‘If your phone goes off, you’ll be asked to dance’

Around 2006, I created a cellphone policy for my students: “No cellphone use during class. No texting. No calls.”

For the most part, students were respectful when it came to using their phones in class. Texting was kept to a minimum, and we were just on the cusp of smartphone adoptions, so distractions from apps and games were limited.

The biggest obstacle back then was getting students to remember to mute their phones.

We’d start each class with a cellphone check, similar to the reminder theater goers get before a movie or live performance. In the early days, I’d forget to give that reminder at the beginning of class and, invariably, a musical ringtone would sound off.

It was so bad that I later revised the policy to read: “If your cellphone goes off during class, you’ll be asked to stand up and dance.”

Read more at https://www.vindy.com/life/lifestyles/2020/10/if-your-phone-goes-off-youll-be-asked-to-dance/ (may encounter paywall).