Welcome back to another school year. I always like September with the air of optimism and potential floating through the halls. This year it seems like the winds of technological change are flowing through the sails of our educational decision-makers. More and more Boards are opening their technological infrastructure to 3rd party devices. For example, the Toronto School Board has reversed its cellphone policy and now allows smartphones, cellphones and similar electronic devices to be used as classroom tool to enhance student learning and support curriculum delivery. Of course there are as many supporters as detractors with this course of action. I wonder how this decision will impact folks in the trenches.... both from a classroom management and an instructional point of view?
I think this opening of the doors to technology is an inevitable decision for most educational institutions as they realize it's impossible to sustain the infrastructure necessary to deliver digital content. Since it can't be done on current budgets, why not offload this cost to the family and refocus technology funds to more pressing demands on the system. I'm sure there will the usual concerns over equity, but I do believe the public education system is really good at addressing equity issues. If the issue is identified, there is always a way to make sure a balance is acquired both in policy and actual action in the school. In British Columbia students needed graphing calculators for Math and schools figured out how to support all students with this particular piece of technology. At the same time, I sure feel sorry for teacher who has 15 different smartphones with various operating systems and processing speeds in the classroom at the same time. For those of you who taught Math or Physics, it's like trying to help kids figure our how to punch Cos 45 into their calculators, but a heck of lot more complicated.
But, let's focus on the classroom management issues first.....
I remember watching a UOIT class where every student has a laptop given to them. Imagine a large lecture hall, professor at the front lecturing and everyone taking notes on their shiny laptops..... Hmmm, not quite like that. There were as many Facebook and MSN chat windows open as there was word processing windows. It looked hard to balance a laptop on that tiny folding desktop and find an electrical outlet to plug in the laptop. So, besides the architectural deficiencies in our existing classrooms, the bigger management issue in my mind is the digital distractions these technological devices afford us.
It's kind of funny that when cellphones first came out the concern I remember in our school was drug deals being consummated in the hallways at lunch via the phone. There really didn't seem to be any worthwhile reason for being a kid to have a cellphone. Now with so many choices for entertainment and communication between friends (and yes, the odd family call), it seems like a no-brainer. But, there's a big difference between entertainment and learning. And therein lies the challenge for educators. It's not the content the kids are accessing through their electronic devices that's the challenge. It's what is this digital immersion doing to their ability to learn.
To address this challenge let's consult one of the big thinkers on how technology impacts on us. I like the thinking from Marshal McLuhan and of course he's not silent on this issue. He understood every new medium (or technology) changes us. For him it's not the content in the medium, but what is happening to us when we use the technology. His view was “Our conventional response to all media, namely that is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot”.... the content of the medium is just....”the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.”1
I think most educators would agree, these technological devices are distracting. After all, who wants to learn how to factor polynomials or solve acceleration questions when I can text my friend about Friday nights party. And addressing the digital distractions being introduced to classrooms all over the world may become the biggest issue educators have when teaching “screenagers” (of all ages!).
I found this great graphic from the site Information is Beautiful called The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions2. To use the hierarchy, pick an application like Skype. What does and doesn't distract you from your Skype call? Well, a Twitter message in below a Skype call and a text message is above. So, a Skype call trumps a Twitter message, but not a text message. And all three trump Any Kind of Actual Work!
This image very nicely summarizes the multitude of distractions available to us 24/7. And except for the landline, they're all pretty new distractions. Kind of scary how quickly we accepted these into our lives. No wonder we're all so busy. Distraction maintenance is taking over our lives.
Now I may be wrong about this, but within the classroom, the more rules about when and how the smartphone can be used will just make it more attractive to take a peek at any one of the distractions available. Kind of the forbidden fruit mentality...... rather, I think we will need a clear description of the rights and responsibilities to govern smartphone use in the school. Such a Charter will be more effective in the long run than a list of Draconian rules that can be easily enforced by the Administration. My worry here schools will opt for the later because it offers the short term answer to a complicated issue.
More importantly for educators, I think to find effective uses for electronic media in classrooms will require a deep understanding of what is going on with students brains when students are being constantly distracted by external, non-educational stimuli.
Next time .... what is going on in the brain of our students when they use electronic media
References
1. Marshal McLuhan: Understanding Media: The Extension of Man.
2. http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-hierarchy-of-digital-distractions/ Retrieved August 26, 2011
