Personal Digital Devices Survey

Girl standing outside looking at her phone

Personal Digital Devices in Schools – Code of Conduct Updates

Background

The Ministry of Education and Child Care has amended the Provincial Standards for Codes of Conduct Order to promote provincial consistency and to support boards of education in ensuring their schools have appropriate policies in place to restrict student personal digital device use. The amended Order will come into effect on July 1, 2024.

All boards of education are to include one or more statements in their school and district school codes of conduct restricting student use of personal digital devices at school.

Codes of Conduct are required to be updated by July 1, 2024, and submitted by August 15, 2024.

Intention

Codes of conduct restrict student personal digital device use at school to promote online safety and support focused learning environments. A “personal digital device” means any personal electronic device that can be used to communicate or to access the internet, such as a cell phone or a tablet.

The School District must ensure that the following elements are included in their codes of conduct:

One or more statements about restricting the use of personal digital devices at school for the purpose of promoting online safety and focused learning environments.

School must also address the following maters in their codes of conduct:

  1. restrictions on the use of personal digital devices at school, including during hours of instruction
  2. use of personal digital devices for instructional purposes and digital literacy,
  3. use of personal digital devices that is appropriate to a student’s age and developmental stage
  4. accessibility and accommodation needs;
  5. medical and health needs;
  6. equity to support learning outcomes.

Review the support guide issued by the Ministry of Education and Child Care for details.

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School District 71’s AP 145 Use of Personal Communication Devices (last updated September 2022) is being updated to address adjust language that outlines the acceptable use of personal devices, including cell phones, as recommended in the Ministry of Education and Childcare support guide.

Please provide suggested language or feedback that you feel should be added, changed or removed from AP 145 Use of Personal Communication Devices.
School District 71’s AP 350 District Student Code of Conduct is being updated to add one or more statements about restricting the use of personal digital devices at school for the purpose of promoting online safety and focused learning environments.