Teachers will be allowed to confiscate, search content and delete any message or picture they deem inappropriate, without fear of prosecution or disciplinary action. The measures are part of the governments drive to give power back to teachers. The proposed powers have received cross-party support and Schools Minister Nick Gibb said it would ‘send a strong message that a teacher’s authority must be respected.’
But the move has met criticism from the human rights organisation Liberty for being overintrusive and the teachers union NASUWT has called the proposed powers disproportionate and reckless. Chris Keates general secretary of the NASUWT said ‘these are powers that teachers don’t really want, and actually could cause more conflict and more problems for schools rather than actually tackling discipline.’ The frightening aspect of the mobile phone is the speed with which information can be exploited. We have all read of cases in the press where pupils have taken suggestive pictures of female staff and posted them on the internet, or where teachers have been harassed with calls or texts. Learning can only happen in an environment where the rules are clear and they are strictly enforced. Without discipline everybody fails. If a phone is being misused in school, then it should be confiscated. The same goes for any electronic device, for trading cards or the football at playtime. Bullying in any form, towards teachers or pupils, can never be tolerated. The computer is now fully integrated into school life, however there have been instances too where their use has been abused. Children have been caught sending bullying emails or visiting porn sites on the school PC and there are teachers who have been exposed for having ‘quick views’ between lessons on explicit websites. There has been no suggestion though of withdrawing computers from the classroom. So, is there a case for a blanket ban of the mobile phone from school altogether?
Or, is the phone getting a raw deal? Is excluding mobiles completely like banning conkers from the playground in case someone gets hurt?
True, some pupils find it hard enough to concentrate in the classroom without having the temptation of a phone in their pocket. Aren’t those same students just as likely to be distracted by a game on the football field outside the window? Isn’t the trick to get those youngsters engaged in their learning?
One mobile phone has more microchip power than a whole classroom of personal computers back in the early 1990’s. Surely there must be a case for harnessing that power. Our children are digital natives – they have grown up with computers, the internet and digital devices. Today’s learners, of all age groups, use mobile phones in nearly all their daily activities. Perhaps the time has come to embrace change. Just as we learned to incorporate computer technology into our classrooms alongside the text book, could the mobile now be used as a tool to complement learning too?
Mobile technology can be used in many different ways to supplement learning. As well as the obvious such as calculators, phones can store dictionaries, translators and even star maps. Cameras can be used to gather evidence for use in course work, on field trips to document evidence for presentation or producing reports and can be an excellent resource for those kids who struggle to get text down onto paper.
No one would suggest that mobile technology should replace reading or writing, only that it be an additional teaching tool to be used in an appropriate setting. Applications to assist learning are practically endless and apply to all aspects of the curriculum. For example Fitness Pro is an iPhone app to assist fitness classes where minimal or no equipment is required, iMuscle looks at PE theory, Beep Test Team Trainer an app for fitness testing, Simplemind Xpress assists with mind mapping and iBrainstorm with brainstorming ideas. gcsepod is great for GCSE revision notes - www.gcsepod.co.uk
Every school day in Britain 1,000 kids are expelled from the classroom for bad behaviour – a situation where everyone loses. Clearly the Education Bill has some difficult issues to tackle in helping teachers assert authority and deal with problems in schools more effectively. However, lets not blame the phone in a kids pocket for all that’s wrong in the classroom.
Mobile Learning
by IN Magazine / Published - Wednesday, 11 May 2011
