Medicine Hat High School Student Senate members, from left, Chudier Ruach, Joud Sadek, teacher liaison Ricky Hildebrand, Jeeya Gupta and Nyaruach Ruach, recently compiled data from a survey they conducted with more than 600 students about their experience thus far with cellphone restrictions in the classroom.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Members of the Student Senate at Medicine Hat High School recently asked fellow students about their experiences since cellphones and personal electronics were barred from the classroom to start the school year.
By using a ‘Google Form,’ members of the Student Senate were able to connect online with more than half the student body, receiving more than 600 responses to its six-question survey.
“I think it’s really important to just get everyone’s insight; I’m really glad we did this survey,” says Nyaruach Ruach, Grade 11 member of the Student Senate. “It was very interesting to see how students are responding to the new policy.”
Overall, the survey found 63.2 per cent of students have yet to see a positive impact from the province’s phone policy. However, when students were asked “as a whole, how does the phone policy affect your learning experience?” the largest percentage responded with “somewhat more positive,” at 44.2 per cent.
“We’ve seen in the past, phones are very distracting in the classroom, so we’re trying to get rid of the distraction,” says Chudier Ruach, Grade 12 member of the Student Senate. “But also, listen to what the students have to say so we can provide accommodations in situations that can’t be avoided.”
On Tuesday, members of the Student Senate presented the data they’ve collected to school board trustees in hopes their data will help the division develop a cellphone restriction policy that better reflects student needs.
Last June, Education Minister Demetrios Nioclaides announced the province would be restricting use of personal electronics at all schools in the classroom setting, and asked each division to implement its own policy to enforce the restrictions.
Before this school year began, Medicine Hat’s public school division released new guidelines that restrict students from accessing the school’s wi-fi networks, which have been adapted to prevent the use of social media during educational hours.
However, data collected by the student driven survey suggests a wi-fi ban may hamper the learning ability of international students, who typically utilize translation apps to accommodate their learning, especially in high-level subjects.
“We talked about the flexibility for exchange students where they sometimes use their phone, most of the time, for translating their schoolwork and tasks,” explains Joud Sadek, Grade 12 member of the Student Senate.
“(For) a lot of exchange students the break is the only time they have to call their families or friends back home,” says Grade 11 member Jeeya Gupta. “And a lot of them cannot afford to buy data, so not having wi-fi or even having partial data is a real hindrance because they just can’t talk to their families.”
MHPSD has more than 180 international students enrolled, and data collected from the survey shows these students rely on translation apps in more than just a classroom setting.
“Not being able to have your phone for translation can kind of interfere with making friends and making new connections,” says Nyaruach.
By using their data the Student Senate presented the division with seven recommendations on changes they feel would improve the current cellphone policy that includes use for educational tasks, as well as allowing students to access music on their devices while studying independently.
“A lot of students, including some of us in the Student Senate, we previously listened to music to help us focus,” explains Gupta. “It helps us get into the zone and not be distracted by maybe surrounding noises and distractions.”
The Senate also recommends more flexibility for students with special needs including ADHD, who use cellphones to help focus on learning.
They are also seeking refer restrictions for cellphone use after classwork is finished and asking teachers to loosen restrictions and trust students to use their phone responsibly.
The division says it’s keen on reviewing the data from the student-run survey as it looks to implement amendments to its new policy.
“I think they thought it was very insightful that we have the survey and the data from it,” says Chudier. “It’s just very useful for future plans and how they are going to move forward and how we could change the policy to be beneficial for the school and students and their learning, but also accommodate (student) needs and get the best out of their learning experience.”
