Seriously though, the key is to understand why they feel the way they do and to validate and address their concerns. The rules were put it in place for very good reasons, but as times change the case has to be made for policies to be updated accordingly.

Want to make that change happen? Then you have to make a case that will appeal to THEM. In their language, addressing their fears and concerns.

Now the question is… what’re you going to do about it?

EDIT by Nick: I believe that what Kaysey has said is true and would be very convenient and very helpful in class, but the real question is: How do we make this technology more available and more affordable to students in the classroom?
And… How do we appease the grouchy and stingy School Board members to approve cell phone use in class for educational purposes?

Please find below a link to slideshare where I have posted a copy of the presentation that I made to University of Southampton’s learning societies lab recently:

http://www.slideshare.net/NeilMilliken/the-affordances-of-mobile-technologies

It is naive and farcical to believe that banning such benign items, including portable electronic devices, from schools is the answer. Yet, when those items become the weapon of choice for bullies; when sexually explicit photos, taken in the locker room, are passed from one phone to the next within seconds; when passing notes takes on a new, hidden, and sinister mode; when competent teachers are videoed without consent by a student with a vendetta, then the video is re-edited out of context to become slanderous content, and placed on video sharing sites, then something must be done to effect change. These are neither isolated incidents, nor are they frivolous; the resultant lawsuits and negative publicity, not to mention counseling services, are costly.

Do you really think that there is an issue where students are not actually learning cell phone technology? You may have a legitimate point here. Computer Business Applications is a class that students at my school can take today that didn’t exist when I was in high school. Perhaps a ‘Cell Phone Technology’ class should be created.

I never said teenagers shouldn’t use/have/learn about/… cell phones. I am saying that my class is not the appropriate place or time, usually. I qualified that because I don’t want to give the impression that I would NEVER use cell phones in my classroom. If I found that using cell phones on a particular lesson or activity would be beneficial, I would use them (or let them be used). To date, I’ve not found a beneficial place for them in my curriculum.

I apologize for the dog/cat thing; it wasn’t my intention to offend anyone. Let’s go ahead and use the teenager/adult and puppy/dog analogy instead. Every puppy I’ve ever had liked to chew on everything (even after they were done teething). And every one of them stopped when they got older (usually by 1-1/2 to 2 years old). I knew that they would quit chewing at some point, but I still didn’t leave my favorite slippers lying out. It is my assertion that most teenagers are not mature enough to exercise the self control needed to refrain from using their cell phone in inappropriate places and times. One day they WILL be adults and most of them WILL have more self control and when they’re sitting in a meeting with their boss they WILL refrain from texting with their buddies, otherwise, they WILL probably lose their job.

With a graphing calculator, one can solve a system of equations using the ‘graphing method’ in seconds. The same system may take a student 15+ minutes to solve by hand, using the same method (graphing). Calculators actually offer benefit over the alternative, “by hand,” method. Your analogy here is at least as off base as my ‘dog/cat’ analogy. My argument was, and is, that there is nothing on a cell phone, which would benefit my class, that is an improvement over another method or technology available; heavy emphasis on the word “improvement.” Instead of students texting me questions, I use a classroom response system. Is there some feature of texting that is better than using a classroom response system? If I had a lesson which could benefit from the use of a GPS, I would most likely use a GPS instead of a cell phone. (I wonder if a device that was specifically built for one function might work even better than one where that function was an add-on feature). When students access my website during class time, they use one of my student computers instead of their cell phones. They are more than welcome to use their cell phone to access it outside of class. Actually, if a student specifically asked permission to access class notes with their phone (say the student computers were all being used), I would let them.

I love your ‘paper clip’ argument, it’s very amusing. Let’s play with it a little bit. Picture a student paying attention and participating in class. Not an unusual event, since this student normally participates in class. Perhaps you have small group work where this student is the reporter in his/her group. Out of nowhere a paper clip jumps up and starts dancing, distracting the student from his/her work. Wait a minute, scratch that, it’s too predictable. I’ve got it; out of nowhere the student gets a text from his/her boy/girlfriend that they need a break. Luckily this responsible student realizes that their class work is important and that they can discuss the issues with their boy/girlfriend later, when it’s a better time. Disaster averted… Arrrrgggg, never mind, that one’s too predictable too. I guess a paper clip is just as distracting as a cell phone. Good thing that’s cleared up, I would hate for you to have to puke anymore.

Btw, ever heard of window blinds? As I understand it, they can really help prevent events going on outside your classroom from distracting students inside your classroom, without boarding up the windows. We wouldn’t want something going on outside, say a squirrel running up a tree, to take a student’s attention away from the paper clip that we’re letting them play with while trying to teach Algebra II. Perhaps this ‘window blind’ concept should be further investigated. It’s also my understanding that one can open and close them without as much as a hammer, just bare hands. You know what; the window blind itself may be too distracting. I think I’m starting to get where you’re coming from (giving myself a pat on the back).

I can’t imagine why I thought that a person that could be distracted by a paper clip, or window, would be more easily distracted by a cell phone than either of those items. What was I thinking? Their good judgment, obviously, indicates that they are responsible. And I would hate to think that preventing my students from using cell phones in class would cause them to miss out on the most significant piece of personal technology in our generation.

I need to free my mind. So, cell phones for everyone! Heck, let’s not stop there. We should make sure that everyone has headphones to listen to their favorite music during class. If they have XM Radio, they could listen to it. Many of my students swear that they learn better while listening to music. While we’re at it, let’s remove all those annoying firewalls on our networks. I’m sure my students will exercise self control and not visit sites they shouldn’t. What am I talking about; those firewalls aren’t even on the networks they’re using with their cell phones. They can already get to any site they want to get to. Boy, what a waste of time and money trying to prevent students from accessing inappropriate material at school.

Now that I think about it, so many people have closed minds. Take my boss for example. He required me to complete my degree program before he gave me a job. How narrow minded is that? I guess he didn’t realize that since I would have a degree some day that he should have treated me like I already had the degree. I should’ve had a job years earlier.

As much as I am enjoying this, I’ve spent enough time here. I look forward to your response, and I’ll leave it at that (you can have the last word).