Abstract:

Even though there has been an enormous increase in various technologies for learning in schools, students' use of mobile phones is often seen as disruptive and distracting for students learning. In Sweden, just as in many other countries, there is now an ongoing trend to ban mobile phones from classrooms. However, the impact of a mobile phone ban on digital distractions in school could be questioned as long as other digital connected technologies are present. In order to fully understand the complexity of digitally connected technologies in classrooms and the use of mobile phones, we need to address questions concerning banning mobile phones from school. This study explores Swedish upper secondary school teachers' experiences of implementing a mobile phone ban during class. The study follows a work team of eight teachers as they implement a mobile phone ban for students during class at an upper secondary class in Sweden.

The study is based on semi-structured group interviews with eight upper secondary teachers who all undertook a mobile phone ban during class. In total, eight teachers participated in the study. All group interviews were transcribed and coded to identify patterns and variations in the data.

Our analysis indicates three dilemmas banning mobile phones in class. First, most teachers considered the implementation of a ban to be a promising way to reduce distractions and disruptions caused by students' use of mobile phones during class. However, there was a significant difference between the teachers in their appropriation of the mobile phone ban. Even though the teachers had agreed on implementing a ban, mobile phones were never entirely banned. From the first day of implementation, some teachers, despite a positive attitude towards a ban, made exceptions from the ban and kept on making exceptions, allowing students to use their mobile phones for school-related work during class. Second: During classes when mobile phones were banned, students' laptops instead emerged as a mediator of distractions, but difficult for the students to hide from the teachers. Third: The teachers found the enforcement of the ban to take as much energy as the distractions from the mobile phones during class and limit their pedagogical repertoire.

Our study shows that banning mobile phones does not generate a learning environment without distractions from digital technologies, as long as there are other digital connected technologies available in school. Instead, students' use of mobile phones during class can facilitate learning if the mobile phone use is guided by the teaching teacher and with a clear purpose. Considering these findings, we discuss the potential and problems when implementing and enforcing a mobile phone ban during class.

Keywords:

Mobile phone, ban, implementation, technology, upper secondary school.