next »

[dellaroux]

Of course.

Since when was it necessary to use them, and why does the question assume they're not already banned???

Emergencies used to wait until the end of class, when a department admin could deliver a note.

Nothing has changed in that triage scenario, as far as I can see.

[compliteacher]

At my institution, dellaroux, they are not banned on a campus-wide basis.  It is up to the individual teacher. Currently, I don't allow their use in my class. I asked the question just to see how others feel.

Your mention of the "triage scenario" touches on another point that  I think is very true.  My dream would be to have a campus-wide "ban" on them--you could keep them on your person, but they should not be used in class. And if an emergency arose, the campus could distribute one number that people could call so that someone could pull a student out of class if necessary.  I'm sure on an informal level, this kind of thing is done at my campus (without the "ban", of course), but I'd love to have something more formal that included a campus-wide ban on their use in class.  It gives the teachers backup from the administration that way.  Perhaps I will raise the issue with administration.

[polly_mer]

Of course.

Since when was it necessary to use them, and why does the question assume they're not already banned???

Emergencies used to wait until the end of class, when a department admin could deliver a note.

Nothing has changed in that triage scenario, as far as I can see.

Expectations by child and elder care providers have changed.  They do assume that someone will be available within a short time (15 minutes or so) to come deal with the emergency.  If you haven't had medical care lately and found that the hospital was dreadfully understaffed so that having someone who will actually be with you and able to call for help if necessary, then you're lucky.  Fire fighters and paramedics in small towns are often volunteers who drop whatever they are doing at the time to go deal with other people's emergencies.  I have classes that last more than three hours and I'm sympathetic to the fact that some people must be on call during that time.

In my syllabus, I have stated that cell phones may be on vibrate, but if your call is important enough to take precedence over the class, then it's something important enough for you to go take care off so you leave the room to answer the call and don't come back today.  Anything lesser means that you don't need to take that call and probably shouldn't bother to have it on vibrate.  I can't think of any reason why a student would need to initiate a call during normal class.

[spork]

Last year I was in a class, as a student, when a 20 year old's cell phone went off.  The ring tone was Alanis Morisette's "I'm a b*tch" at maximum volume.  I found this distracting.

[vardahilwen]

Last year I was in a class, as a student, when a 20 year old's cell phone went off.  The ring tone was Alanis Morisette's "I'm a b*tch" at maximum volume.  I found this distracting.

As would I.

(Actually, it's Meredith Brooks, but she sounds a lot like Alanis).

[anon99]

...Fire fighters and paramedics in small towns are often volunteers who drop whatever they are doing at the time to go deal with other people's emergencies.  I have classes that last more than three hours and I'm sympathetic to the fact that some people must be on call during that time.

In my syllabus, I have stated that cell phones may be on vibrate, but if your call is important enough to take precedence over the class, then it's something important enough for you to go take care off so you leave the room to answer the call and don't come back today.  Anything lesser means that you don't need to take that call and probably shouldn't bother to have it on vibrate.  I can't think of any reason why a student would need to initiate a call during normal class.

I think it would very much depend on the size of the town and the length of the class.  I'd also think that the few people who this would pertain to would talk to you at the start of the semester.

[polly_mer]

...Fire fighters and paramedics in small towns are often volunteers who drop whatever they are doing at the time to go deal with other people's emergencies.  I have classes that last more than three hours and I'm sympathetic to the fact that some people must be on call during that time.

In my syllabus, I have stated that cell phones may be on vibrate, but if your call is important enough to take precedence over the class, then it's something important enough for you to go take care off so you leave the room to answer the call and don't come back today.  Anything lesser means that you don't need to take that call and probably shouldn't bother to have it on vibrate.  I can't think of any reason why a student would need to initiate a call during normal class.

I think it would very much depend on the size of the town and the length of the class.  I'd also think that the few people who this would pertain to would talk to you at the start of the semester.

OK, but I'm not going to say "Yes, you have permission to leave your phone on, but no, you over here don't because that's not a good enough reason".  I don't care what other people think is more important than my class.  The point is the student has to decide whether the possible calls constitute a good enough reason to keep on the phone and leave class for the day if a call comes through or whether to turn off the phone.  I hope that students would leave the phones on for things like child care or medical emergencies, instead of two-for-a-dollar sales at Goodwill, but I don't care as long as they sit by the door and leave quietly when the call comes.

[vardahilwen]

Is this really such a serious and recurring issue?  I make the announcement I described above - sometimes someone has to take an emergency call, occasionally I discreetly scold someone if I saw them texting, once in a while someone's phone rings and they shut it off, but I really wouldn't call it a huge problem. 

Do folks really have cell phones ringing in class so often that it's a major disruption?

[polly_mer]

Is this really such a serious and recurring issue?  I make the announcement I described above - sometimes someone has to take an emergency call, occasionally I discreetly scold someone if I saw them texting, once in a while someone's phone rings and they shut it off, but I really wouldn't call it a huge problem. 

Do folks really have cell phones ringing in class so often that it's a major disruption?

During my interview for this position, I was informed that this department has a huge problem and has recently made a "No cell phones" clause in the syllabus mandatory.

[compliteacher]

I think we moved away from what is really the problem that I see--not so much that cell phones are ringing (and they are ringing--it happens about every other day "by accident"), but that students are constantly texting.  Texting in class is a huge problem that my colleagues and I have to face on a daily basis.  It just feels like a losing battle as far as I can tell, and as long as they are not disturbing others with their texting, it's their loss if they don't get the information, right?  And yet they are often not content to just send a few discreet texts--they want to share their reply with their neighbor in class, thereby distracting that person.  They are also the ones who will be the first to raise their hands the next class and swear you never mentioned that homework assignment that's due today, or they will ask a question about information that was covered in the previous class.  And while some might classify that as "no big deal--just tell em you went over it last class and to listen next time", it's still a pain in the neck.  And if enough students do it, it becomes a major pain in the neck, because instead of one jerk swearing you didn't give that homework assignment, you've got ten.

[polly_mer]

Texting also often involves clicking and at a minimum, occupies the hands that students ought to be using to take notes <interthreaduality>.

[sciencephd]

Why do you have to face it ?  Just have them turn off the damn phones.  Give a grade for participation and penalize those who "forget".

[cgfunmathguy]

The whole problem is that cell phones disrupt class and distract students. If one rings in class, then the whole class is now off-topic, usually at some critical juncture. If it audibly vibrates, the same thing happens. If a student is texting, it is not just that student who is distracted; several others around them are also wondering about the texting instead of the class material. For these reasons, I tell students to either silence them completely or to turn them off.

I have had students with child/elder-care issues; they either skipped that class (with my understanding and blessing) or put the phone on vibrate on a belt so they could leave class if it rang. I've also had first responders in class during what was supposed to their work shifts. They put the phone on vibrate and left class as soon as the phone rang.

If you can't go 50-75 minutes without worrying about being contacted by the outside world, then you are already distracted in my class and will not perform at your best anyway. If the class is longer than that, then I give breaks around that point, and you can check your phone for messages before turning it off to come back after the break. Insisting that you need the ability to disrupt my class "just in case" just doesn't cut it and is disrespectful to your classmates and your professor.

As for hospitals, being understaffed and expecting to be able contact someone within 15 minutes, those issues existed just as much in the past. That is no excuse to allow something controllable to interrupt your class. The ego-centric attitude displayed in the insistence about this is why civil discourse has become much more incivil, IMO. If we change nothing but this by having a cell-phone ban in classrooms, then I think it's worth it.

[cc_alan]

I think we moved away from what is really the problem that I see--not so much that cell phones are ringing (and they are ringing--it happens about every other day "by accident"), but that students are constantly texting.  Texting in class is a huge problem that my colleagues and I have to face on a daily basis.  It just feels like a losing battle as far as I can tell, and as long as they are not disturbing others with their texting, it's their loss if they don't get the information, right?  And yet they are often not content to just send a few discreet texts--they want to share their reply with their neighbor in class, thereby distracting that person.  They are also the ones who will be the first to raise their hands the next class and swear you never mentioned that homework assignment that's due today, or they will ask a question about information that was covered in the previous class.  And while some might classify that as "no big deal--just tell em you went over it last class and to listen next time", it's still a pain in the neck.  And if enough students do it, it becomes a major pain in the neck, because instead of one jerk swearing you didn't give that homework assignment, you've got ten.

As I wrote before, make your policy whatever will work for you.

If this really is a problem in your classes (as you suggest), then it sounds like you don't have control of your classroom.

It sounds like you have bigger fish to fry than the cellphone policy in your classroom.

Alan

[mrsodetts]

Like others, I simply say "shut them off. If you're expecting an emergency call, let me know before class, set the phone to vibrate and quietly leave the room to take your call". This usually works just fine.

I do, however, have the occasional student who just sits there holding the dead phone, looking a bit distracted, maybe panicky. These students remind me of babies who have lost a pacifier.