On January 5, I wrote a blog post entitled, “Students and Personal Electronic Devices.” In this blog, I acknowledged that some members of the community have weighed-in on cellphone use in schools. There has been much public debate on this matter with folks picking sides on either side of this argument. The position of the SOCSD Board of Education and the school administration concerning student use of digital devices is defined by our SOCSD Policy 5695: Students and Personal Electronic Devices.
As a community, we understand that there are “pro’s and con’s” associated with cellphone use during school hours by students and staff. Several years ago, this school district made a commitment to empowering students by enabling wifi access in all schools. Accordingly, the SOCSD Board of Education supports instructional practices that include responsible use of digital technologies through “bring your own device (BYOD)” strategies that encourage students to “own their learning” in a device-agnostic environment.
Student learning is not confined to classroom spaces. Mobile technologies have empowered students to create, collaborate, communicate, and think critically throughout the day (even during recess or riding home on the bus) and in ways that are meaningful for each. We, as a community, collectively agree that students should be empowered and not simply engaged. We still believe in student empowerment and our responsibility to teach our children how to use these technologies in a responsible manner. We live in a world where digital technologies are abundant and ubiquitous. As such, the SOCSD Board of Education’s current policy reflects a commitment to students using wireless devices in a safe and responsible manner. This would be difficult to accomplish by banning cellphone use.
The Board of Education will continue to review this policy in light of the recent research and suggestions from our School Quality Task Force. To this end, we encourage thoughtful and respectful dialogue from our community members. On behalf of the Board of Education, myself, and the staff, we appreciate everyone’s patience as we develop and implement policies that best meet the needs of our young learners in a rapidly changing technological environment.