Now I’m a forty-something year old adult. I don’t think we give our students enough credit to be able to handle this. I have first hand experienced students texting in class, and I don’t think it makes them pay any less attention. I think they handle it quite well, and they even manage to disguise it quite well too. (Not that I’m condoning the behavior, after all it is against school policy.)

I went to Educon 2.0 in Philadelphia at the Science Leadership Academy in January, and the first day of that conference was for us to visit while school was in session and observe or interact with students. Of course this was a one-to-one laptop school, so all the kids had laptops. I saw all varieties of things going on–chats and IMs open all day, kids checking and sending emails, and other assorted activity. None seemed to be off task or unengaged. Quite the opposite, they seemed very engaged. I even asked a student and the student told me she was emailing and IMing with a classmate b/c they had a project due their last block, and they were tweaking it by using their email and IM. I would say not only is it the norm at their school, but expected and accepted. I think our students would be so much more interested in school if the tools were allowed. Oh yeah, there would be some initial overdoing it, but once kids realized it was ok, it would become as natural as doodling or passing notes in class, things which can be harmless or harmful, depending on the context and the student. This is just the 21st century way of doing things.

Great debate, and I’m sure I’m in the minority on my opinions of this. Thanks for stopping by to comment.