I had the good fortune to travel to England and Europe during Term 3. While I was in England league tables of GCSE results per school were being published which led to many newspaper articles about improving the academic performance of students.
A familiar theme of these articles got me thinking. Some schools were celebrating their decision to ban all cell phones from school, because grade levels had subsequently improved. Hmm…
Surely if schools were allowing students to bring their cell phones in, it was for an educative purpose that had already been discussed widely among staff, students and the community, with strategies set in place to manage and use these tools effectively for learning?