I guess I am not the only person who has trouble keeping focus in the digital age. Our work on desktops and laptops involves roughly a dozen open browser tabs (I have only 8 now), with music often on. In many cases, getting away from the computer and being involved in the real interaction with real people helps to break that pattern – or at least it used to. Smart phones with data packages have changed that somewhat. When I feel I am bored or have twenty seconds to spare, I inexorably tend to check emails or news. While people tell me I should not consider myself a yardstick for anyone, I do think I am part of the mainstream in this.
Phones are a particular blight in education. A distraction, a tool for cheating, a gateway to cyber and real-world harm – and at the same time small, portable and with practically unlimited power. (If you feel like doubting this, know that students will carry power bank on treks to keep their smartphones alive.) I do not ignore the positives they bring, yet I am afraid the overall balance might not be positive.
Winchester College implements a consistent policy of staggering access to electronic devices for its students. Youngest students get their phones for a very limited time a day, and are not allowed to use laptops. Correspondingly, they are not assigned work that requires the use of a computer. Older students can use laptops and are allowed to use phones more. However, since phones are particularly disruptive (imagine a phone call), cannot be seen, cannot be heard policy is applied on campus, as well as in the Houses.
The implementation of rules like those is not easy. What would you do about electronic readers ("kindles")? Which types or models qualify as a pure reader (educators approve of them), and which as a tablet (educators are not fans at all).
Oh, the joys of technology! (The author has a laptop, smart phone, a dumb phone and two kindles on his Winchester trip.)
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