Topic Tuesday: Smart Phone Take Over

[Mikayla Roberts]

Hi all! My name is Mikayla and I’m interning on the Atlassian Community team for my Senior year of high school. In this post, I want to discuss my generation’s use of technology. 

It’s true that my generation “grew up” on technology. Sometimes I feel like I can’t escape it since it’s such a big part of both my school and personal life. So, today’s Topic Tuesday question is:  Do you think Technology is beneficial or distracting for kids today in school? If you have a kid, do you limit the amount of time they spend on their phone?

[Noreen Yule]

I am a paraprofessional in a high school setting.  The use of cell phones was approved, for the purpose that there could be teachable moments about proper cell use.   In some classrooms  they are  not allowed during discussion unless the teacher has them use them  to find information relevant to the topic being discussed.   They can look be used for the calculator function.  If they use headphones they can listen to music during worktime,not labs for obvious reasons.  Other teachers ignore the cell use and it is totally out of hand as they scroll Facebook and play games and snapchat during all lectures and discussions. This leads to side conversations that are very distracting to the students who want to learn. My point is they can be a great tool if managed properly. 

All students have a computer in our school and I think they are a great way to keep students engaged and information is easily accessed by students who are out of school for any reason. Of course they are managed and students caught abusing them are without one and have to manage everything hard copy.

[Mikayla Roberts]

You make a great point, I love your answer!! @Noreen Yule

[Phil Fang]

good one there Mikayla

[Phil Fang]

Technology is beneficial, only a matter of moderation, like most of the time

[Alison]

Ditto

The access to information increases with each generation and I think can only serve students better

[John Stephan]

I think technology is both helpful and distracting, honestly. Schools rely on it so much now that kids almost have to be connected all the time. I’ve seen classrooms where phones are used well for research or quick assignments, and others where everyone is just scrolling during lessons. Limiting phone time at home probably helps, but having clear rules at school makes a big difference too. Some schools are even using things like phone lock boxes during class to cut down distractions: https://phonelockboxes.com/phone-lockers-for-schools-and-classrooms/