Western Standard - Limiting mobile devices and social media in Alberta schools

00:00:00.240 by a couple of other individuals as well in particular mike boyce who will be speaking

00:00:06.640 after i've concluded my remarks mike of course will introduce himself i'm sure but he's a

00:00:11.760 developmental psychologist with the university of calgary mike really delighted to have you here

00:00:16.320 thank you for being here and as well after mike will be joined by vicky leong a teacher with

00:00:23.200 aurora secondary school in edmonton vicky thanks so much for being here as well and for offering

00:00:28.400 your insights and perspectives it's really important that we're here today because as

00:00:34.240 i'm sure we all know cell phones are an ever-present feature of our daily lives and

00:00:40.080 alberta's classrooms are no exception cell phones as i'm sure we all know can be used as a research

00:00:47.600 and learning tool to stay up to date on other activities practice schedules club activities

00:00:56.000 way to be to be connected with family and stay connected with loved ones

00:01:02.400 and and of course enrich our lives in a variety of different ways

00:01:07.200 however they of course can also be a distraction and can limit a student from reaching their full

00:01:15.280 potential and they can in some instances put the mental health of the young person at risk

00:01:24.560 a 2023 study published in the journal of applied cognitive psychology found that students who were

00:01:31.120 permitted to use cell phones reported a higher degree of distraction and achieved worse test

00:01:38.720 performance than those who were not allowed to use cell phones in a classroom a 2017 study linked

00:01:46.240 minors use of social media enabled in school by smartphones to depression and an increased risk

00:01:54.880 of suicide a 2016 study showed that smartphone use in school correlates to reduce to reduced

00:02:05.200 educational success and another study found that eighth graders who are heavy social media users

00:02:13.760 increased their risk of depression by 27 percent the risks to student mental well-being and

00:02:22.640 academic success are real and we must take steps now to combat these effects over the past few

00:02:31.120 months i've had the opportunity to hear from parents teachers and other educational partners

00:02:38.000 that we should open the door to reviewing the use of personal mobile devices and social media in

00:02:45.380 schools. And I'm happy to follow through on that request today. I've spent the last few months

00:02:52.420 connecting with those most closely impacted, students, parents, and teachers, and other

00:02:57.880 partners, to discuss the realities of cell phones and other personal mobile devices in schools.

00:03:03.020 this included a survey that saw more than 68 000 parents teachers and principals provide their

00:03:12.860 input on this note i just want to take a moment to thank our school boards and other partners who

00:03:19.580 circulated this survey so that we could capture an incredibly wide perspective of alberta's

00:03:26.460 views at 68 000 responses i'm told it's the highest responded survey ever

00:03:33.020 and clearly parents and teachers alike have some clear views on this topic the survey results were

00:03:41.660 clear that the use of cell phones is of significant concern and that additional measures should be

00:03:49.580 taken to limit cell phone use in our classrooms and so today i am announcing that's effective

00:03:57.900 fall the for the fall 2024 25 school year starting this uh september and august in some cases

00:04:05.660 students will no longer be permitted to use personal mobile devices during class time and

00:04:12.860 i'm further announcing that access to social media sites in schools will be restricted

00:04:19.740 I am confident that these restrictions will reduce restrictions, maximize learning time, support student mental health, and reduce opportunities for cyberbullying.

00:04:35.140 The new rules will be in place, as I mentioned, for the 24-25 school year at the beginning of the next school year, which occurs late August to early September.

00:04:45.480 students again will no longer be able to use personal mobile devices during class time or

00:04:51.080 to access social media sites personal mobile devices include cell phones smartphones smart

00:04:59.480 watches headphones and other personal electronic devices there will be a few situations when

00:05:07.240 students can use a phone during class time if needed for medical or health reasons if needed

00:05:14.760 to support special learning needs or if directed by a teacher or any other reason as determined

00:05:22.920 by a principal on a case-by-case basis these rules will apply to all public separate francophone

00:05:31.000 public charter and independent school authority these rules present minimum standards and

00:05:39.320 a board has the autonomy and flexibility to implement additional restrictions if they so

00:05:45.560 choose during class time all personal devices must be turned off and be stored out of sight

00:05:54.760 this could be a backpack a locker or any other area as determined by an individual school board

00:06:03.720 school boards will be given flexibility to decide what enforcement should look like

00:06:09.400 at their respective schools and what the consequences for non-compliance will be

00:06:15.080 however school boards will be required to notify parents and guardians if their child violates

00:06:21.320 the new rules individual school boards will also have the flexibility to decide

00:06:27.080 how exceptions should be managed that being said again all school boards must allow exceptions for

00:06:34.680 students using mobile devices for health or medical reasons or to support special learning needs

00:06:41.800 as i mentioned before we also recognize that personal mobile devices can be an important

00:06:47.640 research and learning tool that is why personal mobile devices will also be permitted for

00:06:53.720 educational or other purposes as determined by a principal or equivalent on a case-by-case basis

00:07:01.240 i'm confident that together these restrictions will reduce distractions maximize learning time

00:07:07.880 support student mental health and reduce opportunities for cyber bullying as the

00:07:14.440 current school year draws to a close i know that many parents and students will have questions

00:07:19.640 about what these restrictions will look like at their local school so again to reiterate at the

00:07:25.320 beginning of the upcoming school year all personal mobile devices will not be permitted during

00:07:32.280 instructional time my department will also be working closely with school authorities over the

00:07:37.400 next few days weeks and months to support them with implementation parents and guards should

00:07:43.480 stay tuned to their local school authority over the coming months for more details regarding

00:07:48.200 enforcement and compliance rules thank you again for joining me it's now my privilege and pleasure

00:07:54.920 to pass things to mike boyce again a developmental psychologist with the university of calgary

00:08:00.120 for his perspective thank you thank you minister good afternoon as mentioned i'm a developmental

00:08:10.680 psychologist and over the last 40 years and then some i've taught and done research on the

00:08:17.080 development of teens and young adults and i've examined the preparations that our students make

00:08:23.160 and the paths that they choose as they transition out of high school and i've looked at what we as

00:08:28.680 teachers and what educators in general can do to help them manage that transition most effectively

00:08:35.320 Now, I'm old enough to remember a lot of things, but I'm old enough to remember that we used to help our students multitask as part of our research and teaching agendas.

00:08:47.780 Now, that's not such a good idea.

00:08:50.520 We're still working on figuring out the full impacts of social media use on our students, but we're very clear, the research is very clear,

00:08:57.620 That smartphones in the classroom negatively impact students' abilities to focus and sustain their attention on their learning, but also on important developmental things like critical thinking, problem solving, planning skills, and on the building of the kinds of self-efficacy that they need to manage their engagement with social media, but also their engagement with their lives as they move on out of our school systems.

00:09:23.720 We also know that the distractions that are built into smartphones when available in education

00:09:29.640 settings are widening the gap between low and high functioning students. Because of all this,

00:09:35.880 I think the strategy of moving to limit access to smartphones in our schools is an important

00:09:40.840 step towards helping our students focus their attention on the learning and the development

00:09:45.400 they need to do in order to flourish in the world that they're going to move into

00:09:49.400 when they move out of school. Thank you, Minister. My name is Vicki Leong and I'm

00:10:04.640 a long-serving teacher at Aurora Academic Charter Secondary School in

00:10:08.360 Edmonton. I applaud the government of Alberta for taking the initiative to

00:10:12.280 limit personal mobile devices and social media in our schools. At both our

00:10:17.460 primary and secondary aurora campuses which raids in grades from kindergarten to grade 11 and with

00:10:23.540 the addition of grade 12 in the fall we have policies in place that restrict the use of cell

00:10:28.260 phones and personal devices during class time i know firsthand that this announcement today will

00:10:34.420 benefit students across the province this announcement validates that what we have been

00:10:39.460 doing at aurora charter school is in the best interest of our students learning and ensures

00:10:44.180 teachers can focus on delivering the curriculum without competing with cell phone distractions

00:10:49.700 i am sure that teachers can agree with me that the ping or vibration of a cell phone can disrupt

00:10:55.140 the flow of a lesson or the overall focus of learning in a classroom even students who want

00:11:01.380 to focus on learning may be distracted by their peers cell phones which isn't fair to those who

00:11:07.460 are unintentionally distracted by the choices of others at aurora charter school we have always

00:11:13.540 enforced a no cell phone policy in classrooms new students quickly adhere to this policy and

00:11:19.220 understand its importance a whole school policy sends a clear message to both students and staff

00:11:25.300 does it that this rule applies to everyone and in all classes i've spoken with new students to

00:11:31.700 our schools who actually express relief that they have had to keep their phones in their lockers

00:11:36.820 during class time many have said that they feel a sense of relief and that they can focus on

00:11:42.660 learning and take a break from the constant barrage of posts notifications and the demands of social

00:11:48.580 media we are living in a world that is becoming more digital than ever and our classrooms are no

00:11:53.700 success exception technology is alive and well at award charter school as in many schools across

00:11:59.940 the province and there's no disputing this however as educators it's our job to use technology

00:12:06.180 positively enhancing learning rather than allowing it to become a distraction thank you to the

00:12:12.100 government of alberta for implementing these standards to keep our classroom safe and conducive

00:12:16.580 to learning all right thank you everyone for coming unfortunately due to some technical

00:12:23.300 issues the teleconference future will not be available uh so we're going to take questions

00:12:28.100 in the room for the minister so if you have a question please make your way to the microphone

00:12:32.820 and please keep it to one question one follow-up and state your name and outlet.

00:12:38.420 Hi Terry from CTV Calgary. First and foremost I was wondering if you can speak more to the survey

00:12:45.540 and if that will be made public and why or why not. Sure yeah I'd be happy to just speak a little

00:12:51.540 bit more to the survey. I haven't had the opportunity to explore further whether we intend

00:12:57.460 to publish the results but I'd be happy to get back to you as we look at that in a little bit

00:13:00.820 more detail but i do have a little bit more information that i can share the survey ran

00:13:07.300 during during march into early april as well as i mentioned we received 68 000 responses

00:13:15.220 uh it uh it really took off and i think that shows and demonstrates that there's a lot of interest

00:13:21.540 90 of respondents and actually i should back up just very uh just a bit when i say respondents

00:13:27.060 of course our primary target audience with the survey was parents primarily and also teachers

00:13:30.980 and educators we really hit that mark the vast majority of respondents were parents and teachers

00:13:36.820 and so 90 percent of them advised concern generally over cell phone use in school that's

00:13:42.100 coming from both parents and teachers 85 percent of respondents believe that cell phones have a

00:13:47.060 negative impact on student achievement 81 percent believe that cell phones increase the incidence of

00:13:53.780 bullying and about 60 percent of parents said that having a cell phone negatively impacts their

00:13:59.140 child's mental health teachers uh their views when we when we parse them out and just looked

00:14:05.060 at parents versus teachers to see if there was some different results there they were almost

00:14:08.900 identical in terms of the desire to see greater restrictions and their views about distractions

00:14:14.740 and concerns we also asked teachers as well how often they they direct students to use them

00:14:22.260 The vast majority of respondents indicated that they never, if very rarely, direct students to use cell phones at schools and did note that they are significant sources of distraction.

00:14:33.620 So there was a high degree of consensus, if you will, in the survey results.

00:14:42.960 We didn't see any major areas where there was significant disagreement.

00:14:47.200 And were they asked if they wanted them removed from classrooms directly?

00:14:50.240 Yes, we did ask very directly at varying grade levels as well, when and if they believe that students should use them.

00:15:00.600 And interestingly, although not too surprisingly, parents and teachers believe that in younger grades,

00:15:09.400 there should be very, very limited few, if any, reasons or exceptions as to why students should use them,

00:15:14.940 Realizing that as students get older, there can be situations where we might be able to be a little bit more flexible and grant them a little bit more autonomy over use of cell phones.

00:15:25.340 And so there was quite a degree of, again, conformity in those views.

00:15:32.040 And I was just wondering if you could speak to, you know, as Minister, talking about the downsides of social media and personal mobile devices and cell phones in class, but also balancing that with just how much technology is used every day and these students in grade 12 are going to move on to university.

00:15:52.360 We spoke to many today saying a lot of their applications are on their phones for school.

00:15:56.620 And when they get out into the real world, you know, we use it so much.

00:15:59.900 Yeah, so a couple of points on that.

00:16:01.660 of course um the ban relates to class time so during breaks students will have the ability to

00:16:07.500 to use their their devices recognizing as you mentioned i think a lot of those pieces you know

00:16:12.140 that's how the world operates today so we need to set them up for success and smartphone use and

00:16:17.980 other personal mobile use is mainstay and it's here to stay so we have to set them up for success

00:16:24.940 and we have to make sure they're exposed to that and of course are using different apps to plan

00:16:30.540 their schedules calendars respond to emails as they're going that type of thing that's that's

00:16:36.140 what we do of course that's probably what they'll be expected to do when when they're adults whether

00:16:40.460 that's in post-secondary or in the job market and so i think we got the right balance in terms of

00:16:47.580 giving them some flexibility during breaks but during class time you know your attention should

00:16:51.900 be focused on what you're learning and what the outcomes of your instruction is and furthermore

00:16:58.380 i would say uh you know it's it's here to stay just technology broadly of course and and cell

00:17:04.380 phone use and it's i don't believe it's very helpful or beneficial to students to just you

00:17:10.860 know create an environment whereby we say it's totally banned you can't use it can't touch it

00:17:14.940 don't look at it i don't think that's really helpful uh they're going to experience uh

00:17:20.220 technology use smartphone use social media use as they become adults so having them kind of

00:17:25.900 graduate into that i think is a responsible way and well of course the government is always

00:17:31.420 continuing to move forward with other curriculum changes as well and in the previous government we

00:17:36.780 made some recent changes to develop the new physical education and wellness component

00:17:41.980 for k-6 of course we'll be looking at the 7 to 12 of that piece and other pieces so i believe that

00:17:48.540 there are opportunities even within our structured curriculum to talk about these matters in a

00:17:53.340 responsible way and to help prepare students for success all right any other questions in the room

00:18:00.460 sure i'm david kim with livewire calgary um i guess my first question was like since cell

00:18:05.660 phones have been an issue in classrooms like for a while like um how come this is only being

00:18:09.820 implemented in uh the 24 25 year uh sure well a 24 25 year of course is uh just a few months away

00:18:16.860 starts uh towards the end of august beginning of september uh school year is coming to an end now

00:18:21.820 so probably not the best time at the end of a school year to put in a new policy in place.

00:18:25.980 We want to make sure that students, teachers, and administrators have some time to prepare

00:18:31.260 for the new policy being implemented in September slash late August.

00:18:35.420 I meant more along the lines of why it hasn't been covered earlier because cell phones...

00:18:39.580 Oh, I see. Why haven't we done it, you know, two years ago, three years ago?

00:18:42.300 Yes, exactly.

00:18:43.180 Understood. Okay, my apologies. Yeah, you know, good question. Of course,

00:18:49.020 I think there's there's a lot of different variables to that I know over the past few years of course of trying to contend through COVID and navigate through those complexities and the priorities of policymakers, you know, changes over time.

00:19:03.020 You know, one of the things for me as Minister that that drove me to really take a close look at this was a realization that the government of Alberta in the Ministry of Education has a technology use framework.

00:19:16.020 and we use that framework to provide guidance and direction to our school boards about technology

00:19:20.640 use. The document's 10 years old, so we'll probably need to do some updating of that

00:19:26.480 general policy document, and a recognition of that, I think, was a need to have a closer look

00:19:33.620 at some of the rules relating to cell phones and social media as a first step, but I think there

00:19:38.220 needs to be more work done. We haven't even gotten on the topic of artificial intelligence and

00:19:43.480 and chat GPT and other things.

00:19:45.800 So I think we need to just be responsive

00:19:48.140 to changing technology.

00:19:49.320 Right, thank you.

00:19:50.160 I'll just move to the next question here.

00:19:53.260 Nick with City of News Calgary.

00:19:54.860 Just really quick, if we're asking the government

00:19:56.900 to step in to kind of standardize

00:19:59.020 how cell phones are used in the school system,

00:20:01.360 why so much allowances for each school board to enforce

00:20:05.660 or how much control that they have?

00:20:08.500 Like, I'm a little confused by giving them such power,

00:20:12.460 yet trying to standardize it at the same time sure well recognizing that um you know school divisions

00:20:18.700 are are different operate in different communities have different demographics uh so i i don't always

00:20:25.180 believe in one size fits all policy you know can is is the best approach so we've set some minimum

00:20:30.220 standards you know can't use your cell phone in class can't use your personal mobile device in

00:20:34.620 class um and some other uh minimum standards as i mentioned earlier if a school board wants to

00:20:42.300 impose some rules that are a little bit tighter they're they're welcome to do that and how a

00:20:48.700 school board determines enforcement and deals with non-compliance i think is best handled by

00:20:54.540 by the individual school board and where the devices are stored i know some school boards

00:20:59.180 or some schools have you know lock boxes at the front of the class some don't so i think creating

00:21:06.780 a one-size-fits-all policy as it relates to those kinds of questions might create some complexities

00:21:12.300 You know, one school board might say, keep the phone in your backpack, it's good enough.

00:21:18.300 Another might say, if you've got to keep it in your locker, our minimum requirements are that it's off and it's out of sight.

00:21:24.300 So provided you meet that, we're okay with how you work through it.

00:21:27.300 And just one quick follow up, and it might be a little too early to ask this question.

00:21:31.300 To implement this, like we've seen that there's obviously an effect by having these cell phones in the classroom.

00:21:37.300 Is there anything already in plan, like, say, two years, we'll look back and see how the standardization of the rules are taking effect?

00:21:45.280 Like, is there plans for that in a couple of years?

00:21:48.160 Let's go back and let's see how these implementations or the standardization is working.

00:21:52.860 Yeah, we don't have a firm date whereby we intend to kind of go back and look at that.

00:21:58.320 However, with the development of any new initiative or policy, we want to make sure it's effective and successful.

00:22:05.360 So I will be talking with our school boards and teachers and other partners over the next few months and years to see how things are working out, whether there needs to be any tweaks or modifications.

00:22:17.920 I think it's important to be responsive and adaptive.

00:22:20.900 So we'll always be doing that.

00:22:22.960 And, you know, I think it would be interesting as well, and I'll leave this to the academics to look at any relationship between today's decision and changes to academic success rates, performance rates, mental health issues or instances of cyberbullying.

00:22:41.700 Some of the studies that we've looked at in the ministry do point to improvements in grades and decreases of bullying and other incidents as a result of similar policies.

00:22:53.000 But, of course, no two situations are completely identical.

00:22:57.180 So I'd best leave that to the researchers and academics to be able to draw some of those correlations.

00:23:02.460 Thank you so much.

00:23:03.120 Great. Thank you, everyone, for coming.

00:23:05.640 Unfortunately, that concludes today.

00:23:07.180 And sorry about the live stream dial-in not working.

00:23:10.980 If you have questions, please just email me.

00:23:13.240 My phone number and email is on the bottom of the media notice.

00:23:17.660 Thank you all for coming.

00:23:19.300 Thank you.

Western Standard - June 18, 2024

Limiting mobile devices and social media in Alberta schools

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