Students using their phones in class

I’m still looking forward to the day when we ask students to switch on their phones rather than to switch them off, so I like this post from John Hardison on the Getting Smart blog. It has a long list of good ideas for getting students to use their phone productively to promote active learning. John contrasts this approach to the alternative position summed up in a quote from another article : “The potential damage stemming from heightened cell phone use during class casts a pall on the entire educational system, on the school atmosphere, on the educational achievements of the class, on the pupil’s own learning experience and on the teacher’s burnout having to cope with discipline problems in class.” Like John, I’m in favour of phones. Even I (an old person) use my phone in other people’s sessions. If you’ve seen me doing it when you thought I should be listening to you I can reassure you that I’m not playing games or watching films. I’m usually checking something that I’ve read that I think might be relevant to what you’ve said, or Googling to check my response before I leap in and say something stupid. Young folks (I imagine) are more able to listen and read than I am, so it’s likely that they can do this too. So let them. Don’t fight it, the tide is coming in and it must surely be better to use it to your advantage.