Mobile phones in the classroom

[missparrott]

I wonder if any mums could offer me their thoughts on mobile phones in the classroom.
I teach 19 year olds (so we are talking grown up!!), and I am trying to encourage them to use their phones constructively, as opposed to secretly text under the table. I was hoping it could be used for dictionary, thesaurus, calculator, language barriers, internet and camera. I read an interesting one last night, that suggested they could text homework back to their parents, from taking a photo of the board!

Would you object?
Would you feel financial pressure to get the best phone out there?
Would you trust your child with this responsibility?
Or has the world gone techno crazy!

Thank you for your comments and time.

My DCs are rather younger, but I wouldn't been keen on this because in the early secondary years I wouldn't want them to have anything other than a pretty basic phone (loss, breakage, and theft).

And what would you do to ensure you do not put barriers to learning in the way of students who did not have the right sort of phone?

No no no. I have a phone but it doesn't have a thesaurus and can't access many pages on the internet (just facebook and bbc and hotmail). As an adult I would feel pressure to get an upgraded phone. As a parent I would resent you putting pressure on my son/daughter like that!

As an adult I have sometimes found it difficult to stay "on-track" and resist the temptation to use technology for purposes other than work when I am meant to be doing work.

I think using phones routinely at school would be a great distraction for younger pupils.

For a highly-motivated older student it might work. I don't know how you'd address the problem of the "haves" vs the "have-nots" if an expensive phone gives an edge. But I don't think that is necessarily reason to discard the idea without exploring it further.

I find most kids are "wired for sound" most of the time. Where I teach, they are allowed to listen to music on their ear-things when they are revising, but it is difficult to be sure that they are just using them for music as their phones/pods/whatever are capable of so much.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. Today is the very first time I have posted on Mumsnet, and I am really happy that I did.
You have opened some questions for me to consider, but I agree with Meditrina and Captainbarnacle that price consideration, and pressure to upgrade could be a huge problem. I think that in the long term, this would be solved by the college purchasing phones, and allowing students to use them - not their own in class.
Obviously it is not in my interest to put pressure on anyone, and not to disadvantage or discriminate, so plenty of communication prior to commiting to study would benefit the learners and their parents.
I cannot believe how many articles I have uncovered on this topic. I have 2 children, and 1 in particular is technology inspired! I believe he (aged 12) is too young for this type of resource, as he certainly attempts to abuse his time allowances set on the computer. I can't imagine he would stick to rules on a phone, but I know he would enjoy the experience!
Really interesting, thank you all again.

Having taught secondary, phones in the classroom were a pain in the arse, and I did not allow ipods in lessons either as they needed to listen to me and not anything else.

I confiscated phones if they had them out.

If the kids need to share their h/w with their parents get it put on the VLE and give parental access to it.

I think I agree with your points. I teach at Further Education, and these 19 year olds should be more responsible for their learning.
I have been researching this subject and it would appear that phones should keep well out of primary and secondary at this stage, but in HE and FE I think they will be encouraged.
Having looked at the applications available to learners, I can't imagine that there isn't something for everyone, its affordability that is the problem.

I feel very strongly about this issue.

I would object. My phone is very basic. If I buy phones for my dcs they will also be very basic. I wouldn't buy a phone for a 19yo and when I was 19 I couldn't afford a phone.

A while back, one of my classes was using a different textbook from their normal one and I wanted to set some homework from it. I gave them the option of taking a book home or copying the questions. One asked if they could photograph the page insted and when I agreed they all whipped out their phones and took their picture. Result; 100 % hwk in on time.

I think you'd be better off teaching them how to use a dictionary, camera etc, and saying "some of you may be lucky enough to have phones with these functions built in", that way they will know how to use "normal" ones rather than assuming that technology is the best/only answer to every situation.

Kids can't just use their phone as a calculator/dictionary/whatever. They have to flick onto Facebook/text messages/whatever.

Getting them to take a picture of their homework is one thing, but expecting them to have their phone out on their desk and not get distracted is another. It's too tempting.

Yes I would object. I have allowed kids to get their phones out at the very end of a class to video part of a dance routine (I run perf arts classes) but in general they are a bad idea. I have a very basic phone no internet access and I would not buy my kids one either.

DD3 is 19 and we are trying to discoraging from using her phone to much whils she's at college, It uses up her credit and she would be tempted to go on facebook