Anderson said cell phones are getting a second look at the
senior high. As the phones have become more pervasive and more
powerful, teachers and administrators have begun to look at ways
they can be used as tools to enhance education rather than disrupt
it. Students with Internet-capable phones have access to the
district's Infinite Campus student management system, to check
assignments, contact teachers and manage their school life online,
he said. Mobile communications are an ever-growing part of what
students have to cope with and manage, he said. "It's appropriate
to bring that into our curriculum."
While more and more students carry more and more powerful mobile
phones, those who remain unconnected have one fewer option than
they did several years ago. There's no point in a student keeping a
few coins in his pocket in case he needs to use a pay phone -
coin-operated phones have left the buildings. "I don't think they'd
know how to use one," Anderson said.
Bruce Gorrill on 27 Oct 10Dwight Huber, a professor in the English department, has a practical approach to the issue of cell phones and classroom disruptions. "Students are generally engaged enough in my classes not to have the time to talk on a cell or text anyone," he said. "With active learning, an instructor doesn't need policies as such.
