Handheld Learning Forum

“The major recommendation of this project is the need to shift the focus of policy away from the devices themselves to consider the frequently-reported reasons that mobile phones are banned: fear of distraction in class, cheating, inappropriate recording of students and teachers, and publication on sites like YouTube. Solutions must be found to each of these, in policies that address:
• ownership of computing equipment and access to network connections,
• tools to support curriculum and its personalisation,
• appropriate behaviour in school and other contexts,
• privacy and security of data, including photographs and video clips.”

The eight key points the report highlights for schools interested in using mobile phones are:
• identify and support champions: volunteer teachers who are prepared to take some risks
• involve those who have responsibility for curriculum, student management, technical support to plan and work through responses to the issues raised in this report;
• initiate discussions about using mobile phones for learning (perhaps using student voice work) and survey current ownership, device capability and the ways mobile phones are already being used in the school;
• provide hands-on, small-scale opportunities for teachers to try out appropriate uses for mobile phones;
• encourage teachers to design activities that make the learning purpose clear and to anticipate management issues at the classroom level (such as rules, etiquette);
• inform parents of the learning purposes for mobile phones, and involve them in establishing appropriate ownership, management and ethical arrangements.;
• anticipate and address technical issues ranging from battery charging to network access and security, data protection, etc;
• develop new school policies that shift the focus of policy attention away from the device to the uses, security and behavioural issues that are the real concern.