I came across this tongue in cheek article arguing for the banning of pens and pencils. Many schools ban cell phones and come up with similar lists of reasons that cell phones are bad.
I take the opposite approach, I encourage students to have their cell phones in class. There are many educational applications they can do with them, many can access the internet which helps me to cheaply have 1-1 with a BYOD (bring your own device) approach, students need to be taught responsible use of cell phones, and my personal favorite reason is that students can use my Google Voice to text me math questions.
The culture is rapidly changing, schools seem bent on bucking the current digital culture like it is going to go away… adapt or die. Schools need to adapt to how society is changing and how people interact. Sitting at a desk listening to a teacher talk while the students are bored to death is not preparing students for the new paradigm of digital integration, collaboration, customization, and innovation.
