Interesting timing that the Ottawa Citizen posted an article on how educators need to embrace smartphone use in education a couple of days after I did a toastmasters table topics speech on this same topic. In my speech I made the comparison with slide rules which were accepted in the classroom but calculators and smartphones were at first viewed suspiciously as something associated with cheating. As with anything there are pros and cons with the use of smartphones in classrooms but policies need to promote the beneficial uses of new technology which quickly becomes ubiquitous. Smartphones have big implications on testing which is reliant on simply memorizing facts rather than understanding concepts. How valuable is fact memorization when an encyclopedia in the pocket is within reach of almost anyone? Good to see the article did mention some items to be concerned about too like information technology being hyped and effects caused by multitasking and distractions.
