Thoughts on banning cell phones

So far half of the class has picked the cell phone banning issue to blog about.  I should have figured this since it is such a hot button issue.  Folks who haven't blogged yet I'd appreciate it if you could pick another issue/controversy to blog about (you can always comment on the posts of those who did blog about cell phones).

My own thoughts on the issue of banning cell phones - I've seen educational researchers (such as Elliot Soloway) explore potential educational uses of cell phones (earlier he plugged for PDAs).  But I agree with most of those who have blogged that (right now anyway), cell phones do not have much value in the classroom, they are more of a distraction.  I have noticed a contradiction though that the teachers themselves have and use cellphones.  Perhaps a compromise is to allow students to bring in cell phones but they must keep the ringer off and can only use them during breaks.

I would also say that I think this question is going to get even more difficult soon, with the increasing popularity of smart phones such as the iphone and android phones like the Samsung Moment (drool).  Those phones are really little computers.  You can do 90% of the same stuff on those phones as you can laptops.  So I'm saying perhaps in 5-10 years the majority of cell phones will have more pedagogical value (like laptops).  Students could use them to take notes during class, turn in assignments, etc.

But right now even I can't afford an iphone or android phone really.  If you add the cost of the phone + a 2 year contract it comes to around $2000.  It's much cheaper (for students) to just get a $300 netbook if you are wanting something now with more pedagogical uses.