When students arrive at Marco Island Academy, the phone rules have always been up for debate with the student population. Some may begin to notice that a lot of students from other schools as well have had a problem with their schools cell phone policies. Nowadays the use of cell phones in the classroom is very controversial, however it also brought a lot of attention to the student body.
The goal of this poll was to find out from the Marco Island Academy student body how the use of cell phones can potentially be beneficial in a classroom environment. 91 students replied to the poll, 28 Freshman (30.8%), 25 were Sophomore (27.5%), 21 were Juniors (25.3%), and 15 were Seniors (16.5%).
The information gathered from this poll gave a wide variety of information when it came to what students use their cell phones for on a daily basis when it comes to their school work. A great number of MIA’s student body answered that they have Google Classroom downloaded on their phones but the majority only use them once a week (27.5%). Google Classroom is widely used by teachers at Marco Island Academy. They put assignments, tests, and due dates on this app to allow students who are both present and absent to be able to know what work needs to be done. This ensures that students are able to not fall behind and potentially work ahead if needed. When having the Google Classroom downloaded on a phone, students are able to receive notifications and reminders to help keep them aware and accountable for the work that needs to be done.
This poll was able to gather information about the amount of students that have other apps such as Google Docs downloaded on their phone. When having Google Docs on a phone students, are able to do their assignments on the go when they are absent or do not have access to a computer. Although 69.7% of the students that answered the poll have Google Docs downloaded, only 43.8% of students said they do assignments on the go with the apps they have downloaded.
In 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in May that changed the way K-12 students were able to access cell phone devices during instruction time/in the classroom. The new Florida law on cell phone usage in schools states that in order to use a cell phone it must be, “directed by a teacher solely for educational purposes.” The majority of student body answered that they think it would be acceptable for their teachers to give them permission to use their cell phones and the majority said they think that cell phones would be acceptable to use for taking videos, photos, and editing purposes.
