DutchNews.nl, April 6, 2015
Smartphones have become an integral part of
the Dutch education system, with 85% of secondary schools using them in
lessons, broadcaster Nos said on Monday.
Nos researched attitudes to mobile
phones at 137 secondary schools and found that just 10% had banned smartphones
from the classroom.
In half of the schools questioned, smartphones are allowed
in the classroom but can only be used with the permission of the teacher. In
one in four schools there are no restrictions on smartphone use, Nos found.
Almost all the schools which have incorporated smartphones into education allow
pupils to use them to find information. A clear mrjority also use educational
apps and have integrated smartphones into quizzes and tests. In one third of
schools, teachers communicate with their pupils via smartphone.
Concentration
Nevertheless, schools are still wrestling with the use of smartphones and only
half believe they have enriched the education process. Only 15 of the schools
questioned do not experience any problems with the use of mobile phones.
More
than half say pupils’ concentration has been hit by their use. One school in
Oegstgeest noted: ‘pupils would rather be using Whatsapp all day and that
cannot be reconciled with concentrating on education’.
However, another school
in Rotterdam said the mobile phone is no more of a distraction that ‘sending
notes to each throughout the lesson or staring out of the window’.
Some schools
also said they have had to embrace mobile phones because there was no other
way. Taking the phones off the children only resulted in ‘angry parents making
a fuss’, one school in Groningen reported.
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