Teacher Discussions: Phone Use in the Classroom

(TESOL Ideas--Classroom Management, Teacher Development)

Google: docs, pub

[Notes: As I've mentioned before, smart phone use in class has become big issue in my teaching context.  Recently I helped to lead a discussion on ways to manage phone use in class.  I should clarify the context for this discussion.  Because we are teaching at a university, the students are allowed to have phones in class.  Teachers are not allowed to take the phones away, and teachers are not allowed to ask students to put the phones in a basket or central table.  Teachers are allowed to ask students to put their phones away or to stop using them, but we have no power to discipline students if they choose not to comply with these requests.  So, alternative methods to manage phone use must be sought.

I've been talking with a lot of my fellow teachers about how they manage phone use in their class, and I put all their ideas onto this document.  At the teacher forum, we then talked about the pros and cons of each approach.]

Here are some strategies that teachers have been using.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach:

1. The laissez faire approach–The teacher does not do anything about students using phones in class.  The students are adults, and take responsibility for their own learning.

2.  Do a lesson about digital addiction at the start of the course, so that students are aware of why they are addicted to their phones, and what strategies they can use to mitigate this addiction.

3. Ask students to put their phones in their bags during class time, so they can’t see the phones and aren’t distracted by them.  

4. Ask students to put their phones flat on their desk (and not in their hands) during class time.  Students can see their phones, and will not have to be curious about whether or not they are getting messages, but they also will not be using them unnecessarily.

5. Keep students active and moving around the classroom (gallery walks, board races, etc) so that they never have a chance to sit down and check their phones

6.Build in as many phone activities as possible during the lesson (Kahoot, quizziz, quizlet, etc).  If students are going to be addicted to their phones anyway, then have them use their phones for class activities.

7. Build in a “check your phone” break every 20 minutes in the lesson. 

8. Having explicit periods of the lesson where phone use is banned. This can help to create a feeling of give and take and the students may respond better to having to put their phones away as they know they will get it again soon. 

9. The teacher leads by example.  The teacher makes it a point to never check their own phone throughout the 2 hour class time.