Framework Crafted for Student Use of Mobile Devices

Education policy center addresses issues around proper and improper use

As school districts across the country grapple with the benefits and risks of incorporating cellphones, media players, and tablet computing devices into school life, one research group is offering up a framework it hopes will serve as a vehicle to help address student use of those devices.

The Center for Education Policy and Law, based at the University of San Diego, last month issued a collection of documents on what it calls "electronic communication devices," or ECDs, which includes a six-page model district policy that outlines proper and improper use of the devices, as well as sample short (two-page) and long (four-page) student-use agreements.

Also included are documents detailing resources to help educators understand the culture of electronic device use in which many of today's students live large chunks of their social lives, as well as the legal privacy and free speech concerns schools face when enforcing policies...