Today I was in for a bit of a surprise when I logged into my computer in preparation for EDUC 394. This being said I like surprises and for this reason, I was more than happy to roll with the punches and make a change. In our newly formulated class plan, we were to join up with the “Edcamp” that was being held in Victoria. From what we were told the “Edcamp” was a place for students and teachers to have discussions on different issues in a stratified way. In the format of the meeting, there was no one presenter who would instill their knowledge on the rest of the class. Instead, participants were placed in rooms where discussions and were held and ideas were shared. Personally, I liked this format given the fact that ideas were allowed to flow freely. At no point in our conversation did I feel bored or unengaged with our discussions. This change in pace was great, and I feel it was exactly what I needed for my Friday.

One aspect of our conversation I found interesting was the notion of Kahoot bombing. Apparently, it is relatively common for kids engaged in a classroom activity using Kahoot to post the chat address to a forum like Reddit or 4chan. Once this is done, outsiders from all corners of the internet will connect and storm the conversation with vulgar content. Honestly the fact this happens was not particularly surprising to me. I could see lots of the kids I went to school with doing this same thing if given the same opportunity to do so. I suppose the real question in this matter is how can a teacher utilize a platform like Kahoot, while at the same time being able to ensure things like this do not happen? There are several answers to this question. One of the simplest, in theory, is to disallow cell phones entirely. Although this solution sounds simple it is actually more complicated than meets the eye.

In our class discussion, we looked into the practicality of removing phones from the schools entirely. A seemingly simple idea soon became complicated given the fact that past attempts to do this same thing have been met by fierce parental opposition. Parents are comfortable with and accustomed to being in constant communication with their children. Teachers threatening to cut this connection tend to be looked at in a negative light by parents. Given this fact, implementing a no-phone policy can be difficult, however, it has been done in several schools. One way that a compromise was found by allowing students to have their phone in school, but not use it during school hours. Making this policy fare a similar rule was implemented for this schools teaching faculty. In doing this both teachers and students were equalized in the fact that they relied solely on the tech provided by the school during school time.

Honestly, I am not sure where I sit in this debate. One part of me thinks it is somewhat hypocritical to say that phones should not be allowed in the schools given the fact that I had a cell phone throughout my school career. The other side of me thinks that phones are a huge distraction that students and the school system would be better off without. What side of this debate I will end up on is still up in the air. This being said, I will try to be accommodating to students, either way, I decide to go with my phone policy.

In conclusion. I really enjoyed this day of learning and I look forward to others like it in the future!