About the Protocol

Image from Freepik.

About this Protcol

The website is a prototype of what the future could look like for our school. It was created for a project at MSU for CEP 857: Current Topics and Trends in Learning Design.

Our Problem

Our students believe that technology is a valuable tool, but it is also a major distraction to their learning, whether it is their personal cell phone or school-issued device. This distraction makes it difficult for them to be present, focused, and engaged. Our team of middle school teachers met to discuss what a solution would look like. We concluded that the goal is not to punish distraction, but to teach discernment — the ability to know when and how to use technology appropriately.

The Solution

• System Control: We agreed that implementing a tech management tool (such as GoGuardian or LanSchool) to help students focus on school-issued devices would be the first step to improving our overall in-school focus.

• Skill Building: Our team believes that providing better training for both staff and students on the effective and responsible use of all digital tools will improve behaviors surrounding technology. 

• Metacognitive Reflection: We are introducing a physical reflection protocol for students to pause and process their learning whenever they engage in online work, like i-Ready or IXL.

Website Design

This website represents those three parts in a playful and interactive way. It serves as a single resource hub, ensuring our solution is accessible for all members of the school community, from students to staff. We believe that by building systems that teach discernment, we are not just solving a distraction problem — we are equipping our students with an essential life skill.

Ready to Get Started?

✅ Bookmark this page and check back regularly for more updates.

✅ Check out our Skill Building page to become more familiar with the tools we have to use.

✅ Teach your class about the myth of mulitasking and the importance of focus, before you introduce the Student Focus Zone.

✅ Encourage students to complete Missions. These are small, meaningful technology checklists, such as organizing a Google Drive or attaching a document to an assignment. Use these missions as a way to model how you use the technology, and then give them the time to try these skills on their own. The more proficient in technologies our students are, the less distracting and more impactful these technologies actually become in our classrooms.