YORKTON – The province's new measures in limiting cell phones in K-12 classrooms won't be "overly impactful" according to Good Spirit School Division Director of Education CEO Quintin Robertson.
"The direction from the province is very similar to what we were already doing," said Robertson in an interview with SASKTODAY.ca.
“Technology has its place, but too often, cell phones are taking students’ attention away from what they should be learning,” said Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill in a government news release dated August 6.
“This new policy will allow students to be more engaged with their teachers and focused on learning the skills and knowledge they need to reach their potential," added Cockerill in the release.
"It wasn't overly impactful and we were not particularly worried about what was coming. We anticipated this and we had done some work over the last number of years," said Robertson, adding, "I think this just brings consistency across the entire province."
The new measures will apply to all Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools in the province. In Grades 9 to 12, teachers will be able to seek an exemption from administration to allow cell phone use by students during class when needed for a specific instructional purpose, according to the release.
School division procedures will include exemptions for students that require ongoing use of mobile devices as accommodations for medical or specific learning needs, added the release.
And though the cell phone ban will limit the use of devices by students, Robertson said technology still plays a role in education.
"Particularly our high school and middle years schools have blended classrooms so assignments and learning opportunities are posted online. Most of our schools — if not all — use Google classroom," said Robertson.
Robertson said Google Classroom offers students who miss out on a learning opportunity the chance to access previous lessons and assignments.
"Let's say for instance you're a hockey player and you're away for a couple of days at a hockey tournament. Your teacher will have video recorded of their lesson with assignments and learning opportunities online that you can access."
"There's a lot of interface between the teacher the technology and the student. It allows for self-guided instruction," added Robertson.
Robertson said the school division continues to supply technology to students.
"This year we'll be purchasing an additional 600 Chromebooks so we'll be at a one-to-one ratio for students Grades 4 through 12 and about a two-to-one ratio for iPads for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3."
"We have wonderful hardware and infrastructure that supports digital learning for our students."
And new Chromebooks aren't the only thing expected for the coming school year.
"Perhaps the one key difference this year is we are refining our literacy instruction — our reading instruction for Grades 1 to 3 — focusing in on some of the philosophy outlined in the science of reading — a greater emphasis on phonics instruction."
And as for the coming school year, Robertson said he's excited for the future.
"We're excited for the school year to start. We're excited to implement our new literacy approach. We're excited to continue our work in other areas such as math and blended learning. We have done a ton of work over the summer on many of our facilities — getting them ready to be healthy sustainable structures for our kids," said Robertson. "We're excited. We're ready to go."
