Tech-savvy teachers in the province don't need classrooms to be smartphone-free zones – Winnipeg Free Press

A group of tech-savvy teachers is calling on the province to help create and enforce guidelines for cell phone use in schools.

The Manitoba Education Technology Leaders Association has taken a strong stance against introducing a blanket ban on personal wireless devices in kindergarten through 12th grade buildings.

Manitoba Education has no policy. School divisions create their own appropriate use policies, and most buildings allow teachers to create rules for their classrooms.

Tuxedo's Laidlaw School, Beliveau College in Windsor Park and West Kildonan College are among the Winnipeg facilities that have taken tough measures this year.

“Black-and-white policies don't serve everyone, and open guidelines can give teachers the professional authority and autonomy to know their students better and make their own decisions (respectively),” said Kirsten Thompson, president of MAETL.

“Black-and-white policies don't serve everyone, and open guidelines can give teachers the professional authority and autonomy to know their students better and make their own decisions (respectively).”– Kirsten Thompson

A group of educators and IT professionals from school divisions across the province raised the issue in a letter to Prime Minister Wab Kineu and the Minister of Education and Families this week.

MAETL offers guidelines that position classrooms as places where students learn to use devices “effectively and responsibly,” allow flexibility across grade levels, communities, and individuals, and include ideas that help teachers use the guidelines to achieve educational goals.

Monday's letter said such a document would recognize the central role of electronics in “advancing personal control, access and equity within educational programs.”

New rules in Manitoba's francophone school division, as well as in Quebec and B.C., have renewed debate this school year about whether students should be allowed to use phones during school hours — whether for research, communicating with parents or other purposes.

Since the beginning of the academic year, the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine has not allowed students to have phones during class. Texting, scrolling through social media, and listening to music are banned to minimize distractions.

“It's never easy to implement something this big, but at the same time, we're a pedagogic institute and kids are learning, if you're not using your phone as a research tool or a computer – and we have computers in our classrooms – why? do we need a cell phone?' – said the head of the division, Alain Laberge.

The measure was prompted by concerns about excessive screen time and research showing it increases anxiety levels and has other negative effects on young people's mental health, LaBerge said, adding that the department intends to conduct qualitative research over the summer to assess the policy's early impact.

After winter break, Quebec began banning students from using phones in the classroom. BC education officials recently announced stricter rules will come into effect in September to limit distractions for students and teachers.

Ontario introduced a universal ban in 2019 with individual teachers responsible for enforcement; resulting in compliance issues.

Thompson argued that universal rules oppose the necessary individualization and differentiation built into classrooms.

“We have a ban on handguns. We have a ban on vaping. None of these things can enter our schools; There is no place to move here,” said the coordinator of information and communication technologies.

He said teachers should have the flexibility to include phones in their programming based on their professional preferences.

A MAETL spokesperson noted that many students have requested to participate in online learning for the better part of three formative years due to COVID-19. Changing course completely now sends a “strange, mixed message.”

Teachers need to adapt to teaching students growing up in a technology-savvy society, and they need support to do so, he added.

About 77 percent of nine- to 17-year-olds own a smartphone, according to a 2021 survey by MediaSmarts, a charity dedicated to promoting digital and media literacy in Canada.

MAETL members are expected to discuss draft phone usage guidelines for the K-4, middle and high school levels at a meeting next week in Portage.

Education Minister Nello Altomare's office has confirmed that it has received the association's proposal to collaborate on a new document.

Amy Tackett-McGimpsey, the cabinet's director of communications, said internal discussions had just begun to decide how to address concerns that phones were causing distractions in classrooms.

While he said it was too early to decide, he said an announcement would be made in the coming weeks.

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