Cell Phones in Schools
[Guest post by DRJ]
The St. Ansgar, Iowa, school district has a problem with students texting during class and cheating by looking up answers online. To solve that problem, the administration authorized the purchase of cell phone jamming equipment but the idea had to be abandoned because FCC rules prohibit jamming of cell phone signals that would interfere with emergency calls:
“Apparently St. Ansgar didn’t know their plan was illegal (that rule was enacted in 2005, after movie theaters started salivating over the technological possibilities of keeping cell phones quiet during film screenings), and the plan has been quickly scrapped.”
Technology should have a solution for this. One high-tech answer is to find a way to jam everything but emergency calls, something I doubt can be done right now. A low-tech solution is to prohibit student cell phones in school and, if desired, issue school cell phones that are configured so they can only be used for emergency calls.
I’m obviously not tech savvy. Surely someone here has a better idea because cell phones are not a good way to get an education.
— DRJ
You can jam signals with a faraday cage. Basically, a mesh of wires with a small current running through it. It’s low tech, but it works.
SE (bc88fb) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:13 pmum. I disagree cause of technodistractyness is only going to get more worser and chillins need to be able to learn discipline with respect to using personal tech socially and they can’t learn that kind of discipline if you just ban it.
Teachers need to teach the chillins they have not the chillins they wish they had. Same as it ever was.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:14 pmCell phone infrastructure cannot distinguish between emergency and non-emergency calls nor SMS (text messages) at present.
SPQR (5811e9) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:17 pmAs a high school teacher, this problem is ubiquitous to anyone who has to deal with children. When my place of employment made the decision to take and hold any phone out and seen during the school day, until the end of the school day for the first offense, the office ended up with more than 300 phones by the end of the first day. (The school’s enrollment is almost 4000 students.)
The plan got called off due to volume.
This is one of those problems which is going to bring out the inner curmudgeon of some posters, rhapsodizing about how things were so much better “in their day”. Maybe it was better then, whenever ‘then’ was, I dunno. My grandfather said that infamous phrase too, and he lost a sister to scarlet fever, so that comment can’t always be right.
One part of the problem is, the jamming is being fought on capitalist grounds, as a drop in texting volume would cut into profits for telecom providers, although couched in “emergency services” terms. The other part is, the relative value of the cell phone itself. It is as much a part of modern life as…well, anything. Cellular coverage is getting pretty much universal. Phones can be bought for $30 with minutes and text messages included. They are now doing the work of three or four different devices from earlier this century.
In short, this is a big problem, with no viable solution as yet.
MunDane68 (54a83b) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:18 pmWhy not just have the teacher collect all the devices during tests, and make it clear that anyone caught with one during the test flunks? This shouldn’t be complicated.
M. Scott Eiland (5ccff0) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:24 pmOne low tech method is to have all students park their cell phones at the class door (on vibe of course) and advertise that any phones seen during a test result in an automatic zero.
voiceofreason2 (10af7e) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:25 pmOK, so I’ll take the old guy rant here and just mention that when I was in HS, the big deal was using the early models of portable calculators in Algebra and Calculus, usually from Texas Instruments. A rule was enforced that if you were caught using one during a test, you were given one warning – caught again, you’re thrown out of school for the year.
Dmac (e6d1c2) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:26 pmIf teachers are worried that devices are distracting, at least part of the solution is to teach in an more interesting way that gets the students to want to be there.
I had a law professor ban laptops, which really helped me pay attention only because I didn’t get to read my outline of his lectures (nearly verbatim, since this professor was reading a script written a decade ago). There was basically no reason for this class to be attended at all. Is forcing a kid to pay attention to junk really a good goal?
If cheating is the problem, give Fs for cheating, automatically. It’s really simple. Some will get away with it anyway. Treating kids like animals is not the solution. Issue an honor code and let the kids decide if they are honorable or not.
We need to be able to manage our time with technology. that’s something the schools should be teaching, not banning.
It might even make sense to permit taking tests with internet access. Not in all cases, but in high school most classes could be enhanced and made more useful this way.
Teachers should always schedule some one on one time with each student at this level. throw in an oral exam!
Juan (bd4b30) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:26 pmhappyfeet,
I completely support personal responsibility but schools only have so much time to teach, not to mention how hard it is for schools to actually discipline students anymore. I was initially a big supporter of innovative, creative, permissive schools. They work well for some kids but now I think old-fashioned discipline works better for most kids.
It sounds counter-intuitive and I could certainly be wrong, but I don’t think we learn self-discipline from permissiveness in our early years. Years and years of watching kids (my own and others) grow up has convinced me that most people learn self-discipline from external discipline — having clear rules and strict enforcement — in the early years.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:33 pmYes, you can jam signals with a Faraday cage, but that has to be installed when the building is being built. Retrofitting it would be a real bitch.
And it won’t work for any room that has windows unless you’re willing to put screens across them all, permanently. A closed window with no screen would be a hole that RF could enter through.
There’s no technological way to block normal calls while letting emergency calls go through. At the level of RF they look exactly the same.
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:36 pmI suppose savage beatings are our of the question?
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:37 pmMost cell-phone providers give parents the ability to lock down their kid’s phones by time of day. On my Verizon Wireless account, I can shut down my daughter’s phone so that it can only call 911 or the other phones on the plan (me, wife, wife’s mom) and can only receive calls from those 3 phones. Texting is completely shut down during school hours.
Of course, this relies on parental responsibility, so my daughter’s phone is likely to be the only one laboring under this “handicap” (or so the daughter whines).
Captain Ned (cbdd99) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:37 pmBecause it’s not fair to punish a child who “forgets” to turn in their phone…and what about the other students who would steal their phone….and if you take their phones, you are denying them the privilage of phoning/texting/photographing proof that the teacher is denying them some right…..
Mike Adams at Townhall has a great column on this one…
http://townhall.com/columnists/MikeAdams/2004/01/05/welcome_to_civility_101
Sorry, couldn’t get the link to work….
reff (ee9f7a) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:41 pmBack in my day we were passing notes. DRJ, has Valerie told you anything like if she likes me or not?
nk (8200d5) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:46 pmOn topic, is cell phone use any harder to monitor in a classroom, especially when a test is being given and all the teacher is doing is supervising, than it is on an airplane? We are talking about 20 to 30 kids all in clear view. Just say, “If I see a cell phone, you automatically flunk the test and get a three-day suspension. Even if ‘you was only checking the time’.”
nk (8200d5) — 8/4/2009 @ 2:49 pmOnce again, bureaucrats are stymied by a problem blog commenters resolve with a few words in a few seconds.
tim maguire (4a98f0) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:07 pmThere’s no technological way to block normal calls while letting emergency calls go through. At the level of RF they look exactly the same.
Right, but you could implement tech on the cell towers which could refuse to pass all non-emergency calls coming from certain geographic areas.
That said, i doubt very much that any cell provider would do such a thing without a legal requirement.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:08 pmYeah, I think nk has a point. The problem here is idiot teachers, as usual.
How in the hell can you administer a test and not notice the kids are on cell phones.
Teachers probably know who the jerks are… put them in the front row. Actually, I think ranking kids by GPA and putting the high scorers in the back is a good idea (but I know people would say that’s mean).
Juan (bd4b30) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:09 pmI’m with nk. The eolution is to simply ban the things from school, full stop, with violators getting their phones confiscated and being suspended for some non-trivial period of time, plus loss of academic credit for any exams compromised by the cellphone usage.
This really shouldn’t be a hard problem. If a kid has a compelling need to contact mom and dad during the school day, they can go to the principal’s office or use a pay phone.
BC (cefcea) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:10 pmWhy not just tie the jamming software in to the school’s alarm system? When the alarm goes off the jammer is disabled (along with fire doors automatically closing and the air handlers shutting down).
KB (c67320) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:10 pmI like what you say, nk, but I promise that such a threat by a teacher would be overruled by an administrator.
The solution I use in big classes is more low tech: I have verbally aggressive TAs—three of them—scattered throughout the class, scanning. And when something doesn’t look right, they walk over to the person involved and look into it.
Literally, the TAs can do and say things I cannot.
Most TAs are so furious at how cheating is a problem that they are very, very vigilant.
Sigh.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:12 pmYou’re right, nk, we did pass notes although I also recall spending time in the hall for talking when I wasn’t supposed to. So I definitely sympathize with kids who want to talk at school.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:15 pmreff @ 13:
Is it “fair” to punish the child who “forgets” to do his/her homework?
Yes, it is fair to punish the child who “forgets” to silence a cell phone. Because the best lessons learned are the most painful ones. If a child has to pay a penalty, he/she will be less likely to repeat the offending behavior.
I say if a cell phone goes off, have the person put the conversation on “speaker” so everyone can hear the person explain that he cannot take the call right now. Teacher confiscates the phone for the class period. Text messages that come in during class get read aloud (similar to reading a passed note out loud in days gone by).
Embarassment does tend to work to minimize offending behavior.
Dr. K (f86018) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:21 pmOh yes, and in Professional :icensing exams, people MUST put their cell phones in a bin on the desk in front. If you don’t and it goes off, you are escorted out and do not get a chance to finish. At least this was the case with the PE license exam 5 years ago.
Dr. K (f86018) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:24 pmWhere? every classroom I’ve worked in the past ten years has been 35 to 40 kids, and the kids are very good about hiding their use of cell phones.
gahrie (9d1bb3) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:25 pmI’m not sure then. You’d think as long as they’re not downloading any illegal music people would be happy. It’s like they keep raising the bar.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:25 pmSometimes it does suck to be young, hf.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:27 pmThe rule goes back to the Communications Act of 1934, actually.
Kevin Murphy (805c5b) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:28 pmKevin,
Hopefully the linked Yahoo Tech blogger will read your comment.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:31 pmReminder to overseas travellers:
AD - RtR/OS! (03e729) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:37 pmFCC regulations re jammers do not prevail outside the country. In many tourist destinations, finer restaurants, theatres and such have installed jamming hardware to keep your phones quiet.
YMMV
or use a pay phone
a mostly extinct species, that.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:41 pmMy 7 year old wants a very specific very expensive phone. Ugh.
JD (f96a20) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:54 pmJD, whose fault is that?
Dr. K (f86018) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:55 pmMine
JD (f96a20) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:57 pmJD, I want to lojack my kids. Then I could find out where they are at any given time via GPS.
We do have problems here on campus with electronic cheating. Sheesh. All I can do, as I wrote above, is post angry and resentful TAs, who are the Postmistresses of Pain, delivering their anger toward cheaters with enthusiasm.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:05 pmBanning cell phones is likely to be as successful as banning dancing in Footloose.
JD (f96a20) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:10 pmYou can track the GPS online. There are programs available for that.
JD (f96a20) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:12 pmLeave the phones in an assigned area at the beginning of class, to be picked up when class is over…
In lieu of that? First test infraction involving a cell phone = an “F” on that test. Second infraction = week suspension. 3rd infraction = expulsion for the balance of semester.
3 strikes and you’re out; as American as baseball. And, send a letter home to the parents, to be returned signed, 2 weeks before the policy goes into effect. After that, it becomes S.O.P. at that school…
Bringing back personal responsibility, one siezed phone at a time!
The Oracle not at Delphi (99fc1b) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:17 pmOr make the kids put the phones on their desks in clear sight; where they are not allowed to answer them. Make them turn them off, especially the touch screen ones with a larger screen. And have the teacher actually keep an eye on them during a test.
Sounds like an easy fix to me…
Bob Reed (99fc1b) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:19 pmIt is enough to cause a teacher to cry reading some of these suggestions. I swear, some of you must live in some alternate universe. Let me educate you about schools today and the reality therein…
One can not suspend, let alone expel, a student for cheating without some concrete evidence such as a signed confession from both parties. If either one of the two wants to contest the thing, it will most likely end up in arbitration which, from personal experience, tends to side with the youth against “the man”. And the parents don’t want the kid suspended anyway, as having Junior or Princess at home during the day messes up their schedules.
Furthermore, because each and every child is guaranteed a spot in public school until age 18, even if they are expelled from Happy Hills High School, they can only go to Big Frowny Continuation School if they have room. Otherwise, they can end up at back at Happy Hills having learned what? Yep, no consequence for their actions.
Second, taking phones is really against the law. You know, that whole pesky 4th Amendment thing. While the burden of proof for detention, search and seizure is lowered on a school campus, the possession of a phone is not, in itself, illegal. If that law DOES get passed, and it never will, then the seizure of phones might occur. (BTW, cheating on a test is a not a crime, nor is texting in general. However, I would bet that there is an illegal image or mpeg or mp3 on every phone possessed by any teen, but that type of suspicion is not grounds to violate the 4th Amend.)
Finally, the TA’s cost money. Lots of money. that would require us to raise taxes, and what do people here think about taxes being raised? I thought so…
So, have yourself a giant cup of “Unintended Consequence” with a dollop of “lack of Viable alternatives”.
Sux to be us…
MunDane68 (54a83b) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:28 pmSounds good, but Cell Towers serve areas broader than a High School or Junior High. Doing as you suggest would block service for a lot of other people (like those who live across the street from the tower).
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:38 pmI don’t know if cell phone bans have been reviewed in federal court but a few years ago a NY state court approved phone bans in NYC schools, and Spokane approved a school-wide ban just last week.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:43 pmRight, but you could implement tech on the cell towers which could refuse to pass all non-emergency calls coming from certain geographic areas.
Again, not technically possible. How do you differentiate between a student call and one from a cafeteria worker on break? Or, for that matter, a call from the house across the street from the school, or a car driving by…
Rusty Bill (b1bb16) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:44 pmFirst, that’s bull. While it may not be School Policy to suspend for “mere” cheating, it would not require admissions of guilt for it to happen. In fact, the student would be suspended while the arbitration would be taking place.
And so what if the parent doesn’t want the brat at home? More incentive to make sure you do what you can to make sure your spawn don’t cheat.
And when did we say we were expelling them? Suspension from School is perfectly acceptable, and violates not one single word of and contract The System has with a parent to have a place in their school for a kid.
Suspension is a valid form of punishment that has existed for ages. You’re acting like we just thought it up yesterday.
Are you trying to be dense? Is this written ironically, and I’m just missing it? Calculators are given up by students frequently for major tests, and you seem to extend far more to the 4th Amendment than actually exists. The cell phone isn’t being taken away for good, nor are it’s contents being checked. It is being set aside for the duration of a class period. If you think that violates your rights, you probably think Microsoft violates your 1st amendment when it doesn’t let you use swear words of slurs on Xbox LIVE.
So, in closing…
Christ all Friday, are you ever an idiot.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:48 pm*cough*
Um, Eric?
You know if any of them are single?
…
…
What? Don’t you people judge me…
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:50 pmThis policy would have to be written and approved by the school board, so such is unlikely, but assuming they did so, it would be perfectly legal.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:51 pmJust do this:
At the start of the school year notify the parents the conditions of cell phone use:
a. any student found using a cell outside designated areas will have it confiscated and placed in an envelope like a Fed-Ex envelope (those almost non-destructable ones.
b. A receipt will be given to the student to give to their parent.
c. the envelope with the cell phone will be placed in a bin – the larger the better.
d. parents, and only parents, can retrieve the cell provided they can find it rummaging through the bin.
e. at the end of the school year, any cell not retrieved will result in that student’s grade set to “F” in all courses.
Get a life. School is for learning.
cedarhill (e95e99) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:53 pmCall it “Tough Cell Love”
…issue school cell phones that are configured so they can only be used for emergency calls.
Why should any school take on the added responsibility of providing phones for students? Any “emergency” on school grounds that needs an outgoing call needs to be handled by the school, since the school is ultimately responsible for what happens on its property. Incoming emergency calls should go to the school office, who can then locate the appropriate student and pass along any news.
…with a dollop of “lack of Viable alternatives”.
Since cell phones are private property, and school-sanctioned seizure of students’ phones would be inappropriate, a simple remedy would seem to be sending home immediately anyone caught using a cell phone while on school grounds, period. If the phone rings while in class, out they go. If some students don’t get the message and keep on using their phones every day while in school, toss ’em every day until they get the message. Give ’em a choice: forego usage of the phone on school grounds, or leave it at home.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (1641e7) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:58 pmCell phones were just becoming affordable when I was in high school (98-02). Only a handful of kids had one in a school of 2800 and I think LAUSD had a ban on cell phones at the time. Then my high school had a bomb threat and all of us were still allowed to go into the school (yes, with the cops and bomb squad swarming EVERYWHERE) but we were gathered in the PE field while we waited for the Bomb Squad to do their job. The school administrators weren’t allowing us kids to call our parents through the office. Some people ended up ditching by jumping the fence. Those with cell phones called their parents and the capitalistic among them charged $1/phone call to let the rest of us call our parents.
Stuff like this doesn’t happen often, but it convinced my parents to let me get a phone. But I see nothing wrong with the teacher collecting everyone’s cell phone before a test and then letting the kids pick them up when everyone’s done. When I was in school people cheated the old fashioned way – they wrote the answers on their shoes or during the warm months, on the inside of their legs.
wherestherum (d413fd) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:13 pmAs a matter of fact, Scott, they all are. Too severe for my tastes (putting a few decades of differences aside).
The sad part about all this is that at many universities, Academic Court is serious business. If you get caught cheating where I teach, you get an “F” in that course. If you get caught a second time, you are suspended for a semester, and get an “F” in that course in question with a notations “Academic Court Decision.”
So it is better to hit these boys and girls, hard, on issues of academic honesty EARLY.
Finally, students should police one another. Because cheating hurts the entire system, not just the foolish cheater. It devalues the entire academic experience (which is why the TAs are so severe about this kind of thing). We have two student representatives on Academic Court where I serve, and they usually recommend expulsion for cheaters. They get it.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:24 pmHey, Scott, I don’t know the poster above, but some high schools are really foolish regarding policies toward cheaters. I have several former students who teach high school, and they should have “hazardous duty” pay.
My understanding is that quite a paper trail is necessary to suspend at many schools. So many teachers, overwhelmed by the workload (which is pretty rough), just let all but the worst offenses go by.
Then they go to college and we come down on them, hard.
If we have any high school teachers out there, maybe they could chime in. I just know what my former students tell me.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:28 pmSome of the suspension/confiscation idea *sound* viable but I don’t think there is a realistic understanding of how powerful parents are in school districts and how easily cowed school boards are. All it would take is one school board meeting with 10 parents complaining about how their kids are being harassed and the backpedaling would begin. Let them even mouth the possibility of a lawsuit, and kids would then be permitted to use their cells any time they wanted.
One of my son’s teachers had a June Box: whatever he caught students with that was not immediately appropriate to the lesson at hand (cell phone, candy, anything), into the box it went. Come June, items were retrievable. Parents supported it 100%. Of course this was a private school – if a parent didn’t like it, they could go elsewhere.
Dana (57e332) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:42 pmDana, I think that approach is the best one. But it won’t happen without local control. And then the problem is a few vocal nutjob parents.
Sigh. The victims are the students, but not the way those parents mean.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:45 pmAnd so the reason you aren’t putting me in touch with them is what, exactly? 🙂
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:50 pmYour safety, Scott. Your safety.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:51 pmBuddy, my safety is exactly what I’m hoping they put in jeopardy… 🙂
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:55 pmBlacque Jacques Shellacque,
I don’t think a school should have to give students emergency cell phones but some schools might want to make them available. Some school campuses are extensive, especially including athletic fields, and it would be easier and faster to summon help in the event of an accident. After all, there are good reasons to have cell phones at school.
Other commenters have suggested collecting cell phones before tests, but it seems to me that determined students could circumvent that by bringing more than one cell phone with them. I favor more proctors, at least for big tests, but it obviously would be more expensive.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:55 pmDRJ, I “pay” my TAs to help me proctor tests with donuts and coffee. They are happy to help their degrees to have value.
All schools need to have something like an Honor Code that means something. Ethics matter, and we have worked very hard in this society to encourage…um…a lack of respect for issues like honesty and honor.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:00 pmScott, I think most cities have what you are looking for. Just remember your “safe word”: palomino!
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:01 pmI used to think you were cool…
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:07 pmWhy would it not be possible to have mandatory land lines that work fine for emergencies, but jam cell frequencies? Seems perfectly technologically sound based on my admittedly limited knowledge of such things.
LYT (9c138e) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:07 pmTo clarify…not that the landlines would inherently jam cell phones, but would be immune to the separate tech blocking such things.
I would favor the right of EVERY business or organization to employ such tactics.
LYT (9c138e) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:11 pmScott,
You have either been out of a classroom for years or are in some sort of time warp.
Yes, the admin of the SAT tests, AP’s and such can ban calculators on math tests as such as they are a private companies and the test is given in times that are considered to be outside the school day. You know, extra-curricular. They can invalidate tests for just the appearance of impropriety, without a single bit of proof other than outlier scores. Such as when Garfield High in the LAUSD offered the AP Calculus test for the first time, and all the students passed it. (See Jaime Escalante and “Stand and Deliver”.)
The confiscation of cell phones does go on, I never denied that. In my first post, I pointed out we teachers collected almost 300 phones in the one day of the ban. The redistribution of those phones at the end of the day from the main office was probably the end of that program, as one can imagine the mob scene with very little difficulty. (If you can’t, think “Storming of the Alamo” or “Rourke’s Drift”.)
My current teaching assignment has the “Banned in All Situations” up on the wall, but it is not enforced. I wonder if it can ever be enforced, except in egregious situations. Therein lies the problem. See, phone use in schools is exactly like the speed limit. Most of us will only obey the speed limit occasionally, and never in some situations like the freeway. We have speed traps (let’s call the “test zones”), but they are few and far between and besides, there is probably an app to tell your kids which teachers don’t check for phones. Anyway, children see that cavalier attitude toward the rules, and take it to heart, arguing the same arguments, “What does it hurt?” (Yes, I know cheating is a problem and it hurts people. I said they use the same argument, not that it is any more valid when they use it than when we do.) Furthermore, many of us will rail on those that do follow the rules of speed limits as clowns and slowpokes keeping us from doing important things. Not that students would ever make fun of those that obey the rules…
The problem of cheating is older than cellphones and will go on beyond them to whatever the next iteration of technology is.
MunDane68 (54a83b) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:19 pmI favor more proctors, at least for big tests, but it obviously would be more expensive.
In the absence of more monitors, another way to thwart cheaters in addition to removing cell phones from the equation is to do what the DMV does (at least here in CA) on their written tests, and that is have several versions of them. Have three or four versions of a test, the difference simply being the question/answer order mixed up for each variant. Divide the number of students in the classroom by the number of test variants, add or subtract sheets to get as best an equal number as possible of each, then shuffle them up and pass them out.
Of course, never mention to the students that several versions of a test are being used. Alternate this with occasional tests that use one single version, again without informing the class of this particular detail, and this should foil cheats.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (1641e7) — 8/4/2009 @ 6:22 pmCan’t make or receive emergency phone calls? It must have been one huge miracle for any of us before the invention of cell phones to have survived school.
Jim C. (b33a68) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:04 pmBlacque Jacques Shellacque:
I think the LSAT also has multiple versions (same questions, different ordering), and the time constraints make it difficult for a test-taker to have time to cheat. I like simple solutions like that but teachers may not like it. It would make grading a lot harder.
DRJ (8d138b) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:10 pmIt is understandable that their parents want them to have cell phones in school for safety reasons. But the cell phones are too distracting.
Larry Reilly (45c8f2) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:18 pmThe sure and clear answer is for all of them to have concealed handguns. Then they all will be safe. Don’t you think?
Apparently, the tinfoil on Mary’s head is coming loose.
JD (f96a20) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:20 pmMore apparently, Larry will troll any thread regardless of topic like the poo flinging monkey that he is.
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:25 pmEric and Scott….
Nuns.
In heels.
Habits at mid thigh
I denounce myself *swat* denounce myself *swat*…. denounce myself
SteveG (97b6b9) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:27 pmClean-up on Aisle Mary !
JD (f96a20) — 8/4/2009 @ 7:27 pmYou don’t need a high-tech answer to this. Just confiscate the cell phones at the beginning of the school day and return them when the final bell rings.
otcconan (28f807) — 8/4/2009 @ 8:32 pmYour ideas intrigue me sir, and I wish to subscribe to your news letter.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/4/2009 @ 8:36 pmSo, why don’t nuns take confession?
Not that I’d know why…. just asking…
So, on topic…. if the teacher lets someone steal my phone from the check in, is the school liable?
SteveG (97b6b9) — 8/4/2009 @ 9:43 pmMy answer is yes…
particularly if they find my stash of nun videos swatting miscreats about the… and then the miscreants reverse fortunes and…. happy endings all around. So to speak. Or, so I heard.
Again, not technically possible.
Of course it’s technically possible to block all calls coming from a given geographic region except the ones you want to let through.
How do you differentiate between a student call and one from a cafeteria worker on break?
Ahh, now you’re adding to the specification. 🙂 No fair adding requirements and then saying that it’s impossible to implement the original specification. 🙂
In this case you could require the students to register their cell phone numbers and only block calls originating from particular numbers. (The information has to exist, as otherwise the billing wouldn’t work).
That still imposes an administrative burden on the schools which they likely cannot handle, alas. But that’s not a situation of technical impossibility, it’s a situation of the cost is too high.
aphrael (9e8ccd) — 8/4/2009 @ 10:04 pmMy ten year old niece just got her first cellphone last week and could not wait to start texting. Her first educational effort was to her mother, giving her real time reports as she watched, from her front yard, the two bright separating dots of the space shuttle and the space station pass across the evening sky. So at least she’s off to an honest start.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/4/2009 @ 11:02 pmGive it time. Soon she shall be murdering the English language like the rest of the unwashed masses.
JD will attest to the fact that when I text, I use full words.
Srsly, I do…
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/5/2009 @ 12:01 amI am seriously disappointed by the group. Not one of you has ever been to St. Ansgar, let alone know the population, population density, or even where it is. This is a tiny town on the Minnesota-Iowa border. These kids are hardy farm kids. Beatings won’t work, Scott. Nor is there an office of the ACLU within 50 to 100 miles.
The nearest Big town is Osage. Again, not a metropolis.
This is farm country. An area most of you picture as fly over country only. Other than the opportunity to pontificate and puff your selfworth, none of you really gives a crap.
PCD (02f8c1) — 8/5/2009 @ 5:31 amPCD – What about that specific group should make us revise our opinions about cell phones in classrooms?
JD (2ed087) — 8/5/2009 @ 5:53 amJD,
I remember the same discussion going on about calculators in the classroom in 1972!
Before that it was keeping chewing gum out of the classroom.
Basic problem is not the object, but ignoring the character flaws in which people think it is ok to break the rules to use phones, calculators, computers to not study in the classroom.
BTW, the Maid of Honor to my first wedding was a teacher from St. Ansgar.
PCD (02f8c1) — 8/5/2009 @ 6:35 amNot impossible, although not all that cheap, and it would still require some FCC interaction. Cell phones will connect with the best signal in a given area that they’re allowed to connect to. If you can provide them a path for emergency calls using a roaming network, while blocking the original network, I’d hope you’d be OK. (I’m not a lawyer, and no longer work for the wireless industry).
If you assume that an emergency call has to be to 911, then the solution is to put microcells/femtocells (small cell sites) inside the school, forcing phones used inside the school to use these cell sites instead of the outside cell towers by a combination of increased power at the femtocells and RF blocking on the walls. These local cell sites would be able to provide 911 calls only – everything else would be blocked at the cell site.
The problem comes in if a call to a doctor, a parent, lawyer, DNC chair, etc. could be considered an emergency call. Still, if you just need to allow voice and not text, you’d use the same approach, and have the local cell sites not support text messages. People could make any voice call they wanted, but couldn’t send text messages.
If you wanted to have the system pay for itself, just charge roaming fees rather than blocking the calls/texts. You’ll have a few irate parents, sure, but it may be worth it, since complaining would mean admitting that their child broke a rule punishable by immediate expulsion.
Another option would be to get an agreement with the local cell providers to give a list of all text users that are geolocated within school bounds every month. Assuming you could find a way to make this legal, you could at least go after people after the fact. One way to make it legal might be to make the system opt-in – kids would get a better rate on their phone bill if they agree to have their text messages shared with the school while they’re on school grounds, during school hours.
If none of these will work, I’d try scaling up a cell phone charm. When a cell phone rings or gets a text message, there’s usually a spike in energy that can be used to drive a cell phone charm, a little set of lights that blink and look cute. Build one of those into the top of each desk with a more sensitive antenna array, and you’ll get desks blinking when people cheat.
gawaine (9c232e) — 8/5/2009 @ 9:00 amI recently taught a statistics course as an adjunct at a local university. The building in which I taught was brand new, and I thought it was odd that the classrooms, while technologically advanced and well-designed, were all in the basement, with only office space upstairs.
Then I realized that cell phone signals didn’t carry in the basement. Oh, the enjoyment I had the first day of class, watching my students file in and, one by one, take their cells phones out and look at them quizzically. Some were even shaking their phones, or restarting them, to fix the “problem.”
ALL new college buildings should be designed this way!
K (e49547) — 8/5/2009 @ 11:14 amProvide a landline inside each classroom or each movie theater screening room for emergency calls. There. Problem solved.
Dayna (bf53e0) — 8/5/2009 @ 12:38 pmMy son did not have a cell phone on 9/11 and he was at school on FT Meade Md property. The roads to the school location was shut down and military swarm the school with 50 caliber guns and dogs. At that time they had no idea that the next plane was not aimed at them.
The kids that had cell phones called their parents. I could not get through to the school and decided that since roads were closed to wait for him to get home on the bus. The schools were not opened for three days to allow security and indentity measures to be put in place. My son got a cell phone the very next day.
I decided that there was no way I was not going to be able contact my son immediatly in case of an emergency.
In high school all the kids had cell phones even though the rules said they were not allowed. Those that were obvious got taken to the office and collected at the end of the day. If a kid was caught using a cel phone during a test he got zero. It is the same as catching a kid looking at a another test and cheating if caught they lose. The tool is not the problem, it comes to old age issue of catching cheaters and teaching kids that cheating is cheating themselves.
Cell phones can be expensive and if the school dumped them in a bin that anyone could get to they would get stolen and the school would be responsible. That was solved b y placing a tape on the phone with name and given to school office to store in the desk.
I recall that airlines tried to prevent cell phones but that was the only way we found what was happening as it occurred on 9/11.
I decided that never again would I allow anyone take away my ability to communicate with a phone.
I live near DC and and was driving on work business that day as it happened. We almost had martial law happen and my ability to communicate was needed above any school or authority to prevent that.
So as an american I categorically against any attempt to stop people using cell phones. Parents pay for the plans and provide their kids with phones so beyond taking a phone if used in class that is the only reason a school can remove a phone in my opinion.
I sometimes made doctor appt and would text my son so he could check that between classes. Then I would call the school and let them know.
RAH (797d8b) — 8/5/2009 @ 10:01 pmRAH,
good point. You never really know when something is going to happen that makes you need to talk to your kid, or for them to need you.
They could have a psycho teacher, for example.
The school isn’t reliable enough to be trusted with their landlines. So a few kids will get away with cheating… that’s more a result of lazy teachers than cell phones that replace other cheating methods. Give an honor code and zeros. Let kids have their phones, but turned off during class time. Let the little problems happen.
Juan (bd4b30) — 8/5/2009 @ 10:06 pmI imagine that the VT shooting that cell phones were the main means of communication. In any emergency communication is the highest need to know what is happening.
No school can manage all the parents calling at the same time. But the kids can call and say they are all right and that leaves the landlines free to work with authorities.
Remember that in NYC on 9/11 that cell phones and phones were the only communication for people stuck in places. But soon after the system broke down. Too many towers were lost and overwhelmed the system with calls.
In any weather emergency cell phones are the quickest to use. In Iran twitter was the only way to get information out. The gov’t wanted to shut that down but the freedom is increased when people are able to communicate. That is why in war communcations is a military target.
Solve the cheating by catching cheaters. Stop blaming new tech. I remember when pagers came out and schools assumed that kids with pagers were gang members and using them for drugs and banned them until everyone got them. Cell phones have replaced that and are more efficient communication.
This arguement is the same to ban the tool, a gun, because they are also used for criminal purposes. But normal folks use them for lawful purposes. So do not blame the tool but stop the bad behavior by catching cheaters the same way it has been done for a hundred years.
RAH (797d8b) — 8/5/2009 @ 10:17 pm