Cell Phones in the Classroom: Working Hard or Hardly Working?

             

            Everywhere we look today it seems there is someone with a cell phone.  Whether it is at the bus stop, in people’s cars, at work, in restaurants, in the grocery store, at the mall, or even at the park, people are constantly checking their phones.  They are checking text messages or emails; posting to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram; snapchatting; reading posts and liking and commenting, among other things.  Cell phones have transformed the way we obtain information, the way we interact with others, and have even transformed our attention spans.  Now, cell phones seem to be invading our schools and our classrooms, where teachers are divided about whether or not to permit phones in class.

            Nowadays, it seems that most schools allow their students to have cell phones for safety reasons.  As a reaction to the Littleton, Colorado, high school shooting in 1999 and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the issue of security and red alerts on terrorism threats became a concern and school systems began to relax their prohibition on cell phones in schools (Earl, 2012).  Although many school policies still ban the use of cell phones except in emergency situations, others are beginning to lift the ban and incorporate cell phones into their curriculums.

            Whatever a school’s approach to technology, cell phones seem to be ever-present.  The Pew Internet and American Life Project and the University of Michigan did a study in April 2010 (Earl, 2012) and found the following results.

·         71% of students sent or received text messages on their cell phones in class in schools that permitted students to have cell phones.

·         65% of students sent or received texts in class in schools that allow students to have phones at school but not use them in the classroom.

·         58% of students sent or received texts in class even in schools that banned cell phones entirely.

These results just go to show that students are going to bring their cell phones to class anyway, so educators may want to consider allowing them to use them in a more constructive way.  Before making this decision, however, consider  the advantages, disadvantages, and inequities presented below.

Advantages/Educational Benefits and Uses Argued by Advocates

• ·         Cell phones give students a chance to collaborate with each other or even connect with peers in other countries (Earl, 2012; Higgins, 2013).
  ·         They can be used for high-tech alternatives to boring classroom lectures, allowing students to take part in interactive assignments (Earl, 2012).
  ·         Cell phones can serve as notepads or as an alarm for setting study and homework reminders (Earl, 2012).
  ·         They can be "recording devices, allowing students to record impressions during field trips or even create audio podcasts and blog posts" (Earl, 2012, para. 7).
  ·         Mobile apps and the Internet allow teachers and students to use cell phones as clickers to answer questions, to provide feedback on student progress, to document labs, to collaborate on group projects, and to capture teachers’ notes (Higgins, 2013).
  ·         Some teachers have reported getting more comprehensive answers from students via text rather than through pen and paper answers (Regan, 2013).
  ·         Cell phones allow teachers to give assignments that incorporate other forms of technology such as Google Documents, Google Forms, and QR Codes (Regan, 2013).
  
  
  Disadvantages/Concerns Argued by Opponents:
  ·         Students may use cell phones for texting, sexting, cheating, and taking pictures during class time (Mageau, 2013).
  ·         Cell phones promote a certain kind of learning… it’s limited (Higgins, 2013).
  ·         Cell phones can be overused or even used in ways that are not educationally meaningful (Higgins, 2013).
  ·         Students may visit inappropriate websites if not monitored closely (Higgins, 2013).
  ·         Cell phones distract students from schoolwork and other class activities (Regan, 2013).
  ·         Every time a phone vibrates or a beep goes off, students working close to the phone are equally distracted (Regan, 2013).
  ·         Cell phone activity is much harder to regulate than traditional note-passing (Earl, 2012).
  ·         Students become dependent on them and lose the ability to respond quickly on their feet.  There’s no thinking going on (Earl, 2012).
  ·         Cell phones can lead to bullying when students in conflict with each other text their friends for back up to ambush each other after school (Regan, 2013).
  ·         Cell phone theft can become a problem (Mageau, 2013).
  ·         Studies show that cell phone multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%, increase stress levels, and cause a 10-point fall in IQ (Earl, 2012).
  
  
  Inequities of Cell Phones in the Classroom:
  ·         All students do not have their own personal cell phones.
  ·         All schools do not have the necessary infrastructure to support cell phone use (Higgins, 2013).
  ·         Money for Wi-Fi access and technical support has been harder to come by with the recent economic situations (Higgins, 2013).
  ·         Not all teachers have the opportunity to receive the proper training to implement appropriate cell phone use in their classrooms.
              According to government data, approximately 80% of the schools in the country do not have the infrastructure to support digital learning.  Although there are some inequities that exist among the schools, Richard Culatta, director of the United States Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, contends that the federal government is looking to close this large divide.  In fact, on June 6, 2013, President Obama announced the ConnectED initiative.  This initiative aims to connect 99% of the schools around the country to broadband Internet.  The Department of Education is also working to help prepare teachers to use the technology successfully in their classrooms (Higgins, 2013).
              If schools do decide to allow cell phones in the classrooms for educational purposes, then administrators and teachers should work closely to establish clear acceptable use policies with parents and students, which also explain the consequences for violating them.  Cell phone safety and etiquette is a must in order to ensure that cell phones are being used appropriately and being used for the task at hand.
              Whether an educator decides to use cell phones in their classrooms or not is a decision only they can make.  However, they need to keep one thing in mind.  Students need more than just discipline in the classroom.  They also need to be inspired to learn and they need effective teachers who know how to connect with the students in order to hold their attention (Earl, 2012).  Each individual educator will need to carefully weigh the pros and the cons of cell phone use in the classroom to decide what is right for their students.
              Since cell phones are ever-present at school as well as in society, I am guessing that cell phone use in the classroom is an issue that is not going away anytime soon.  Please leave comments that you have regarding whether cell phones should or should not be allowed in the classroom.  I would love to hear your ideas on the issue.
  References
  Earl, R.  (2012, May).  Do cell phones belong in the classroom?  The Atlantic.  Retrieved from

  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/do-cell-phones-belong-in-the-  classroom/257325 

  
  
  Higgins, J.  (2013, August 7).  More schools use cell phones as learning tools.  USA Today.           Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2013/08/07/views-shift-on-cell-phones-in-schools/2607381/
  Mageau, T.  (2013).  Should we ban cell phones in the classroom?  The Journal.  Retrieved           October 16, 2103 from http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/01/09/should-we-ban-cell-phones-in-the-classroom.aspx
  Regan, S.  (2013, August 12).  Phones in the classroom: Yay or nay?  Twin Cities Daily Planet.     Retrieved from http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2013/08/12/phones-classroom-yay-or-nay
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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