As I continue to be pulled into conversations about banning Cell Phones (a very hot topic in Ontario this week), I am considering the extent to which it applies to the dichotomy of “school” vs “learning”.
In particular, Andrew Campbell shared the following cell phone rubric created by David Hunter:
While I really like what is being shared in the rubric, and I do like the idea of providing clear expectations for students, I don’t feel comfortable with this being a rubric. Specifically, I can see some people taking it and using it “as is” as an expectation for compliance vs using it as a conversation starter and a springboard for co-construction of your own classroom rules.
I worry about our tendency in “school” to create rubrics for things and evaluate behaviours instead of focusing on allowing students to explore concepts and ideas together with us.
Students and teachers definitely need to explore how cell phones are powerful tools for learning, and need to self-regulate the extent to which they are distracted by their devices, but giving a rubric out and expecting students to fall in line, undermines the intricacies of the topic as well as student voice around it.
I think we maybe do this too often in school.
I LOVE what Lisa Rubini-LaForest did with this rubric with her students. Check it out here!
(Shortest blog post ever). This blog post is part of this MOOC (massive open online course) centered around George Couros’ book The Innovator’s Mindset. This week, we were challenged to write posts in under 200 words. Check out the #IMMOOC hashtag to see some conversation about innovation in education, and look for the #IMMOOCB1, #IMMOOCB2, and & #IMMOOCB3 for more of these short posts.
