Will Richardson reports on Thursday’s sweep for phones and other electronic devices at a New York City middle school. As reported by the NY Times, police and school administrators set up metal detectors and confiscated “404 cellphones, 69 iPods, 23 other electronic devices, two knives and one imitation gun”.
I have so many ideas here I am not even sure where to start. First of all, with the recent events at the high school I work with, guns and knives (even imitation ones) have absolutely NO place in our schools. Any attempts to remove them receive nothing but applause from this corner. However, are we to include iPods and cell phones in the same category with these dangerous weapons?
As Will writes
What does this teach those kids? First, it teaches them that they don’t deserve to be empowered with technology the same way adults are. Second, that the tools that adults use all the time in their everyday lives to communicate are not relevant to their own communication needs. Third, that they can’t be trusted (or taught, for that matter) to use phones appropriately in school.
These devices ca, and are, used for pedagogical value by innovative teachers. In Japan and Europe (where cell phones are even more prevalent that here!), many secondary schools are using cell technology to communicate and share between students and teachers, mainly through texting and phone-based blogging.
And many universities are also in on the gig. Duke University issues every student an iPod, where lecture notes, podcasts and other information is available – anytime, anywhere.
I understand that a few students have used this technology irresponsibly. Baiting teachers until they react and then posting the result on YouTube is certainly not acceptable behavior, but the key here is education, not filters. How do we expect young people to not to use this technology in innappropriate ways in the adult workplace if they don’t learn as young people.
As educators, we have accepted the challenge of preparing our students not just to be the workers of tomorrow, but citizens of a changing, and increasingly transparent, society. This is part of the deal we signed up for.
Technorati tags: education, teaching, technology
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