A St. Albert junior high school is taking a new approach to the use of handheld technology in class by encouraging students to openly use their iPhones.
Starting in September, students at Richard S. Fowler will be allowed to use devices such as an iPod Touch or iPhone in class. In fact, the school is encouraging parents to buy these devices for their children and is buying some of its own to provide for those who can’t afford them.
In recent years, school officials have struggled to keep a lid on inappropriate classroom use of devices like cellphones, but the Catholic division is trying to flip that thinking on its ear.
“We won’t support the idea that these devices are counterproductive to student learning. It’s learning how to use the tool well,” said division superintendent David Keohane.
There is a growing array of educational applications available for smartphones that can be used to better engage students and improve learning, he said.
“Any technological device can be used irresponsibly. Our challenge is to enable kids to use these responsibly and offset the tendency to text about something else while the teacher is talking,” he said.
There will be rules for the use and misuse of technology, with violators dealt with on a case-by-case basis, said Keohane, who thinks misbehaviour will be a minor issue if students are properly engaged.
“Let’s engage them with that device so they’re not using it to do something else,” he said. He isn’t aware of any other school jurisdiction in the province that is embracing this technology in such a way.
“We’re hoping in three to five years it could be every school in the division. We’re just letting them blaze the trail at that school.”
Affordability was a concern raised by parents but that has been addressed as the school will have devices available for those students who don’t have their own, said Cathy Stefner, chair of the school’s parent council.
“You sort of do impromptu surveys and it does seem like the majority of students already own them,” she said. “My sense is that everyone is quite happy to have the opportunities we’re being presented with.”
“In those rare circumstances where it can be an encumbrance, we’ve got confidential protocols in place where the device can be made available for students,” Keohane confirmed.
He said that many students find learning at school to be inhibiting because they don’t have the same kind of online access they have at home.
Fowler’s enrolment has dropped by 15.3 per cent in each of the last two years. Keohane accepts that some parents may not agree with the school’s new direction.
“We also see that many people who haven’t supported the school in the past see this as a wonderful opportunity,” he said.
