Pew Report on Cell Phones and American Adults

While browsing around, I ran across one of the many interesting reports from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. This one is entitled "Cell Phones and American Adults" and, as is typically the case, there is quite a bit of interesting data that I can't analyze quickly enough (and isn't THAT what the Internet has become?) Just some random stats of interest from the report:

* 82% of American adults own a cell phone
* Adults who text send/receive about 10/day on average. Teens who text average 50/day
* African-Americans and English-speaking Hispanics are slightly more likely to own a phone than whites and they are also more frequent and intense users of the phone
* About 2/3 (65%) sleep with the phone nearby. It's over 90% for the 18-29 demographic
* (Only) 58% make voice calls on a cell phone for work-related purposes
* 86% think it's rude when someone regularly interrupts a conversation or meeting to check on their cell phone
* 31% of teens send more than 100 texts/day
* 39% of adults use the cell phone to entertain themselves when bored. 69% of teens do
* About 79% reported having a desktop or laptop computer - that's the same or slightly less than the percentage having a cell phone

I guess this is where I should add some level of in-depth analysis of this data. That's tough, because I can only really speak from my own perspective and it differs in a few areas. I can't imagine NOT using my cell phone for work-related purposes. I suppose the number could be artificially low due to the ages or work status of those surveyed. It's also hard for me to imagine that there are as many or more cell phone owners than computer owners, but that simply goes to show how quickly that market has grown and how necessary the cell phone is thought to be.

I confess that I'm quite surprised that a higher percentage of minorities own and use a cell phone (as compared to the white population). I see this as a potential wake-up call to those of us in education. Admittedly, I haven't traditionally been a big fan of cell phone use as part of the educational process. However, if this technology is helping to close the 'digital divide', how can we NOT embrace the use of this technology to help close achievement gaps?! There are some very interesting trends in minority use of technology brought up in this article that mirror these thoughts.

When I see the number of texts that our teens send, I'm reminder of something that David Couch brings up on occasion. I've heard him compare the depth of text conversations to the phenomenon of CB radios when they were first introduced. Many people wanted to talk on the CB but, if you read a transcript of the conversations taking place, most were fairly useless in nature. The cell phone data reveals that many text simply to say hello or chat - particularly with teens - so I can only assume that the nature of a printout of the texting conversations between many teens wouldn't necessarily be groundbreaking thought.

The data shows that most of us have a cell phone. Is there a way to use this device educationally? Should it change the way we teach? If virtually every teacher has a cell phone, is THAT how he/she should communicate with parents (rather than a phone in the school or classroom?)

Privacy and user rights - a few 'horror stories'

As our group discussed Acceptable Use Policies last week, someone suggested that it might be useful to have a few of the 'horror stories' to share with others. Sadly, they're very easy to find and I thought I'd take a moment to highlight three that I've heard about. Each of these highlight certain 'gray areas' surrounding a staff member's desire to gain some information. Students were put in precarious positions and, in each of these cases, lawsuits resulted. Some (if not all) of these cases are ongoing and any comments are not meant to pass judgment on any parties involved; rather, I'm simply highlighting the circumstances surrounding the situation and pointing out that today's use of technology requires us all to be knowledgeable and respectful of the rights of others...

* Quite recently, the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania was sued over the remote enabling of a webcam on a district-issued laptop computer. The case alleges that a student was disciplined at school with a webcam-based photograph (taken while the student was at home with the laptop) being used as evidence for the discipline. Privacy issues are being cited and there's some debate over who knew about the potential to remotely activate the webcams, how was this feature used, etc.

* A few years ago, cheerleaders at a high school in Pearl, MS were asked to relinquish their Facebook passwords to their cheering coach. One student did so and her private Facebook email was accessed. This information was shared with others in the district and the student was disciplined for some of the contents found. A lawsuit has been filed and this case will help determine whether school administrators have the right to request access to these private conversations.

* Closer to (my) home, a school district has been sued over the review of contents of a confiscated student cell phone. According to the suit, the phone slipped out of the student's pocket. Administrators read the content of text messages on the phone and the student was expelled. The lawsuit claims that this was an illegal search of private property.

Those are a few examples and I'm sure you can cite others as well. This shows the need we have as technology leaders to become more aware of district policies and lead be learning and educating our own staffs about what can and cannot be done as it pertains to these new technology devices and tools.

Cell phones in school - forming an opinion

Seeing recent blog posts and tweets about this topic has placed it on my mind (again). In my mind, I've been mulling around the topic of cell phones in school. I looked back to find that I have blogged about this once already. In that blog, I listed some of the pros and cons and stayed away from stating an opinion.

Let me preface my opinion by saying that this isn't an black/white, right/wrong issue. Smart cell phones ARE very powerful computing tools and can absolutely be used for countless educational purposes. They can also be a huge distraction and can be abused. So, if your school district is promoting or preventing the use of cell phones, they aren't alone on either side of the aisle. To bolster your opinion or find a differing opinion, there are many search results to be perused. I've really enjoyed reading various opinions on this issue at Helium's web site. If you're looking for a clearinghouse for well-articulated opinions on this topic, this seems like a good place to start.

At the risk of being labeled as "behind the times", I'll state that I am not a proponent of widespread cell phone instructional use in schools. I've read many articles for and against their use and, as I said, I have no problem with a school, district or CIO that promotes or is in favor of the use of these phones as part of instruction. Right now, though, I feel like this issue is one where the cart is trying to pull the horse. Most articles I read discuss the phones, their power and the countless ways one could use them. I would challenge districts and leaders to list their true educational needs first and then determine what tool best meets those needs.

A quick aside: Our state implemented student email several years ago. Every Kentucky school district has the ability to create email accounts for children 4th grade and above as needed for instruction. It was mandated. In reality, many districts chose not to implement student email or, if so, it was done on a very limited basis. When I talked to CIOs about this, I heard that the teachers weren't ready, the instructional need wasn't there and that students were creating many discipline issues with the emails that were being sent. Some principals were adamant that the best solution was to disable email for students, as the discipline issues were outweighing the benefits of an email account.

I see this as a similar debate. The biggest concern I've seen is with the ability of the teachers to effectively manage these devices in the classroom. There should be little debate that cell phones are a distraction. Many states (and I'd say Kentucky will be one soon) have laws against distracted driving. We acknowledge that cell phones are a distraction while driving. Even with proper education, are we prepared to say that they won't be a distraction to learning?

Yes, you say, but kids today are different. They can multitask. Can they? I'll admit it - I sometimes use the Internet as a diversion. I'm not alone. I'll also admit that there were times in school that I wanted every diversion I could find. I'm being cynical and will acknowledge that many students are on task and using the Internet effectively, but I've seen too many proxy logs to believe that the "diverted" population is miniscule. I suppose my point is that, if we can't keep our users on task with the tools and measures in place today, why do we believe teachers can keep a roomful of students on task when they have their own very small device in front of them.

Should we punish everyone, then, for the mistakes or opinions of a few? We've done exactly that in other areas. Why do we have dress codes? Why do we ban certain books? We block certain web pages for reasons beyond the explicit. There are debates about teaching evolution vs. creation. We have drug checks on campuses. We have security cameras on school buses and throughout many buildings. In many areas of school life, issues have bubbled up and it has led to a restrictive policy for any number of areas. Maybe we're being overprotective at times, but a few of the items above boil down to a distraction from learning. For now, I'll stay on this side of the fence on the large scale, with the understanding that certain schools and districts may find ways to keep this from being such a distraction.

Cell Phones in School? The debate goes on...

I guess it's a 'feeling' I have. Maybe it's some articles I've read lately about recent updates to cell phone policies in Jessamine and Henderson counties. I see friends and co-workers blog and tweet about their devices or the latest apps for their devices. I have blogged and tweeted about cell phone signal boosters as well as the federal laws against jamming cell phone signals. If you found your way here searching for the answer, I'll report that I don't have it. I will say this, though. We need to have a healthy respect for both sides of the debate, no matter which side on which we find ourselves.

Why on Earth should we allow this? Vicki Davis does a good job of making the case in her blog. Before reading her thoughts, I hadn't considered the comparison between scissors (not allowed on airplanes but allowed in school) and cell phones (allowed, at some level, almost everywhere while being discouraged or denied in most schools). She also mentions safety, ease of information access and makes the assumption that we're "fighting a losing battle" because of the demands of parents.

I think we're all familiar with the concerns about cell phone use in class. Equity of access should be very high on that list. As a frame of reference, my personal cellular phone has no data plan and only the most basic of texting plans. My work cellular phone has a data plan, but no texting plan. Not every student would have a cell phone and I can only assume that this would hinder their educational use in some of the same ways that we've seen with computers for some (versus ALL) of the students. We've seen news articles related to cheating on exams, videoing or photographing inappropriate things, and any number of text-related issues, including but not limited to student/staff relationships and boundaries being crossed (find your own link here, they're all too common).

As I stated earlier, one thought running through my mind is that both sides have valid points. I've read several articles, along with comments following those articles. Many writers and comment posters argue their point without at least acknowledging the validity of the opposing viewpoint. State law requires that districts have a policy on the possession and use of personal telecommunications devices, so school districts have a right and responsibility to address this in some fashion.

It's a complex issue and I don't want to pretend to oversimplify the matter, but I keep coming back to one theme when I think about issues such as this one or Internet filtering. Much of the controversy centers around what I'm going to call "time on task".

I was a good student, but I wasn't particularly interested throughout Algebra II class. If I had possessed a cell phone with Internet access or some similar technology, I would have been very tempted to avoid focusing on the class. Was this due to the content? Was it due to an ineffective teacher? Was I a poor student for being so easily distracted? Whatever the case, students today are often going to drift off-task if given the chance. They did it in my day as well, perhaps with note-passing or games of paper football.

I'd say teachers today have it tougher than in times past, due in large part to the increased number and types of distractions available. Students have grown up multi-tasking, absorbing information in soundbytes and with a constant need to be entertained (since they're being marketed to in the same constant fashion and via all sorts of media). There's pressure on schools to change and to embrace this world where knowledge is at our fingertips and learning may need a focus on the ability to properly discern and apply the knowledge available.

I'll avoid that rant for now, but suffice to say that this is a very timely topic and worthy of consideration. We should take an honest look at where our stakeholders are: students, teachers, administration, parents and community. Keeping our content relevant and keeping our classrooms on the task of learning is a challenge made (easier or tougher or both, insert word here as needed) by the access we're afforded to current technology.