Mobile phones in schools

We have discussed this briefly in an ICT session and also in a bit more depth on the discussion board on blackboard. I have just read an article in The Teacher (NUT magazine) about this issue and it seems to be a current theme concerning teachers. The article is made up of three emails/letters sent in by teachers detailing their thoughts about mobile phones in schools. Two of these teachers talk about the problems they have encountered with pupils having phones in schools, while the third suggests a novel way of encouraging children to keep their phones turned off in lessons:

At the end of the class (as long as pupils have resisted using their mobiles) the teacher writes something up on the board which reinforces something from the lesson. Children get mobiles out and, as quick as they can, copy out this message in text speak.

The fastest few get points for the 'text league table' display in the classroom (children love seeing their name on display in a football style league table) and winner at the end of term gets a small top-up mobile gift voucher.

This is quite a novel idea and I can see how it could work with children in a certain age range(upper KS2, lower KS3). Banning children from having their phones at school may not necessarily work but allowing them to use them in this way shows that the teacher respects their ability to be responsible which would hopefully have a positive effect on the pupils' attitude to using their phones at school.

I think teachers are going to have to come up with ideas like this as the technology children have access to develops further, and we know that the use of ICT in schools is becoming increasingly important.

(Article can be found in November issue of The Teacher, p.45)