While the Alberta government recently restricted the use of cell phones in K-12 classrooms for the start of the 2024-2025 school year, officials with Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) are still working on what this will mean for the school division and how it will look in its classrooms.
“Since it was announced late in the year, we are still determining what this change means for our schools and students, said Nicole Garner, a spokesperson for the public-school division that operates schools across the Lakeland from Cold Lake to Plamondon. “We will be reviewing our current policies and procedures to determine what changes need to be made to align with the provincial requirements.”
During the most recent meeting of the NLPS board of trustees at the end of June, it was suggested there may be further discussions on whether additional requirements should come from the local board beyond what was announced by the provincial Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides.
When the changes come into effect on Sept. 1, apart from students using their phones for health needs such as monitoring blood sugar levels, all personal devices will be required to be turned off and put away while students are in class. The changes also include limiting access to social media through school internet networks.
In a presentation given to the NLPS trustees, Lac La Biche’s Aurora Middle School Principal Carolina Franke and Cold Lake Junior High School Principal Chan Cusson outlined some of the concerns about having devices in the classroom. Both administrators said devices such as cellphones can be disruptive to learning for students who have them and for others around them. Cusson and Franke also said personal electronics can be used for purposes other than learning that negatively impact students.
Privacy concerns regarding the photos, videos, and audio without people’s consent, as well as mental health effects were also brought up during their presentation.
Currently, Garner continued, each school within the division has its own procedures for dealing with cell phones and other personal devices in classrooms that are already part of the existing NLPS Student Conduct policy and procedures.
“It can vary greatly depending on the age of students who attend the school and how technology is integrated into the classroom and used for learning,” she said.
The balance between personal devices and school-based electronics for learning is something the school board will be tasked with finding.
Bob Barrett, the division’s IT director said across the school division, schools are very close to having a 1:1 ratio between all students and school-based electronic devices like Chromebooks and other learning resources.
School board members expect to have more discussions about the restrictions as the school year draws near, and likely into the beginning of the next school semester.
The NLPS board of trustees are currently on summer recess. The next board meeting is scheduled for August 26 in Bonnyville.
