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I have one part approval for this (back in my day, off my lawn, etc). But I also think about how many general tools cell phones replace, and the sudden added co

I have one part approval for this (back in my day, off my lawn, etc). But I also think about how many general tools cell phones replace, and the sudden added cost is a concern. Flashlight. Probably not necessary 99% of the time at a school, until it is valuable. Calculator. "Approved" graphing calculator replacements are stupid expensive, in many cases more expensive than the phone they're replacing. Camera. We didn't have a ton of these at schools in the 80's, but they weren't entirely absent either. Useful for documenting (and yes, perpetuating) bullying. Music. Even in the stone ages, we had music and headphones. Great for study hall and general focus. Dictionary/Encyclopedia. Sure, folks can use bound volumes, but that's not a skill they'll use. Searching for things on the internet at large, is absolutely a skill they need. Anyways, mixed thoughts. I'd say I turned out fine, but I had to re-learn a lot of mis-information innocently passed on by my peers and teachers.

hermanradtke 3y ago
> how many general tools cell phones replace The article says the students received phones with some of these tools: > instead coming with deliberately cumbersome versions of music and mapping apps
rapind 3y ago
I don't remember needing a fancy calculator until Engineering in University. Possibly they are now needed in High School, but I haven't heard that before? The article actually addresses the lack of camera as a positive in that it greatly increased interest in photography courses. The Light Phone they are using can have some basic utility features like a music player, calculator, calendar, etc. That being said, I'm cynical this is just an ad for Light Phones lol.
- falcolas 3y ago
  I remember using graphing calculators to do High School geometry. Loved it, we programmed games on it. > I'm cynical this is just an ad for Light Phones lol. It is definitely a bit over the top on the praise for it.
- OkayPhysicist 3y ago
  SAT allows (and thus requires to be competitive) a graphing calculator, typically a TI-84, but there are approved CASIO ones as well.
dotnet00 3y ago
Agreed, back when I was in highschool, smartphones were relatively new, and even then the benefits were obvious in the form of being able to use them for music in any sort of study hall and for the calculator, and in university it quickly became very normal to see people taking a photo of things they thought would be especially noteworthy (which was very helpful because professors would often be going too fast to note it down). My highschool had the additional option of bringing and using a laptop in class, which I always used and found to be far more convenient. I get that social media and texting are distractions in the classroom, but I really don't buy that a blanket ban is the solution. That's just draconian and brings to mind all the other arbitrary rules/limitations I had/have to deal with as a student which just built up resentment and encouraged malicious compliance rather than any respect of the school. Also brings to mind the old joke about teachers telling kids to solve even complicated equations (without convenient numbers) by hand because "you won't always have a calculator at hand", and how wrong that turned out to be. Edit: Come to think of it, it's interesting that social media sites haven't thought to do something about this as a PR move. They could sell beacons (specifically to schools) which if the phone detects, it notifies the teacher. Not being able to get away with sneaking a look at a phone would quickly reduce the issue of having to tell kids to put their phones away.

hermanradtke 3y ago

> how many general tools cell phones replace The article says the students received phones with some of these tools: > instead coming with deliberately cumbersome versions of music and mapping apps

rapind 3y ago

I don't remember needing a fancy calculator until Engineering in University. Possibly they are now needed in High School, but I haven't heard that before? The article actually addresses the lack of camera as a positive in that it greatly increased interest in photography courses. The Light Phone they are using can have some basic utility features like a music player, calculator, calendar, etc. That being said, I'm cynical this is just an ad for Light Phones lol.

falcolas 3y ago
I remember using graphing calculators to do High School geometry. Loved it, we programmed games on it. > I'm cynical this is just an ad for Light Phones lol. It is definitely a bit over the top on the praise for it.
OkayPhysicist 3y ago
SAT allows (and thus requires to be competitive) a graphing calculator, typically a TI-84, but there are approved CASIO ones as well.

dotnet00 3y ago

Agreed, back when I was in highschool, smartphones were relatively new, and even then the benefits were obvious in the form of being able to use them for music in any sort of study hall and for the calculator, and in university it quickly became very normal to see people taking a photo of things they thought would be especially noteworthy (which was very helpful because professors would often be going too fast to note it down). My highschool had the additional option of bringing and using a laptop in class, which I always used and found to be far more convenient. I get that social media and texting are distractions in the classroom, but I really don't buy that a blanket ban is the solution. That's just draconian and brings to mind all the other arbitrary rules/limitations I had/have to deal with as a student which just built up resentment and encouraged malicious compliance rather than any respect of the school. Also brings to mind the old joke about teachers telling kids to solve even complicated equations (without convenient numbers) by hand because "you won't always have a calculator at hand", and how wrong that turned out to be. Edit: Come to think of it, it's interesting that social media sites haven't thought to do something about this as a PR move. They could sell beacons (specifically to schools) which if the phone detects, it notifies the teacher. Not being able to get away with sneaking a look at a phone would quickly reduce the issue of having to tell kids to put their phones away.