Summary
Buxton boarding school in Massachusetts implemented a ban on smartphones and instead provided everyone on campus with a Light Phone, a “dumb” phone with limited functionality. Teachers and students agree that the ban has had positive effects, such as fewer interruptions during class and more meaningful interactions on campus. Enrollment in the school’s photography class using film cameras has nearly tripled. While some students still try to sneak smartphones onto campus, the overall cultural transformation has been significant, with more face-to-face interactions and increased engagement among the students. The success of this approach has garnered interest from other schools and organizations. [!note]
Buen artículo que provee pistas sobre cómo abordar de manera concreta los problemas que los smartphones generan en la escuela, tanto en relación al aprendizaje del currículum como a la convivencia y el desarrollo emocional de los estudiantes.
Highlights
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For many teachers, their students’ phone use is exasperating. “It’s every class, every period,” said Mark McLaughlin, a math teacher at Neah-Kah-Nie high school in Oregon. “The worst part of my job is being the cellphone police.” Educators across the country report waging a near-constant battle against phones. A survey of a school district in Virginia found that about a third of teachers were telling students to put away their cellphones five to 10 times a class, and 14.7% did so more than 20 times a class
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That includes staff. The head of the school, Peter Beck, says he gave up his iPhone for a Light Phone and installed an old GPS system in his car for when he needs to go out into the world.
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It’s difficult to tell how the new phone policy is affecting academic performance because Buxton uses a narrative evaluation system. But culturally, Beck says, the move has been transformative, often in small but cumulatively meaningful ways. “People are engaging in the lounges. They are lingering after class to chat,” said Beck, who estimates that he’s now having more conversations than ever at the school. “All these face-to-face interactions, the frequency has gone through the roof.”
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Trombulak also sees phones as a potential teaching moment for students. “They’re struggling with the phone, but they didn’t invent the phone. They didn’t buy the phone,” he said. “If school is a place you’re supposed to learn how to do things, then safe technology use needs to become more part of the curriculum.”
Contraargumento a la prohibición. Acercamiento puede ser inclusión planificada y progresiva. Por ejemplo: habilitar smartphones en segundo medio y abordar explícitamente los cambios que genera.
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The company bills itself as an antidote to smartphone overuse – a non-alcoholic beer of phones. “We’re actually pretty into tech – we built a phone. We’re just not into extractive tech that manipulates your emotional state,” said Joe Hollier, one of the founders. “So many people got a smartphone and didn’t intend to wake up and check their email before they brush their teeth. But that’s what started happening.”