High tech gadgets are becoming the latest classroom nuisance

11/11/03 -- Forget about little Susie slipping a love note to Johnny in the next seat. Today, it's more likely that Susie is using her PDA to send a text message to Linda across the classroom, while Johnny is playing a video game on his calculator.

Welcome to the 21st century, an era when handheld electronic gadgets are helping to revolutionize classroom instruction -- and giving students new tools for goofing off in class.

These devices also could be used for cheating. A student in a first-period class, for example, could use a new-model cell phone to take a picture of a test and e-mail it to students facing the same test in fifth period.

The majority of students say they're not abusing today's electronic gadgetry. But it's clear that some kids can't resist the urge to tinker with their high-tech toys: A senior in Palo Alto, Calif., admits to typing notes to friends in class using her cell phone. A student in Riverdale, N.Y., says his Palm Pilot's infrared messaging system can be used to play the game Pong with another student sitting across the classroom.

Indeed, the fun never ends. "Someone brought in a universal remote and walked through the halls turning on all the TV's in classrooms," a student at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan told the New York Times recently.

One reason such shenanigans occur is that school officials are beginning to relax their policies regarding electronic devices. Laptop computers, PDAs, and calculators are more and more acceptable in classrooms -- and, in some cases, are being provided by the schools. And since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, many school systems have eased restrictions on the possession of cell phones.

But look across the nation, and it's clear school officials have reached no consensus on how to handle electronic gadgetry. Some schools still ban most devices. Others allow PDAs but ban cell phones. Still others leave the use of electronic devices largely to the discretion of teachers, while banning cell phone use in classrooms.

One of the more liberal policies can be found in the East Dubuque, Ill., school district, where technology coordinator Joe Ambrosia says the only policy is that electronic devices cannot interfere with classroom learning. And if a teacher isn't keen on a student using his PDA, then it goes into his backpack.

At Palo Alto High School, officials view the latest technology as no more a problem than paper and pen. It's not about the technology -- it's about traditional classroom management, says Assistant Principal Chuck Merritt.

"There's nothing new here -- this is old stuff," he says. "It sounds so obvious, but teachers need to be aware of what's going on around the classroom. Let's say a kid has a PDA hidden under his desk. Well, it's like Susie trying to read a love note. The behavior of the kids don't necessarily change all that much."

If anything, Ambrosia says if school officials want to worry -- they need to worry about what's coming down the pike -- cheaper, smaller, and more powerful devices that will be a lot harder to police.

For example, the upcoming combination cell phone-PDA models will be an interesting challenge.

Still, he says, he's generally all for technology in the classroom. "If it's something that enhances learning, then it's something we need to encourage," he says. "We need to avoid a fear of technology."