaging from one's smartphone/watch for an entire day... Understanding the challenges that are ahead it is crucial schools receive the support needed to make this happen mandate achievable knowing that ultimately it is in place to improve the mental health status of the students and pause the self-perpetuating loop described in Nir Eyal's 2014 book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-forming Products that draws all of us into the ether of our APPs and digital games. So WHAT is the plan? How will schools engage their communities in understanding the WHY? Then what will schools actually do to safely lock away these small devices? Please #share your ideas. #smartphoneban #mentalhealth #k12education

Susquehanna Valley school district is going device-free during the school day "Elementary students will turn off devices and store them in their classroom or backpack for the day. Students in grades 6 through 12 will be required to put their devices in a Yondr pouch, which locks with a magnet. Students will be able to unlock the pouches if they're leaving for open lunch or when they’re leaving at the end of the day." Obviously adults should lead by example and follow the same policies? We know by "research" that this problem impacts them as well. "The district said it went device-free "to minimize distraction and provide the best learning environment possible for our students." The district said research has shown constant phone and social media use are having a significant effect on the mental and social-emotional health of students." Empirical data please. State the problem, and set the expected goals of this experiment. School leaders should stick to unambiguous school related data points. Should parents expect their kids grades to improve? Their test scores? Their graduation rates? Their attendance numbers? What exactly is going to benefit from this experiment? Schools should not, imo, be asking for, storing or assessing kids mental health data. Not secure enough, not private enough and, imo, not capable of professionally assessing mental health status. What else are schools doing to educate our kids in how to become critical thinking members of both the physical and digital worlds? I should note that I disagree with this policy for kids in high school all together. #Education not bans for adolescents. We have an opportunity to help our kids, not merely try to hide the world from them. How do we expect our kids to make their own choices, govern themselves, learn self-control ... if we force them to comply, rather than show them how to manage their own lives? We want to create #independent people, not #codependent people. #modernleadership #trust #selfcontrol #humandevelopment #digitalcitizenship https://lnkd.in/epJCAMA6

“At first it was a battle. But it has been so worth it. Students are more attentive and engaged during class time. Teachers are able to teach without competing with cellphones. And student learning has increased,” shares Jared Christensen, Vice Principal of Delta High School, in rural Utah. Students are noticing the difference too, talking about how leaving their phones behind during school has really helped them concentrate and stay on track with their lessons. While there are some worries from students and parents about not being able to communicate, especially if there's an emergency, many are starting to see the upside of spending less time on screens and more time interacting face-to-face. 👉 Read more about US schools are making the phone-free policy work in their classrooms: https://lnkd.in/e4Ta3pZQ

Regardless of which side of the political isle you're on, reliance on devices hurts learning for most people. The moment someone around you check their phones, you might notice that you also would want to reach your phone. The conversation stops and everyone is in their own world through the glass screen. 99.9% of the time, students are probably responding to an algorithm that draws maximum attention to their social media content or games. This phenomena is happening all the time in today's classrooms, except the ones where there is a tight policy on the use of devices. These school-wide policies will help teachers police less and focus on teaching. In the beginning, students will want the devices back because it's awkward to finally talk to others. That is why starting classes with personal questions that lead to conversations and relationships become essential in the classroom. With the time and attention back in the classroom, these questions will reinforce empathy, curiosity, and courage, the skills that AI will never replace. I do believe that having conversations are far more important than restricting the device usage. It is a good start on creating the condition for the conversations to naturally happen. I am grateful that my students find it more exciting and fun to talk to one another than to stare at their phones, through the questions I ask with AskClass. Thank you Jonathan Haidt for the tremendous research on the Anxious Generation, Vivek Murthy for your initiatives at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Gavin Newsom for encouraging school leaders to restrict phone use in California public schools. https://lnkd.in/g5kC2ysG

Super exciting to see that LAUSD is moving towards a cell-phone free learning environment. This week (Today, 18June) the school board will be voting on such a measure. The key for this to be successful is clearly stating the evidence and reasons for the move. One school principal that has made this shift explains "Hunsberger, who started in LAUSD as a teacher 20 years ago, said that technology has far outpaced analog classroom distractions like note-passing and paper-football. “The challenge with the cell phone is the constant barrage of notifications that students are receiving,” Hunsberger said." After reading Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation I too have realized that between the notifications, the 'pavlovian cycle' of reinforcement on social media and the overall shifts from analog to digital made me realise that for our kids sanity we need to reduce the temptations. In order for schools to be successful in this transition it is critical to provide students (and parents) the reasoning and help them pro-actively make this transition happen. I was imagining a school putting out a bowl of cigarettes, bottles of alcohol, a collection of tablets (pills) and a pile of cell phones- with the question around the idea of addiction and its impacts with some data of course. Following from there the question is how best to secure the phones away during the school day and minimize the friction between school staff and students. There is nothing worse than having to negatively reinforce school rules around these kinds of expectations. Telling kids to put away their phones and threaten to take them away leaves school staff exhausted and focused on negative reinforcements. It would be far better if schools are able to shift the attention to a more celebratory tone and students demonstrate a willingness for their own health to lock the phones away (preferably in a box that charges them.) What are some successful models schools have already used to keep the phones out of reach? https://lnkd.in/d-E-8dDM #cellphoneban #anxiousgeneration #k12education

I've seen many posts about Ontario's ban on cellphones in the classroom but the importance of the subject can't be discussed enough! As we know, the province of Ontario has banned cellphones in the classroom as of this September. The goals of this policy are to: 👉 decrease distractions in the classroom 👉 decrease overusage and screen time 👉 enhance the classroom experience Due to the overwhelming concerns about the impact of cellphones on students' focus in class and their academic performance, this policy has become necessary for change. Although the advancement of technology has its benefits and has created efficiency in the classroom, we need to ensure these benefits outweigh the potential harms and distractions of cellphones. Will this benefit the classroom experience or create new challenges?👇 #Education #SchoolPolicy #TechnologyInEducation #OntarioSchools

First, let me say that I completely understand and support the concerns surrounding cell phone usage among students and the negative impact it can have on their academic performance and social-emotional well-being. However, the proposed legislation falls short in addressing the root causes and instead places an undue burden on schools and teachers. Here’s why: 1. It Adds More Financial Burden on Schools 2. It’s Predominantly an Out-of-School Issue 3. Policies Already Exist 4. Teaching Digital Citizenship Is Our Job 5. Exemptions Will Be Impossible to Manage Schools can and should focus on enforcing existing policies, educating students on responsible digital behavior, and working with parents to address issues arising outside of school hours.