Smart Devices

Staff at Gilbert Public Schools are drafting a policy to restrict student use of cell phones at school, arguing the devices are a distraction both in class and during a crisis, and harmful to student mental health.

At Angeline Academy of Innovation in Land O’ Lakes, Fla., three students found the superintendent’s latest proposal so distasteful they made it the subject of their entrepreneurship class project.

Under Senate Bill 185, school districts would have to adopt policies prohibiting a student from using a cell phone or other wireless communication device during instructional time.

During a recent class discussion in River Ridge High School’s New Teacher Academy, however, students suggested that the adult decision-makers have some misplaced priorities.

Based on more than 100 responses to Gov. Ned Lamont's recommendation that schools limit student use of cellphones, Connecticut parents are broadly in agreement that the devices should be put away during class.

A bill moving through Congress proposes that districts receiving funds through the E-Rate program should not allow social media access, but it may be more practical for districts to address the problem individually.

Methuen Public School District, like others in Massachusetts, is looking at state grants to purchase lockers or pouches to store cellphones, as well as to support professional development and school culture activities.

Anne Arundel County officials and members of the library system handed out more than 200 Chromebooks at the Linthicum library location as part of a program aiming to bridge digital and Internet access gaps.

The Seattle Times asked readers for their opinions on schools restricting cellphone use, and among 140 responses, an overwhelming majority, mostly teachers and parents, approved of keeping phones out of the classroom.

Hiring students to help repair school-owned devices is one way districts are ensuring the sustainability of their 1-to-1 programs and extending the lifespan of their devices, especially as students are damaging them.

An initiative by the digital equity nonprofit Digitunity sent devices to over 41,000 students since 2021, but the success of the program hinges on tech support, device refurbishment and digital literacy training.

A 2022 analysis by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation found that students who said that they were distracted by other students using digital devices in class scored 15 points lower in mathematics.

In the four months since Orange County Public Schools in Florida banned students from using cellphones at school, teachers and staff have seen positive changes. Some students are irked they can't use phones at lunch.

School IT departments could make progress on backlogs of device repairs by availing themselves of student tech-support teams, like those being piloted at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education through Vivacity Tech.

With post-pandemic education relief funding programs drawing to a close, the nonprofit Consortium for School Networking has advice for K-12 schools on careful shopping, additional funding and maintenance practices.

Verizon has reached out to Houston Independent School District to extend the terms of the Digital Promise program by which students and teachers get free devices and data plans, but the district has not responded.

Emergency responders in one Washington county have been dispatched to four false alarms in the past couple of weeks, thanks to the new car crash detection feature on iPhone 14s and 15s and the latest Apple Watches.

The Nampa City Council authorized the department to buy nearly $79,000 worth of technology from Cellebrite, a company that sells tools to unlock phones and obtain their data for police and government agencies.