Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by n1 on Monday May 18 2015, @03:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the carrier-pigeon dept.

Jamie Doward reports at The Guardian that according to a recent study in the UK, the effect of banning mobile phones from school premises adds up to the equivalent of an extra week’s schooling over a pupil’s academic year with the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4% after schools banned mobile phones, “We found that not only did student achievement improve, but also that low-achieving and low-income students gained the most. We found the impact of banning phones for these students was equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days." In the UK, more than 90% of teenagers own a mobile phone; in the US, just under three quarters have one. In a survey conducted in 2001, no school banned mobiles. By 2007, this had risen to 50%, and by 2012 some 98% of schools either did not allow phones on school premises or required them to be handed in at the beginning of the day. But some schools are starting to allow limited use of the devices. New York mayor Bill de Blasio has lifted a 10-year ban on phones on school premises, with the city’s chancellor of schools stating that it would reduce inequality.

The research was carried out at Birmingham, London, Leicester and Manchester schools before and after bans were introduced (PDF). It factored in characteristics such as gender, eligibility for free school meals, special educational needs status and prior educational attainment. “Technological advancements are commonly viewed as increasing productivity,” write Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy. “Modern technology is used in the classroom to engage students and improve performance. There are, however, potential drawbacks as well, as they could lead to distractions.”

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @08:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @08:15AM (#184397)

    Once again the school is the place where we learn nothing. "At school you can't use your phone, outside you do what you want with it" sounds like the perfect way to teach kids how to abuse it.

    Now that most kids have a phone, shouldn't the schools think about teaching them how to use it the right way? Maybe invite the parents why we are at it...

  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 18 2015, @09:58AM

    by kaszz (4211) on Monday May 18 2015, @09:58AM (#184431) Journal

    So playing games and doing the empty social rites doesn't further academic capabilities? ;-)

    In other news schools don't want to distribute education by electronic means and make themselves less relevant. "Smart"-phone designers don't want users to improve themselves or they might start competing with them. Vested interests 101.

    These boots were made for walking.
    These smartphones were made for preventing creative work. (sucky keyboard and locked down infrastructure)

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday May 18 2015, @12:39PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 18 2015, @12:39PM (#184483)

    Now that most kids have a phone, shouldn't the schools think about teaching them how to use it the right way?

    I'm just barely old enough to have been around in the dying days when TV was the high tech savior of education and people hilariously thought it could somehow educate or improve lives, in opposition to the modern reality where everyone acknowledges its of little use other than a waste of time and a way to stop thinking for people who find nonsense relaxing.

    Someday people will look back at phones and tablets the same way, how could anyone have been dumb enough not to know they're nothing more than fun mindless entertainment like the TV they replaced? But now we have a new machine, now we got the "real thing" the "silver bullet" the "killer app", the direct neural interface virtual reality helmet (or whatever, the topic doesn't change the business model). Well sure its almost exclusively used for minecraft, pr0n, and minecraft pr0n (now that would be an interesting mod) but this time around everything is different (LOL) and its really handy for valid educational uses, sure its expensive, but if you can't provide education and do have money, then you can proudly burn your stacks of $20 bills to show how much you care about education. Think Of The Children!

    Have the first rich school districts started issuing apple iwatches yet? Soon enough, soon enough.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @02:19PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @02:19PM (#184545)

      Someday people will look back at phones and tablets the same way, how could anyone have been dumb enough not to know they're nothing more than fun mindless entertainment like the TV they replaced?

      That's just false. It depends on how they're used. There are countless resources with which you can use to educate yourself, and you're not forced to visit websites on someone else's schedule like you would be forced to watch certain programs at certain times.