COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — Students in two Maury County schools are no longer trying to hide their cell phones in backpacks or desks — they have them out in the open.
That’s because administrators have decided the best way to stop improper use of the devices in schools is to harness them. Since February, Hampshire Unit School and Spring Hill High School have encouraged students to bring their own digital devices to school twice a week to help with assignments.
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Hampshire Unit School Principal Leigh Ann Willey told the Columbia Daily Herald (http://bit.ly/17EAJix) that the pilot program is centered on research.
Maury County Public Schools spokeswoman Kim Doddridge said officials hope to work out any kinks with the pilot program before the policy is implemented district-wide in 2013-14.
In Karen Pearcy’s sophomore English class at Hampshire, Trenton Johnson said he uses his phone like a dictionary.
“We use it to learn. I use it to look up words when we’re looking at books and stuff,” Johnson said, holding up his iPhone. “We have scientific calculators on this.”
Social studies teacher Wes Woods said he encourages his seventh-grade students to use their devices with other learning methods to complete assignments.
“I give them the opportunity at any time to use it,” he said. “It’s just another tool we use to teach. We try to use whatever we can to make sure the standards are covered. We’re all in this together, learning what we’re doing and how we even use (the technology).”
Reading teacher Tracy Wood has her sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders use their phones to take real-time quizzes. She said there are still issues to work on. For instance, there’s slow bandwidth and not every student has a device to bring so some students have to share.
Willey said a recent $7,000 donation from the Hampshire Parent Teacher Organization will help fund the program.
“We’ll buy tablets and a lab station where they can charge and sync,” Willey said. “As far as student engagement, absolutely, this is so normal to them. You have rules in place, and of course we have cyber bullying, but we try to deal with the issue, not the technology. This is their world. You have to give them the tools to be successful.”
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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.columbiadailyherald.com
