Cell Phone Use in the Classroom?

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Permalink Reply by Selena on February 3, 2014 at 1:04pm

My views on this subject go both ways. In some ways I think using cell phones in a classroom are great, and in other ways not so much. Both of these views come from experience.

On the positive side, having a smart phone is great when needing to look up information quickly and easily. In one of my college literature classes, the professor told us to get into groups to do something and told us to make sure at least one person in each grouped had a smart phone because we would need to look up information about a few people we were talking about in the lesson. I had my smart phone and could easily Google the information that my group needed.

On the negative side, which I am sometimes guilty of, the phone can be a distraction. As soon as a text message pops up on my phone or I get a notification from any of my social network sites, I feel obligated to at least glance at it to see if it's important enough for me to address it right away. Or if I find a lecture to be boring, I will find something on my phone to keep me occupied for the entire hour.

These are just in my personal experience bit I know there are a lot of other reasons for liking or hating cell phone use in classrooms on either side

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Permalink Reply by Oscar Marin on February 3, 2014 at 4:56pm

That's not a good practice in any way as per my POV. Recently we did a survey on linked-in and regarding picking a cell phone in a meeting and the outcomes were negative. A work place has its own ethics. At school too it would indirectly affect the productivity of the kid as well as other kids.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Anthony Wilson on February 3, 2014 at 5:31pm

I am currently just an education major, but I do think that cell phones can have a positive role within the classroom. When I was in High School, the civics class conducted a confidential survey of all students in the school, asking them a variety of questions. One of those questions consisted of, "Do you carry your cell phone on you and use it during the day despite the school's policy which states, 'All cell phones must be placed in the students' lockers upon entering the building and not touched until school has concluded'?" The survey showed that over 96% of students at our school used and had their cell phone on them regardless of the rule or the possible punishments. As a result, the school changed its cell phone policy, allowing students to have and even use their cell phones in class as long as the teacher was not lecturing or they were not testing. The test scores that year did not decrease, and when teachers incorporated cell phones into their class, the class was more likely to pay attention because it was an easy way to keep the students actively participating in class. As a result, despite the drawbacks, there is a way to incorporate cell phones and improve student learning and participation.

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Permalink Reply by C.J. Cruise on February 3, 2014 at 5:55pm

I agree that it could go both ways. The negative is obviously that cell phones could be a large distraction, but classes that work with cellphones rather than oppose them stand to benefit by being able to do web searches, and other functions. Many schools are implementing the use of tablets, and Ipads to reinforce teaching. If cellphones are causing more of a distraction, than a help, then using a tablet in place of cell phones may be a better idea.

http://groveland.spps.org/uploads/cell-phone.jpg

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