Mobiles as an educational tool

September 2, 2008 at 8:51 am · Filed under Uncategorized and tagged: education, mobile phones, NEC, O2, roundtable

I wrote recently about an NEC-led future of education roundtable which took place at the O2 in July. At the event we discussed how teachers can better engage with students and how technology could and should be integrated into the teaching process to recognise the shift in this new generation of digital natives.

Strangely enough, this topic was at the heart of a recent BBC article, covered as part of the BBC’s School Report project.

Pupils at Marden High School in Tynemouth were surveyed about their mobile phone use, with the final results demonstrating just how pervasive technology is amongst today’s youth. Out of a survey group of 520 pupils only three didn’t carry mobile phones and most were using between £10 and £40 of credit each month.

Unsurprisingly, the reaction of teachers to this mobile phone epidemic was to err on the side of caution. Most teachers were concerned about the dangers of bullying, happyslapping and the inappropriate videoing of teachers and this seemed to be supported by anecdotal evidence provided from the pupils. As a result, at Marden High mobile phones are banned on school premises but even the Head Teacher David Stainhope was convinced that mobiles were still being used and that there was little that could be done to hold back the tide.

Funnily enough however, the school has realised that rather than adopting a see no evil, hear no evil approach and ignoring technology it needs to better integrate it into school life to manage the risks.

Children are being given advice on how to act if they are the victims of a mobile bullying campaign and most impressively teachers are even beginning to look at ways that mobiles can be used as educational tools.

What a remarkable and innovative approach. All hail Marsden High.

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