A school in Newfoundland is reported to have backed away from cellphone use in classrooms, then, almost immediately done a 180 and permitted use for Grade 7 and 8 students - 12- and 13-year-olds.
So should cellphone use be allowed in classrooms?
Easy decision, you say: no.
No is too easy a response for those of us curmudgeons and technophobe neo-Luddites who vaguely remember the technology available in our own classrooms of the 1950s - an inkwell set into the desk and a split-nib pen for writing.
There was no thought or temptation to be cruising Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, Googling porn sites, tweeting, organizing a crowd to watch an after-school fight or cyber-bullying the class geek.
We do remember being taught to communicate in writing and then being told we were not allowed to write and pass notes in class. That didn't exactly put the kibosh on note-passing. Remember?
Allowing kids to open up their cellphones in class but not allowing them to do cellphone things we adults have not thought of yet scares us oldies, though.
So let's consider some of the research and policy recommendations about classroom cellphone use, some of it conducted by academics who have actually taught in classrooms and some of it by those who have not.
Speaking of which, the debate on classroom cellphone use has recently been energized by the Doug Ford-led Ontario government's announcement that cellphones will be banned from classrooms.
No "ifs, ands or buts" - cellphones will be banned.
End of discussion.
To be fair, and to keep the proposed Ontario policies in context, we should take into account that the Ford government, according to some sources, would, if it could, also ban the carbon tax, global warming, cloudy days, same-gender marriage, a middle-class tax cut, child-care refunds, further investments in mental-health initiatives, dental care for low-income seniors and thinking about sex before 11 p.m. on Fridays.
Ontario would also quickly and decisively excommunicate all provinces west of Nipigon from Confederation as superfluous to need.
Banning cellphones in classrooms will, according to Education Minister Lisa Thompson, previously the general manager of the Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative, force kids to "focus on acquiring the foundational skills they need like reading, writing and math."
Even so, let's not be too quick to align a cellphone ban in Ontario's classroom discussion with Ontario's Dickensian view of itself as an modern offshoot of mid-19th-century England.
There are, potentially, problems with uncontrolled classroom cellphones. There is some research indicating that students will check their phones in the classroom an average of more than 11 times a day, tweeting, texting, emailing and looking at social media.
However, on the plus side, according to other researchers, misuse is balanced out by teachers who understand the promise of educational technology and encourage the use of learning apps such as ClassDojo -- a learning app for kids and parents that allows parents, students and teachers to interact with each other. Students can communicate with their teachers regarding their educational needs using ClassDojo, and parents can stay up to date with their children's progress.
DragonBox and Quickmath are both educational games that teach arithmetic and math fundamentals in a kid-engaging way. There are several other learning apps for more advanced math, including algebra and geometry.
A new generation of teachers use classroom cellphones to give students limited access to more information, letting them study a topic even while having class discussions. This is especially true for current events that have not yet been covered in school textbooks.
Managing cellphone use in classrooms should not really be much different from the teacher skills required to manage classrooms without cellphones. Establishing expectations, including a clear list of times cellphones must be put away; walking around the classroom rather than sitting behind the teacher desk; taking away cellphones to be returned at the end of class; establishing a "free time tech break" with restrictions as to appropriate online use clearly monitored -- all would be fair and acceptable alternatives to "no cellphones."
Finally, cellphone security has to be considered. Cellphones are expensive and easily stolen. Then there is the issue of kids who can't afford a cellphone.
The biggest problem, though?
It is 2019, and communications technology is here to stay, so kids might as well be taught how and when to use it appropriately.
Just banning cellphones outright is a political cop-out on adult responsibility.
-- Geoff Johnson is a former superintendent of schools.
