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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:45 am |
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cloaked_wolf
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:46 pm Posts: 10022
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In some ways, I completely agree with. Phones aren't necessary and I managed all the way through primary and secondary schools without needing a mobile phone.
_________________ He fights for the users.
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:19 am |
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HeatherKay
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 7262 Location: Here, but not all there.
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Mobile phones hadn't been invented when I was at school. We had the phone in the school office, and a pay phone in the entrance hall. Why do children need a mobile phone while in school anyway?
_________________My Flickr | Snaptophobic BloggageHeather Kay: modelling details that matter. "Let my windows be open to receive new ideas but let me also be strong enough not to be blown away by them." - Mahatma Gandhi.
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:28 am |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am Posts: 29240 Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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Same here, but then when I was at school the mobile phone looked like this. 
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:31 am |
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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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When I was at school, phones were only mobile within a radius allowed by the length of the wire.
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:32 am |
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HeatherKay
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 7262 Location: Here, but not all there.
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Actually, there were mobile phones during my school days. It's just they generally had a large and expensive motor car attached to them and required a GPO licence to use. 
_________________My Flickr | Snaptophobic BloggageHeather Kay: modelling details that matter. "Let my windows be open to receive new ideas but let me also be strong enough not to be blown away by them." - Mahatma Gandhi.
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:32 am |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am Posts: 29240 Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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Most of the time I used one of these. 
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:41 am |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm Posts: 12030
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Who needs these modern fangled textbooks and notebooks anyway? We all coped perfectly well with a chalk and slate for years. It's been discussed here frequently, although we're not a secondary. Some staff have a zero tolerance, others say that as their phones are a big part of who the students are, and how they organise and interact with other people, it's foolish to take that away. Many students use their phones for taking notes, setting reminders about deadlines, doing quick research with, listening to music on while they write. There can be a place for them in the classroom. Our building is pretty opaque to mobile signals, however, so everything has to come via the wifi network, which means we can monitor and block various sites.
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:50 am |
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cloaked_wolf
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:46 pm Posts: 10022
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But textbooks and notebooks are directly involved in learning. It's not as if the teacher says "Right now if you open xyz app on your phone".... - if that happened, the schools would need to ensure all kids had smartphones. Listening to music - I used to do that on my walkman, in the library. The only time I would listen to it in class was discreetly ie earphone lead going up blazer sleeve and hand-on-head posture. Otherwise we'd get bollocked and sent to detention. How many is many? I will concede that when I go to talks, meetings and lectures that I use my iphone to take notes, largely because I have no pen/paper. In school, you have exercise books which the teachers can inspect/mark.
_________________ He fights for the users.
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Thu Jan 30, 2014 12:00 pm |
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big_D
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm Posts: 10691 Location: Bramsche
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As CW says, of the phone is being integrated into the learning experience, then everybody needs one. If they are using it for Chat, Facebook, Twitter and co. then it has no place in a classroom. In the playground, that is another matter.
When someone uses a smartphone in one of my teleconferences, I usually carry on for a couple of minutes, then ask them to confirm what I have just said to the customer on the other end of the line... They soon learn not to tune out the meeting.
_________________ "Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
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Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:43 am |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm Posts: 12030
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Everyone of my students - 16 to 18 - has a smart phone. We try to police the use, of course, and we do rejoice in the luxury of a building with a faraday cage that means mobile signals are rare. That means it's wifi only, which if we chose to, could be fire walled as we see fit. FWIW, we don't block Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc. (but a lot of sites are blocked - which is handy when you're teaching game design, market research and the like and you receive a Bloxx message. Some threads on this site are blocked frequently, and not the ones you'd imagine). The students aren't expected to be using Facebook. Just because they can, doesn't mean the should. All part of growing up. In a secondary, perhaps things should be different. You would be staggered at the number of students that show up with an iPad, but no pen or paper. A few even show up with laptops, and disregard the machines provided. Some lessons I'll grab a handful of pens and a ream of paper if I'm expecting them to do work that requires it, otherwise they're free to get on with whatever software they see fit to complete the task, as long as it's compatible, much as they would do if they were in work.
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Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:08 am |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
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I think it would be better all round if we just banned Claire Perry.
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Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:13 am |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am Posts: 29240 Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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Shame we have to wait till 2015 before we can vote on that. 
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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Sat Feb 01, 2014 5:11 pm |
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