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High school ‘to allow mobiles in classrooms to help learning’

Mobiles are not allowed in class under a nationwide ban but the technology specialist college is planning to lift the restrictions later this month. Teachers [1] at the comprehensive say the idea will to boost their learning options and say the idea is no different to allowing youngsters to use calculators, which was seen as controversial in the 1970s, the Telegraph reports. But parents and unions criticized the move, saying it would prove a distraction to children. Assistant head teacher Paul Haigh said mobiles, MP3 players and gaming devices were "untapped resources" for teaching and learning.  "We realize as a comprehensive state school we could never afford to buy every student all the IT and mobile devices we would like them to have.  "We already have 800-plus computers here and, much like adding lanes to the M25, when we buy more we use them all. "It would be great if students could have access to a range of tools, such as handheld computers, cameras, voice recorders, laptops and netbooks, but it would be very expensive and wasteful to maintain and upgrade all the equipment." He added: "But most students own many of these devices anyway – they’re just hidden in their schoolbags. What’s more they’re experts in using them, knowing all the short cuts and characteristics of their own equipment as they use it every day."

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