Mobile Phone Ban Considered.....

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57643697
gawd frankly I'm amazed they are allowed in at all now. They should be confiscated and returned at home time the first time after that they should be forfeited and given to charity. Madness, they learn ugger ball anyway these days without talking rowlocks on Twitfacegram all day, madness.

[New Judge]

//... how do you propose that kids learn about trigonometry and other scientific functions?//

You teach them the use of the functions (SOH; CAH; TOA and all that - no calculator required) and give them a book of "four figure tables" to undertake calculations (no calculator required):

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/four-figure-tables/author/godfrey-and-siddons/

Worked OK for me.

[naomi24]

Sunk 20.48 Tue, That's the second of your posts on this thread that makes no sense. Yes, phones can distract from the work to be done - and how this is 'politically motivated' is anyone's guess because going by a lot of the responses here it's not an idea that's likely to win votes.

NJ, I didn't deem bednobs' silly post worthy of a response.... but you responded adequately.

[sherrardk]

Have you two not heard of progress? Kids don’t use four figure tables and slide rules because there are better, more efficient ways of doing maths now - no one expected you to use an abacus.

[naomi24]

Sherrard, I prefer that children be taught to think in order to solve problems. God help the world if technology ever fails.

[sherrardk]

That’s ridiculous, I used a calculator for maths and I’m 52.

[naomi24]

That's irrelevant. It's not what's being said.

[Mamyalynne]

New technology is incorporated into education methods quite quickly as it becomes available, otherwise we'd still have pupils using slates or dip pens.

There are over 300 replies under that BBC article, a variety of comments.

Some that struck me were the fact that some schools don't have enough laptops or tablets to go round so sometimes ask pupils to use their phones to access online material.

I do agree that they should not be allowed to be used for pleasure during class.

[Mozz71]

Mpbie phones shpuld be turned off and handed to the form teacher at the beginning of the day and only returned at the end. There is no need to have them during lesson time.

[jno]

Mamya, in my experience schools have always been slow to catch on. I was having to use a dip pen long after fountain pens became common, and when we did go over to fountain pens, ball-point pens were of course banned for years.

[Mamyalynne]

We all have different experiences then, that's clear.

[jno]

must have. I remember Katherine Whitehorn writing about it - her experience mirrored mine (we didn't go to the same school). My school was actually very progressive, but I got the impression the government or local council or somebody didn't go for all this newfangled stuff, and only the limited avaiability of goose quills had made them move on in the first place.

No doubt they'll be banning pupils from coming to school in flying cars next

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/29/flying-cars-will-be-a-reality-by-2030-says-hyundai-europe-chief

[New Judge]

//Have you two not heard of progress? Kids don’t use four figure tables and slide rules...//

Yes I have and yes I know. I wouldn't use four figure tables either - they are an abomination. I was trying to demonstrate (not very successfully, obviously) that teaching children does not require either mobile phones or calculators. They need to be taught why they are doing things, not simply which buttons to press and the trigonomical functions are a classic example of this. It's no use finding the tangent value of 25 degrees - either with a calculator or four figure tables - if you don't know why you are finding it and what use it is when you have it.

But this is not about the use of calculators in class. This is about the presence of mobile phones. There is little doubt that they offer a huge distraction. There's no need for data - all you have to do is ask any teacher. They should not be permitted in classrooms and so long as they are teaching will suffer.

[bednobs]

"It's no use finding the tangent value of 25 degrees - either with a calculator or four figure tables - if you don't know why you are finding it and what use it is when you have it."
which is fine and i get what you are saying. However, the notion that children should be taught to do this with a slide rule and four figure tables is just daft. The vast vast majority of people in their adult life have no need whatsoever for trigonometry, and if they did for professional reasons, i would hazard a guess they'd use a calculator rather than slide rule. Not letting people use calculators disadvantages them in life (IMO)

[ichkeria]

If you think teaching maths shouldn’t involve calculators you’re hopelessly wide of the mark!
What in earth do you think calculators are used for: quick exercises in mental arithmetic?! The power of modern calculators now has increased the scope for what can be done and in a shorter time.
I mean why allow pens or even pencils? There was presumably a time when people thought they made writing too easy. In fact I remember us not being allowed anything other than messy ink pens with nibs: presumably as some bizarre idea that if you weren’t ripping the page or getting blue stains all over your hands then you weren’t suffering enough :-)

[naomi24]

//then you weren’t suffering enough :-)//

That explains a lot.

[davebro]

I find being able to do mental arithmetic quite useful so I'm glad we didn't have calculators at school. (Except it means that I'm older than I want to be!)

[ummmm]

Calculators do much more than add up and subtract.

When I was at school calculators were on the list of requirements.

I can add up and takeaway quickly....from chalking the dart board. A benefit of living in a pub.

[tiggerblue10]

We were asked to get scientific calculators for school. This was in the early 80s.

[ummmm]

Same, Tiggs.

[tiggerblue10]

Sines, cosines and plenty of going off on tangents ;o)