Photo: Nathan Lindstrom

Pocket-Sized Revolution

How one district is leveraging smartphones  and other forms of BYOD to disrupt its learning model.


" In fact, a day rarely goes by that the phones-Droid Incredibles, purchased by the school district-aren't incorporated into lessons."

The topic of privacy and school divisions overstepping their legal boundry is a hot and ongoing item.  Here are several more articles on the topic.

Arlington expands social media rules for teachers
Under a new policy, Arlington teachers would have to register social media accounts geared toward instruction — such as a class Facebook page or a Twitter account used for homework reminders — with their principals, who would be allowed to request the account’s password.
In the Digital Age, Welcoming Cell Phones in the Class





Do schools have the right to expel students for tweets?
"The ’automatic tracking system’ the school uses apparently tracks tweets whenever a student logs in to their account. There is a question mark circling around whether the system actually works or not — as the student states his message was sent outside both school grounds and hours."



The implications of schools demanding access to student mobile devices
"As the backlash from the parents of affected students increases, schools are looking for ways that they can legally monitor cyberbullying — which usually takes the form of text messages or communication across social networks."



Amidst a Mobile Revolution in Schools, Will Old Teaching Tactics Work?
“People are talking about this being an inflection point,” said Elliot Soloway. Soloway is a professor at the School of Education at the University of Michigan, and a longtime proponent of mobile learning. “It feels like something major is about to happen. It went from a silly idea, to, ‘Of course it’s inevitable.”

But recently – in the last two or three years – something has changed. Schools seem to be getting over their fears and want to bring the Web and social media and all the attendant digital tools into the classroom. You can see this change reflected in a slew of new Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) across the country that emphasize responsibility over mere acceptance and the implementation of school-wide blogs and even the distribution of smartphones for classroom use.

How Teachers Make Cell Phones Work in the Classroom

"As soon as kids walk in, Musallam sends out a text blast through Remind101, asking them a challenge question that’s related to the day’s lesson. “First person to tell me the units on K for a second order reaction gets chocolate,” he types and sends off. His students know he does this regularly, so they’re constantly anticipating the question during the day, in and out of class."

Good article on "How Americans really use cell phones" CNN

VSTE response to DOE discussions

"The medium is not the issue; in fact, educators should model appropriate digital citizenship when using technology to communicate in appropriate, timely, and powerful ways. VSTE strongly advocates for professional development and training materials to better prepare educators to leverage the technology for positive interactions with students."


http://vsteonline.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vste-responds-to-the-virginia

Cellphones Empower Crime, Spoofing, Riots

Social media to blame for Lamar High School ‘riot’
One school is dealing with just how effective a cellphone can be to start a riot in their school.
"...He said the seven students who were punished were found to have instigated the incident using social media. He said the administration tracked them down through interviews with students, watching security tapes and reviewing Twitter posts, particularly those “creating a buzz” about it beforehand."
Read the article

The Untraceable Man
" To spoof means to appear from somewhere or someone else than the original and true number so basically by spoofing a SMS message the receiver of it will not know it is from you and basically you can make it appear to come from any number you want. Use your imagination with this one because it is quite fun. The real problem is that they usually cannot respond to your message as most of the SMS spoofing services are offered online"
http://untraceableman.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-spoof-sms-text-messages.html

SpoofApp: Fake Your Caller ID and Voice on the iPhone
SpoofApp is a native application for the Apple iPhone that lets callers pretend they are calling from a phone number other than the one they are actually calling from.
http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97428

Continued BYOT discussion and links

Our Cellphone policy committee meets this coming week.  We continue to search and discuss both sides of the BYOT.  Please comment on what your division is doing.
Here are some more current links on the topic:
http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/04/byod-new-one-one
Harrisonburg City Schools and Karen Campbell are leading the way in Western Virginia with the BYOT initiative.
http://web.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/tech/docs/tech_plan/Guidelines_Student_Devices.pdf
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Schools_Will_Change_Cell_Phone_Policy_146754075.html
and from Michigan
http://www.neola.com/godfreylee-mi/search/ag/ag5136.htm

Your Policies?

Many divisions and schools have AUP policies that are currently being re-written to cover cellphone use as a computer in the buildings.  COPA laws apply, as well as, appropriate use of the internet.

Share your school or divisions policy.  Links are appreciated.  We're interested in your logic or justifications for your positions as we all formulate positions on this urgent issue.

Cellphone Issues???

Twitter and Cellphones in the Schools.

The blog creator is compiling data on social media cellphone use in VA schools.  This is a contentious issue that I'm sure you are all dealing with in your divisions.

Whether it's questionable use during the school day that violates an AUP...

or

Positive BYOT use during the school day in a classroom setting (I've seen some very cool uses of the phone from QRcode activities to GPS projects)

I'm also specifically interested in experiences with Twitter, reputation damage, cheating, etc.  Interested in experiences with both students and staff.  Twitter now looms as our next great gremlin to deal with. Specific stories about Twitter go to the top of the list.

I'm interested in your feedback, opinions, policy, war stories and positives.  

I'm constructing a presentation for administrators and school board members that frames the issue from both sides.  This genie is not going back in the bottle, so management is now the path I believe that needs to be taken, while honoring the COPA laws, community standards, and AUPs... in other words: the ethical use of the digital device.

Joe

Welcome to Digital Ethics Virginia

This blog will serve as a comments area for ITRT and other stakeholders including students, teachers, administrators in the areas of digital ethics in Virginia's Public schools and homes.

Discussions can include (but are not limited to):
Cellphone Use, Android, iPhone, Digital Devices in the school building, Internet Safety, Bullying, Cyberbullying, Sexting, Texting, Texting While Driving, Reputation Damage, Privacy issues, Hacking, Hoaxes, Predators, Parent issues, Student issues, Staff/Teacher issues, Phishing, Identity Theft, Shopping Online, Picture Privacy Breaches, Social Mapping, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Child's First Phone, WiFi issues and more... whew!