This online learning day had such an interesting layout! I absolutely love how the learning feels organic because the learners get to choose what they want to learn about. The conversation begins, and even if there is no ‘expert’ everyone contributes and all participants end up being involved. The people who know more end up kind of spontaneously leading, and how this shifts as the conversation flows. Another awesome aspect of this type of layout is how your questions and concerns can become one of the topics that is actually discussed by several people, as opposed to the typical seminar type Q & A sessions where only the person presenting has a say. I also like the idea that people are encouraged to leave groups if the learning is not what they are looking for, and join other groups where the topic might be more applicable to them. This makes sure that the learning is actually something that the learner is interested in. I wonder if some version of this might be possible in a classroom setting … but perhaps that is a question for another post.

There were several topics that interested me, but I ended up staying with the first one I chose, which was “BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Cell Phone Use In Schools.” We initially started with the problems of this topic: the main one being that the school can’t control what apps or sites students are using. Safety, privacy, and liability can be a concern here, however, many students have their own devices and are bringing them to school. If they are on the school district network, there is apparently a ‘Red Screen of Death’  which is a BC tech block that is found when you go to a website that is not approved on a district device/network. While I’ve never come across this myself, it seems like a good idea so that a teacher or student can not accidentally navigate to an inappropriate realm of the web. This added layer of protection can mitigate some potential concerns; however, students will find a way to sabotage if they want to.

For instance, while Kahoots can be an engaging educational tool for quizzes and formative feedback, Kahoot Bombing is becoming a problem. It only takes one student to post the passcode for an educational Kahoot game on Reddit, inviting outsiders to join and potentially add inappropriate content to ruin the entire lesson. The student then films the teacher’s reaction as they try to shut down the game/comments. Apparently this is a fairly widespread problem on the coast, that will likely eventually make its way to inland schools.

Additionally, safety and liability procedures are circumvented by phones. One of the participants in the discussion pointed out that phones have effectively “removed the front desk” because parents can talk directly to their kids without having to go through school administration. This becomes a concern when students are trying to leave class because parents are picking them up, etc. without letting the school know. Likewise, students are able to contact their parents about all the things that go negatively for them during the school day, which lowers the trust parents have in the school that it is a good place for their kids. This decrease of trust then encourages parents to keep even more tabs on what is going on during school, which could turn into a negative feedback loop and affects parent-teacher-student relationships in regard to learning.

As much of a problem as personal devices can be in schools, we all agreed that they are a reality, so we talked about strategies next. The first that was suggested was a complete ban, involving taking away any phones that come to class. Apparently the BC School Act allows an educator to secure anything that is causing a distraction, and this includes phones. However, this can cause problems with parents, so it may not be the best course of action. A more mitigated approach was then suggested, which would entail securing the phones for class time only. This includes ideas like the ‘cell phone parking lot’, which is essentially a shoe rack or other method of creating a safe place to put phones during class, securing them away from students. This can create a sense of security for the students because they know where their phone is, have easy access to it, and know that they will be able to get it back at the end of the block. It was suggested that this method can be useful for attendance and to keep track of where students are. In the example given, a teacher used this method with name cards: when they want to go to the bathroom, they put their phone in the pocket and take out the name card, so that the phone is not going to the bathroom with them. There seemed to be several advocates for this method in the group.

However, since phones are typically expensive, and an organizer full of them may comprise thousands of dollars worth of electronics, many of us did not want to be responsible for the devices. Additionally, securing phones in any way at all can lead to problems with Duty of Care. The scenario proposed in the session was that the phones have been secured in a container of some sort, but are buzzing and lighting up. The teacher happens to glance as one does and sees in the notification bar that some grade 11/12 students are sending nudes. Now the educator knows that there is child pornography on the devices and has a duty to report. This scenario would be downright awkward, but we all agreed the follow-through would be necessary.

It was suggested, therefore that the benefits of promoting self-regulation by allowing phones, with rules, outweigh

the benefits of trying to police the devices by taking them away. One of the ways that this can be done is by building in phone time to lesson plans, such as, 20 mins work: 3 mins phone time. It was suggested that this can promote ‘culture of accountability’ as a teacher could implement a policy where if students are caught by the teacher on their phone during work time, they lose the phone time. However, if another student sees it, they can give the offending student a nudge to get off their phone, effecting a sense of community regulation, which will hopefully develop into self-regulation over time.

Another aspect of the session that I enjoyed was when we explored ways that cell phones can be used to benefit the learning in a classroom. One of these is that the devices can help provide equitable access to tech tools at school. Often, schools have a limited number of Chromebooks, computers, and other tech for students to use. When they bring their own device, students may have more access to the programs and other tech that the school provides, and it may allow more access to school-provided electronics for kids who do not have their own devices. However, it must also be considered that not every student has access to internet outside of school, and may not have their own tablet, phone, or other device, so expecting students to access learning materials electronically can not be the only option. Additionally, there needs to be structure and guidance on how to use devices appropriately. Using learning apps can help students succeed, and tech helps get students into a mind-space where they are interested.

We also discussed online learning tools and traded our favorites which were: prodigy games, adapted mind, jamboard, poll everywhere, aha slides, and a few others. This is just a small sampling of online learning tools and I am excited to find more of them, and eventually test some of them out in a classroom. I will be asking the students and teachers in my practicum which ones they have used and enjoyed to get more insight.