[nobe-l] [noble-l] cell phones in the classroom

Thu Oct 22 22:39:25 UTC 2015

Hi All,
  Since I think I am the one who made the comment being referred to, I figured I would chime in here to explain the comment. 

 I agree with the below thoughts. I think that at the K12 level, this is critical, but at the college level (where I teach), these are now adults and they need to begin to learn to make the proper decision for themselves at this level. Thus, I think that at higher levels, they need to begin to learn to make their own decisions and then accept the consequences. If they can not learn to do so, they will not make it in society once they have their college degrees.

  As an interesting aside, I was chatting with one of the students in our Secondary Ed dept the other day and  since I had majored in Ed and Psych when I was in college, he and I were comparing some of our experiences in the K12 setting. He told me that the teacher whom he is currently being supervised by (the teacher and this student are both fully sighted) has students in her classes that use their cells all the time, even though their school has a relatively strict policy. He said that in today's society what he is seeing with these students is that given  the immense amount of multitasking they are doing throughout most of their day in general (whether it be via cells or in other ways), are starting to be more proficient (at least at the secondary level) at successfully performing in school while also using cells. This may just be this particular group of students that he is seeing (he is with this teacher most of the day) but I tend to  wonder  if, given the massive amounts of multimedia that is being presented to children today, if this is truly making them more capable of being much more skilled multi-taskers. I know that for some children this  is not a good thing (e.g., there are individuals who, no matter how hard they try, they will just never be successful multi-taskers). Sadly, and unfortunately, because of  visual impairment,  we are often more harshly judged in situations such as cell phone use in class than are our sighted colleagues (e.g., (the teacher can not control their use because she/he can not see what is happening vs.  the students in that sighted teacher's class are doing fine since they can multi-task).
Have a wonderful weekend all!
Chris

Dr. Christine M. Szostak
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Department of Social Sciences
Shorter University
Rome, Georgia
szostak.1 at osu.edu
cszostak at shorter.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: nobe-l [mailto:nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jasmine Kotsay via nobe-l
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 6:12 PM
To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jasmine Kotsay <jasmine.kotsay at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] cell phones in the classroom

Hi,
	I wanted to comment on this as well.
I, too, do not think that students should have cell phones in the classroom.  I enjoyed reading everything you all had to say, but one post caught my attention.  Someone said that if students want to learn, they will learn and keep their cell phone usage to little or none.  However, if students do not learn, especially at the K-12 levels, it comes down on the teachers.  It makes us look bad because our students are not learning everththing they are supposed to.  If we cannot keep the usage of cell phones down, we as teachgs will look as though we do not teach our students the way edy should be taught.  This, in turn, could lead to teachers being fired for allowing students to use cell phones, even if we are trying as hard as we can to keep the phones out of our students' hands.
 ----- Original Message -----
From: Domonique Lawless via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org
To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List <nobe-l at nfbnet.org Date sent: Sat, 17 Oct 2015 21:11:54 -0500
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] cell phones in the classroom

Hi,
I have not tried this myself however I have heard of some teachers who have their students place phones in a box upon entering the classroom.  When the class is over they can retrieve their cell phones from the box.  Depending on the school you are at or the students you have this might work.  I hope you're able to find a solution that works for you.

Domonique
Sent from my iPhone

 On Oct 17, 2015, at 10:59 AM, Craig Cooper via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 Greetings,
 After six weeks in the classroom, in my first year of teaching in a  public high school, my biggest classroom management challenge has been  the inappropriate use of cell phones.  Most students observe the  school's policy that all cell phones are to be out of sight during  class, unless the teacher approves their use, for an academic purpose.
 If they are caught with their phone out, it is taken to the office,  where they may retrieve it, at the end of the school day.  
However, a
 few students have figured out that I will not know if they are using  them, so they have them out, texting and such.  At times, I have an  assistant in the classroom, which helps in identifying improper cell  phone use.  However, I do not have another sighted adult in the  classroom, during much of the day.
 Occasionally, I catch them, as there is a distinctive sound that a  cell phone makes, when it is dropped onto the top of a student's desk.
 However, it is still difficult to quickly identify the offending  student, in order to take his/her phone.
 If you have developed productive strategies for dealing with this  obstacle to learning, would you please share them?
 Thank you so much.
 Craig Cooper

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