Saturday, July 9, 2011
How can teachers protect themselves from students and their smart phones?
Recently, I've heard a few disconcerting stories from friends already in the teaching field. Apparently, there are students who will clandestinely film their teachers with their smart phones, then post the videos on YouTube. I heard about a teacher who was trying to discipline a particularly disruptive student. Another student filmed what was going on then uploaded the video, which showed the teacher in a very negative light. Parents, who saw the video without knowing the context or what the student had done to provoke the teacher, immediately went to the principal and demanded disciplinary action against the teacher. While I am a huge fan of both smart phones and You Tube, I am not a fan of students being able to sabotage their teachers with this technology. Does anyone know if there are any particular rules and/or restrictions in place in any of Utah's school districts, or how teachers can keep these kinds of things from happening to them in their classrooms? And, what would you do if this happened to you?
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Wow, that is a scary thought. I don't know about any rules or restrictions in Utah (or anywhere for that matter). I guess we will just have to work really hard to gain our student's trust and maybe work out a rule that smartphones are only allowed out of their bags when they are being used for research. Good question Jenny!
ReplyDeleteI'm in for a lot of surprises - this stuff wasn't even an issue when I was in High School. Just be sure to sign up with the unions/associations!
ReplyDeleteI believe the only protection is to always behave as though you are on camera. The Army has embedded media on the contemporary battlefield. The protection from slander is professional vigilance.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard question! Hopefully the more technology that is introduced to the classroom the more we will learn about how to balance it. I hope that I can keep the cell phones out of the class but still use different technologies to enhance students' learning.
ReplyDeleteBevan, that is the solution we came up with when I was originally discussing this with my friends, which is going to be extremely difficult on those days when you're at the end of your rope and less in control of your emotions. Unfortunately, this is a new reality for teachers and we really will have to watch everything we do and say in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with Bevan's comments, you could also have a little cubby type of system where students left their cell phones when they came into the classroom.
ReplyDeleteGood question Jenny. I hope that if there isn't any real rules about cell phones at school and students who own them there will be soon. I'm not so much worried about being caught on "tape" as I am about the distractions caused by such technology. But hey, we have students at college who can't be without constantly texting or facebooking in class, so why should we expect anything less from teenagers!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mr. Timothy. Cell phones are a distraction. Hope for the best? Hope kids won't do horrible things? I'd recommend being the kind of teacher that kids respect, thus avoiding such problemetic behavior.
ReplyDeleteWow. I didn't even think about this as a possibility until I read your question. I agree with what has been already posted. My main concern is not about being caught on tape (as Mr. Timothy said), rather about a lack of context. The parents and administrators did not know what was going on in the classroom; therefore, their viewpoint wasn't objective.
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