A Cost-Effective Cell Phone Detection System to Combat Misuse in the Educational Setting

The widespread use of smartphones by teenagers is well documented with recent studies showing that 95% of teens own a smartphone and use it daily for many hours. Educators are concerned about the ubiquity of phones in schools as they state that phones are disruptive, distracting, and often utilized for cheating. School bans on cell phone usage have proven to be ineffective due to the difficulty of enforcement in addition to unpopularity with parents. One technological solution to this problem is the implementation of passive cell phone detection systems within schools, but existing technology is both cost prohibitive and ineffective. This paper describes the development of a cell phone detection system that can be used in schools and examination centers. It utilizes readily available electronic components and can be constructed at a cost of $200 before accounting for economies of scale. Through employing a software defined radio system to detect 4G/3G/GSM phone connections and a Wi-Fi monitoring system to detect phones connected to or searching for Wi-Fi, a prototype using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer was developed and successfully tested in both home and school environments. It is demonstrated that the prototype is capable of providing a reliable, feasible, and accurate method for the non-invasive detection of active cell phones in any setting.