This year, the Bulgarian government advanced legislation to prohibit most mobile-phone use by school students during lessons and breaks, permitting phones only for explicitly educational, medical or emergency purposes. The aim: to reduce distractions, combat cyber-bullying and help students stay focused in class. At first glance, limiting phones might seem at odds with digital learning. But the reality is more subtle: when schools control how technology is used, rather than allowing unmanaged use, there is an opportunity to embed real digital competence. The example of Secondary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Smolyan shows one such path.
A school that chooses partnership and purposeful digital projects
In Smolyan, the Secondary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” has long embraced technology not for its own sake, but as a learning tool. The school has been actively participating in the eTwinning programme for many years and was recently awarded the “eTwinning School” label for the third time, recognising its sustained digital-collaboration practice across teachers and students. Moreover, this school is a partner in the DIGITAL FIRST (Digital Tech as the First Language: Informatics for Digital Natives) consortium, a three-year European initiative involving 15 organisations from 10 countries aimed at transforming informatics education in primary and secondary schools. Through these collaborations, the school has developed strong digital-skills programmes: from co-creating international multimedia projects (via eTwinning) to piloting new informatics teaching methods (via DIGITAL FIRST).
How does this link with the mobile phone restriction
When students are tightly discouraged from using their phones freely during the school day, a challenge appears: how do you still ensure they develop digital literacy? The Smolyan school’s approach offers key lessons:
Managed technology use, not unrestricted phones: Rather than allowing students to use their own phones at any time (which risks distraction), the school uses structured digital tasks — eTwinning collaborations, school-provided devices for directed work, etc. This alignswith a policy of limiting casual phone access, yet still supports meaningful digital engagement.
Teacher competence and curriculum alignment: With tools and partnerships in place, teachers are supported to embed digital tasks into curricula (science, languages, ICT) rather than treating them as add-ons. The DIGITAL FIRST consortium aims to build a teacher-competences catalogue for informatics educators.
Global partnerships and real-life projects: eTwinning enables students to collaborate with peers in other countries, create content, reflect on digital tools and become producers rather than passive users. For example, the Smolyan school took part in a trans-national meeting in Spain as part of an Erasmus+ / eTwinning project, where students visited local sites, worked with partner schools and used a digital shared workspace.
Digital citizenship and ethics: Restricting phones tackles one problem (unsupervised access) but leaves another — ensuring students use technology safely, critically and creatively. Projects like DIGITAL FIRST emphasise digital-citizenship functions (interacting, creating, regulating) alongside technical skills.
What this means for other schools
If your school or system is facing a mobile-phone limitation, the experience of Smolyan suggests a productive route:
Formulate a clear device policy: Phones are not banned entirely; their use is restricted to teacher-supervised tasks, school-managed devices, or designated activities.
Invest in continuous teacher training: Provide staff with access to digital-pedagogy networks, partner projects and new methods in informatics.
Design collaborative, international digital projects: Use platforms like eTwinning or Erasmus+ to challenge students to use technology meaningfully — for research, content creation, publication, peer-exchange.
Use pilot programmes and consortia: Schools can join larger initiatives such as DIGITAL FIRST to access resources, share experiences and adopt validated tools.
Monitor and evaluate impact beyond device counts: Track not just how many phones are present or banned, but how digital skills, collaboration, student motivation and critical thinking develop.
In conclusion, the mobile-phone restriction in Bulgarian schools represents a major policy shift. But rather than viewing it as a barrier to digital learning, it can become a springboard for intentional digital education. The school in Smolyan shows that when technology use is redesigned — guided by teacher-led projects, cross-border collaboration, and structured curricula — students don’t just use devices, they become competent digital citizens.
Banning unrestricted phone use does not mean abandoning digital education; instead, it invites schools to craft richer, more meaningful experiences. The Smolyan school’s work with eTwinning and DIGITAL FIRST offers a blueprint for turning regulation into opportunity — equipping young Bulgarians not just with devices, but with the digital literacy to engage, create and lead in a connected world.
