Smart Devices

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, accuses Apple of stifling competition and leveraging its clout and ownership of the popular App Store to increase prices for customers.

A handful of schools in the Norwalk area will join three other regional schools currently enrolled in the Verizon Innovative Learning program, which will provide free Chromebooks and data plans to students and staff.

As many schools have already banned cellphone use during class, governors and legislators in at least half a dozen states are pushing their schools to follow suit — through persuasion or by law.

At a recent roundtable discussion with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, school administrators said students appear to be more engaged, more social and mentally healthier since being separated from their smartphones during the day.

Carroll County teachers have shared frustrations about cellphones being a disruption to instruction as well as a mode of bullying, and trying to enforce the district's current limited-use policy uses up class time.

Since December, students at Illing Middle School have had to place their phones into magnetically locked pouches during the day. Feedback from teachers and parents has been positive, and students got used to it.

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.