Today’s Rocky Mountain News had a feature on cell phones and portable electronics in schools (see: Readin’, writin’, and textin’).  I have worked in a large district where there was a district-wide "don’t-ask-don’t-tell" policy regarding these devices, and now a smaller district where schools are free to create (and enforce!) their own policies regarding personal electronics.   I can say with some experience that I’ve never seen a "good" policy on electronic devices.

When I read stories like this, I have to wonder whether we’re fighting the right battles.  According to the sidebar, "Connected At School," that accompanied the article, six of the 10 students who were interviewed admitted to using their phones during class even though they knew it was not allowed.  Some have even had their phones taken away so that parents had to come pick them up, but even that hasn’t deterred them from continuing to use them in class.

When I look at discipline I think the intention is to change behavior.  But even after all this "discipline" has been imposed the behavior doesn’t change.  We’re not achieving what we set out to do.  We’re creating a cottage industry around looking for, confiscating, and holding hostage students’ cell phones and iPods.  Yet the purported "desirable" outcome (presumably the complete absence of portable electronic devices) continues to elude us.

Personally, I love text messaging.  I’ve used it with Google Calendar to send and receive updates on appointments,  I’ve used Google SMS to look up addresses, phone numbers, and directions, and I’ve received SMS reminders from Remember the Milk.

Kids can connect with one another and with volumes of information instantly as they sit in class or at lunch.  I have a hard time getting my head around how that’s a "bad" thing.  The simple fact is that our students have more information at their fingertips than most of us had in their high school libraries.

I guess I keep coming back to the same questions.  I’m sure that there is a way to approach this issue that doesn’t involve rules, consequences, and discipline, I’m just not sure I’m clear (yet) on what that "way" is. 

Can electronics be a nuisance?  A distraction?  Certainly.  But so can a paper airplane or a rubber band.  Texting while the teacher is talking?  Sure.  When I was in high school we wrote notes and folded them so they had a little "pull here" tab.  Of course, no one would have dreamed of banning paper because it could be used to write a note to someone. 

Banning paper.  Does that sound ridiculous?  I’m sure it sounds no more ridiculous to us than banning a cell phone sounds to a 21st century kid. 

The more I stew on this, the more I am starting to see this as an issue of engagement.  How can we engage kids so that they are less tempted to use their 21st century distractions to avoid school and more likely to use them to embrace learning?

It’s funny how even after a few days and a couple of blog posts I can already see how everything is related.  Technology.  Engagement.  School 2.0.  Web 2.0.  Communication.  Accessibility.