Keep Cell Phones Out of the Classroom

I've got a sixth-grade son who doesn't yet have a cell phone. He's got an iPod, his second, because he lost the first. And a laptop.

But no cell phone, thank God. He doesn't need that aggravation yet. And I think cell phones at school are, for the most part, a nuisance and a way for kids to goof off.

I was feeling pretty strongly about this, until I read Mike Elgan's column on Datamation, "Why Are Knowledge Machines Banned In Schools?"

I think Elgan fundamentally misunderstands how modern teenagers -- and the modern, under-stress public school -- work. But he makes a compelling argument:

How is it possible that we as a civilization have invented an inexpensive, universally available Knowledge Machine, then fail to teach students how to use it?

The problem is that cell phones, as well as media players and other electronic devices, are often used by students for distraction and mischief. Teachers want them banned, because kids are using gadgets to tune out their classrooms, pass around porn and cheat.

What teachers and schools don't seem to understand is that there is no connection between the disruptive and counterproductive use of cell phones by students, and their use for learning.

In fact, schools could make an equally insane argument against paper. Students are passing around notes on paper, viewing porn on paper, and using paper to roll joints and smoke them in the boys' room. Ban paper in schools!

Good points, but I think too much technology in schools -- technology that doesn't work right or is too expensive -- causes its own hassles. At my son's school this year, they all started working on the classroom's old Mac iBooks. Problem is, 90 percent of the kids didn't know how to use iBooks.
 
Plus, none of the kids have had a full typing class, like we used to get back in high school in the Dark Ages. But they were expected to fairly quickly type in sentences the teacher was reading aloud. Many kids were extremely frustrated. That's why I bought my son his own iBook off Craigslist for $150. (I later upgraded to an old Titanium PowerBook, because the iBook was too slow for games, but that's another blog topic.)

Maybe it's because I've dealt with so much lousy technology over the years. Or maybe it's because I've worked in overcrowded public schools and have seen what really goes on. The bottom line is this: until technology is easier to use and less expensive, don't go flooding the classroom with it, regardless of arguments like Elgan's.