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By Susan McNeil

School division

Students more engaged without devices: SRSD

Nov 24, 2024 | 8:00 AM

Teachers in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division are finding students more engaged under a new provincial digital device ban, said one executive.

Garrette Tebay is Superintendent of Schools and she told paNOW that not having devices in classrooms is improving student experiences.

“It was definitely a change for students in the beginning, but definitely people have eased into it. We’ve heard feedback that kids feel more connected,” she said.

Most of their schools, especially the more rural ones, have provided positive feedback on the change.

“They have noticed a difference in their classrooms as far as student engagement is concerned,” she said.

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While exemptions can be applied for some students for short periods of time (for instance, an advanced calculator is needed), the goal is to have students paying attention for the core part of lessons.

The provincial policy states that teachers can apply to their principals for exemptions where using the cell phone would benefit learning.

“In our division, that’s done at the school level. Our principals have a clear understanding that it should be short term,” Tebay said.

“There is a time and space for technology to be used in our classrooms and when that time and space presents itself at the high school level, our principals have the discretion to be able to say yes, go ahead and do that.”

Younger students struggle more with being distracted by digital devices and some were bringing gaming devices that created issues.

The ban applies to devices, not just phones, and is qualified by screen size. This way, laptops and computer monitors can still be used but smaller screens such as on a phone or a smartwatch are not allowed.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com