Mobile phone ban in schools

A new mobile phone ban in Australian schools aims to curb classroom distraction and cyber bullying, but a number of education academics warn the ban may do more to hinder education than to help it. IE journalist Mykeala Campanini investigates.

Instead of mobile phone bans, they say, governments should be investing in educational programs to assist teachers with maximising the potential of these devices.

The new policies regulating the use of mobile phones in schools have been implemented in Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales, with Tasmania beginning their policy in Term 2 this year.

The policies mean phones brought to school must be switched off and stored securely during the school day, aiming to provide a safer environment to learn without distraction and reduce instances of cyber bullying.

Associate Professor Therese Keane of Swinburne University, who is an expert on the use of technology and mobile devices in schools, says it would be more productive for parents and teachers to engage with students about ethical, safe and efficient ways to use their phones.

“The ban is little more than a quick fix that will not adequately address distraction in schools,” said Keane.

“A ban on mobile phones is a very easy policy for governments to make, as it requires very little effort on their behalf: it’s low hanging fruit.

“Any policy should give greater authority to teachers to confidently use the technology to support teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom such as taking pictures, creating videos and using virtual reality.

“A mobile device used for instructional purposes can be a powerful learning tool. Instead of mobile phone bans, the government should be investing in educational programs to assist teachers with maximising the potential of these devices.

“We need to provide a suitable learning environment for students to manage their devices appropriately.”

Curbing cyber bullying

One of the major contributing factors to the introduction of the new mobile phone ban was the issue of cyber bullying, with state governments expressing they are hopeful the new bans will reduce the prevalence of this online form of bullying in Australian schools.

Professor Marilyn Campbell, a Professor in Education at the Queensland University of Technology is an expert on cyber bullying and children’s mental health and expresses concern over the effectiveness of the ban in curbing problematic behaviour, in particular cyber bullying.

“Mobile phone bans have already been introduced in many individual schools prior to this year but unfortunately there has been no published research undertaken in Australia on the impact this ban has already had on learning, teaching or student mental health,” said Campbell.

“Neither has there been significant research published on the consequences of bans in schools in other countries.

“Therefore, it is hard to predict exactly how this ban will play out in a positive or negative way for all students or positive for some aspects of students’ lives and negative for others.”

It does not seem that the widespread use of mobile phones in schools has increased cyber bullying.

It is estimated that in Australia the prevalence of cyber bullying has been relatively stable over the 15 years it has been researched, even after mobile phones were introduced around nine years ago.

“There has only been one study which has compared the prevalence of cyber bullying over six months in schools where mobile phones were banned and in schools where they were not banned,” said Campbell.

“There was no difference in cyber bullying between these schools. This result is probably because we know that most cyber bullying is done after school while face to face bullying happens during school hours.”

Professor Campbell said many adults believe that the physical world is real life, but the virtual world is not, however young people live a seamless off and online world, meaning cyber bullying and face to face bullying are not mutually exclusive.

“Research has shown that of those students who are bullied 99 per cent are bullied both face to face and online while only one per cent of those bullied are cyber bullied only,” said Campbell.

“Therefore, the question should be without their mobile phones at school will face to face bullying increase? Face to face bullying was in schools long before mobile phones and is still more prevalent than cyber bullying.”

“Cyber bullying usually happens as a continuation of playground bullying and this will still happen. Governments need to provide funding for the implementation of evidence-based programs to counter cyber bullying instead of policies such as a mobile phone ban that has no credible research as to whether it will lead to student benefits or create unintended harmful consequences.”

Mobile phones as a learning tool

Associate Professor Matt Bower is an Educational Technology specialist with Macquarie University who said many students who are responsible users of mobile phones are disempowered by the blanket ban.

“There are all sorts of spontaneous and student-directed learning opportunities that are lost by a blanket ban on mobile phones, from searching the web for information as questions arise, capturing a photo of a presentation slide, contacting a peer for assistance, and so on,” said Bower.

“The many students who are responsible users of mobile phones are actually at a disadvantage from this new mobile phone ban policy.

“Ideally we would be helping children to become mature and responsible users of mobile phones, especially by high school we should aspire that our senior students are learning the skills to ethically and appropriately use mobile devices for learning purposes, because they will need these skills in the workforce as well as in life in general.

“Mobile learning research has reported consistent learning gains, for instance by providing more flexible access to learning, enabling communication between team members, facilitating more authentic and personalised catering to learners with special needs, allowing students to capture in-situ reflections (for instance, audio, video, photographic records), and allowing learning gains through mobile and augmented reality.

“Adults commonly look up information, keep memos, take a photo if they want to remember, yet a blanket ban on mobile phones denies students all of these benefits.”

Associate Professor Bower believes it would be more effective for schools to be developing and implementing well considered programs to teach children how to effectively self regulate their technology use, rather than banning it outright.

“These programs could focus on productive uses of mobile technology for learning, and the implications of unproductive uses too,” said Bower.

“Students could be taught appropriate etiquette for mobile phone use, such as switching them off when going into a lesson if they weren’t required. It would be quite straightforward to only prohibit the use of mobile phones for those students who demonstrated that they were unable to use their phones maturely, that way students would learn to use their phones appropriately, and could gain from all of their potential benefits.”

Teacher PD could be key

Associate Professor Bower said a crucial part of mobile phone policies is giving teachers the discretion to allow the use of mobile phones for targeted learning and teaching activities and professional development (PD) for teachers in this area is essential.

“There is an urgent need for professional development that helps teachers learn how to maximise the benefits of mobile phone usage in the classroom and avoid the potential pitfalls,” said Bower.

“Teachers are working in an increasingly complex environment with increasing responsibility, so it is important that they are well equipped with the best strategies and skills to manage mobile phone use effectively.

“Such PD could focus on how teachers can help students self-regulate their use of mobile phones, the sorts of apps that can be used in the classroom (and how to use them well), and how to avoid problems such as student distraction, technical issues, privacy and safety, and so on.

“This is so important because of the large range of educational possibilities that mobile phones enable, such as a host of educational apps, that would otherwise go to waste with a blanket mobile phone ban.”

Education not exclusion is recommended

The consensus among many academics in the fields of education, technology and cyber bullying is that more instruction is needed for both students and teachers around the successful way to use mobile technology in schools, rather than a total ban.

In an ever-increasing digital world, the reality is that young people will need to be competent in using mobile devices, so ensuring they know how to do this as well as the etiquette associated should be an essential part of student learning.

“Governments need to stop giving contradictory messages to schools to concentrate only on the basics like increasing standardised testing scores,” said Bower.

“They should instead fund evidenced-based programs to give students the tools they need to benefit from this technology.”