Gumly House Convent School is an all girls Catholic School in London. They have just undertaken a pilot study where they are giving 30 students iPhones to use throughout their school day. Below is an excerpt from the schools webpage:

30 students have been given the loan of an iPhone 3GS until then end of the academic year. They will be able to use these devices as part of their every day lessons in school and use them in whichever way they feel will aid their learning, working closely with their teachers and with Mr. Byrne (Assistant Head Teacher).  The increasing availability of ‘apps’ (applications) on these phones means that a wealth of possibilities may be accessed, and the group involved in the study will meet at regular intervals to share ideas on how they are being used as well as look at their regular attainment to see if, in reality, and change in learning can be monitored.

I like the idea of the students meeting at regular intervals to share their discoveries on how they are using the new iPhones. This allows the students to be both learners and teachers. I applaud this school for undertaking this study. I own an iPhone and find it to be incredibly useful in my daily life. As I have researched cell phones in education this past year I have tried to focus on just regular cell phones because I know many high school students do not own smartphones such as the iPhone. I wanted to offer solutions that would be available to most students and teachers. At the same time I cannot overlook the incredible potential the iPhone and iPod Touch offer K-12 education. The ways these tools could be used in schools is almost unfathomable. I will be interested to see the results of this study. What will be most interesting will be the unintended consequences of giving the students the iPhones. What uses will the students come up with that the administration never even thought of?

On a post from the Public Technology website that is following the study it says the following:

Simon Elledge, Manager at Brentford CLC commented: “In most schools mobile phones are viewed as distractions and banned from the classroom. But, as technology becomes more integrated into our daily lives, we wanted to understand how it could be used positively in the learning environment. The girls on the trial are encouraged to use the iPhones as much as possible, with permission from teachers of course. They will be monitored using questionnaires, spot checks and individual feedback and the data collected will be independently analysed and shared with the other 104 CLCs nationwide to the benefit of pupils throughout the UK.”

The picture below is from the Brentford CLC website.