Is there a technical solution to technology-caused distractions?

Sander wrote in response to my e-mail/blog post on Friday. (I am reposting our conversation with his permission).  I am fascinated by conversations and topics like this. Please add your own ideas!

On Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 6:52 AM, Sander A. Smith  wrote:

Hi Doug,

Thanks so much for answering so quickly and so fully. I took a little bit of time to digest all that you sent and get all of my thoughts together to give you an appropriate response.

BTW, we used to go to school on Sunday and would often use a hidden transistor radio with an earphone fished down the sleeve so we wouldn't have to miss the kickoff to the old Baltimore Colts football games. I guess that's about the biggest hi tech distration one could have back then.

As someone who works in tech, I'm often thinking about whether certain problems should have technological solutions or are better off solved in other ways. This is definitely one of those situations, and I'm feeling that you're also not convinced that the solution must be technical. However, I can imagine some sort of school-wide BYOD management system that would prevent (or detect and report) a student from doing something that he shouldn't be doing. Properly determining when to do this and know when the BYOD device is in "student mode" or "kid mode" is a complex problem. It would need to take into account factors such as time (you shouldn't stop a kid from playing games at lunch time) and location (what if he's home sick). It would have to be very easy to manage from the school's point of view, and configurable to mirror the school's policies. Loads of ideas for requirements, probably too soon to really think about, but all of the pieces seem to fit together and the whole things sounds doable.

There are enterprise BYOD management software solutions, but I think they won't work here. Those systems obsess over things like seperating an employee's personal/corporate credentials, and wiping the device clean of any corporate secrets in the case of loss. None of those things has any meaning in an educational setting.

So having said all of this, I'll ask a simple question: Am I onto a real issue, or am I just focussing on something that really should be dealt with simply with a policy and teacher vigilence? Entrepreneurs often focus on things they imagine are problems, but really aren't for their potential customers. The sooner someone says "This is a bad BAD idea" the better. So don't try to spare my feelings. OTOH, if you think that technology could be beneficial here, what do you think the most important goal is?

Thank you so much for your time and interest, it's much appreciated. I did take a look at the resources you shared, and I feel like I'm quickly learning a lot.

Sander A. Smith, President
Sericon Technology Inc.

Hi Sander,

Well, I may not be the right person to ask. My background is in library science where are taught to believe in intellectual freedom and self-censorship. 

The biggest problem I see with your solution of providing some sort of device control (ala Apple Remote Desktop or DeepFreeze used in labs) is that you are putting this on personal devices and the school becomes responsible for any conflicts or other problems such software might cause. And as a parent, I am not sure I want that on my kid's device anyway. Would monitoring a system that "reports" student classroom misuse of technology be less time consuming than actually walking around the room observing student use?

The other solution might be to filter using only white listing of acceptable Internet resources. This runs vastly counter to my intellectual freedom roots, but also presents some practical problems. What may be unacceptable by one teacher or a one time, maybe be perfectly acceptable by another teacher or at another time. (Your lunch room example.) Students accessing the Internet using 3G or 4G would not be impacted by filtering. And you also have plenty of "distractions" that do not require Internet access. I can play Angry Birds just fine without a connection.

I expect you would find plenty of takers for a technical solution to student distraction in the classroom were one offered. (Our filtering companies make a lot of money for a very imperfect and wrong-headed solution to a social problem.) 

Keep me posted on what you are thinking about. I find this a very interesting conversation. 

Would you mind if I continue to blog our emails? Would you like your name used or be kept anonymous if I could do so?

Thanks,

Doug

So, readers, is there a technical solution to the distraction problem caused by technology use in the classroom? What would such a system do? 

 

Or are we just opening a can of worms asking for a technical solution to an educational problem?

 

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Tech = work, print = slacking?

"...How did people ever look busy before computers?"
        - Dilbert and Ratbert

In reflecting on last weekend's BFTP: Reading on the job, I was struck (as were a couple of readers who left comments), that we seem to be living in a culture in which reading print materials on the job (books, magazines, journals) is seen as goofing off.

OK, no real change in that attitude since the original post appeared five years ago.

But today any form of computer use is viewed as productive. If one has hands on the keyboard, one is assumed to be working.

Ironically, as all of us know, computers and the Internet are a playground for slackers. Oh, the lost hours spen playing solitaire, shopping on E-Bay, liking on Facebook, viewing wacky cat YouTube videos, following celebrity tweets, or reading political diatribes. (Or so I've heard, never having done any of these things personally.)

Is this another example of format bigotry, but with print being discriminated against? Is it fair that coworkers scowl when I read the physical newspaper at my desk, but smile when I read it online? 

So where does reading/using on a tablet or e-book reader fall - on the approved or non-approved list of work activities? And what message are we sending to students when we seem to convey the belief that reading print is less worthwhile than being online?

Just thinking out loud here...

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BYOD - a short list of resources

From this week's e-mail:

I've recently become interested in how BYOD programs are being used and implemented in schools around the country. My son's school (he's in 6th grade) seems to have a fairly open and not-thought-out policy of allowing students to bring laptops to class so that they can "take notes". As can be expected, most of these devices are used to play games and other disractions during class time. The teachers and administration don't seem to know how to combat this problem. Searching a little further, I've seen others relate to this problem.

As a parent I'm outraged by this. However, as a software professional and entrepreneur I'm quite intrigued. I'm asking myself if perhaps there could be a technological solution to this. After thinking about this for a little while, I've come up with a few ideas.

I've also started to look in the marketplace to see if anyone is currently addressing this issue and have found nothing. And so I was hoping to hear the opinions of the experts, which is why I'm writing to you. Do you think that student distraction in a BYOD environment is a real issue? If so, do you know of any methods that schools are using to combat this problem other than simply creating acceptable use policies and relying on students self-policing themselves?

Dear Outraged,

I do think that student distraction can be a problem - BYOD or no BYOD - if the classroom environment is not engaging. See Engage or Entertain, Education World, April, 2008 and Taming the Chaos, Learning & Leading with Technology, November 2010. I was distracted long before technology with comic books, doodling, girls, napping etc., so technology is not the only cause here. 

I guess I am not creative enough to think of a technical solution to this problem - some sort of device that blocks wi-fi and 3/4G signals at certain times (as I remember these exist but are illegal). I am not as dismissive of good policies and self-policing as you are. The ability to focus in classses, meetings, etc. will be a skill needed long after kids leave school. And good class rules do go a very long way. See  Mankato Area Public Schools Bring Your Own Device support page. 

Two other factors that should be consider is making sure there is a clearly stated rationale for the BYOD program in your child's school. See Project ELF-Tech (a BYOD initiative), Blue Skunk blog, December 28, 2011. Parents need to be kept in the loop as well. See  Advice on buying technology for students (letter to parents), Blue Skunk blog, December 1, 2011. I would also, as a school, have means of addressing the needs of students who cannot afford to bring their own technologies. See BYOD - an ethical dilemma indeed, Blue Skunk blog, October 14, 2011.

An Internet search on schools and BYOD or BYOT should turn up a lot of good articles and advice on this popular means of providing additional access to students. For example:

• Fairfax County Public Schools RECOMMENDED BEST PRACTICES FOR PERSONALLY OWNED COMPUTING/NETWORK DEVICES fairfaxBYOD.pdf
• Neilson, L. 7 Myths of BYOD Debunked, T.H.E. Journal, November 11, 2011.
• Robinson, J. Lessons from Our One-Year Experiment with BYOT
• Valenza, J. Infotention and digital citizenship
• West, M. Making the Case for Mobile Tech. Expansion, Education Week Digital Directions, June 13, 2012

I wish I had better ideas regarding a tech solution, but this is more of an pedagogy/human nature problem.

All the best,

Doug

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