Cell Phones in the Classroom: Policy, Advantages, & Disadvantages

People all around the world have many electronic devices, and there are abundant amounts of freedom that come with them. There are so many different technologies to choose from, but one that seems to be quite common among people of all ages, are cell phones. Such technology is great for many uses, but it is not always appropriate in certain settings. The principal at my school has adopted a new policy that bans the use of cell phones during school hours. I support my principal’s decision. Cell phones can be distractions in many ways to students during school. They can cause conflicts between fellow students and between students and teachers. Allowing cell phones during school hours also basically gives students permission to not pay

Many of our students have smartphones, laptops, and tablets they use throughout the school day for school work. While some students depend on their devices to look up the current fashion trends and football stats, we feel that technology has also enabled students to think in a different way. Many students are quick on their feet to Google information to prove their friend wrong, send texts and emails in less than 10 seconds, and get excited when they are allowed to use their

In today’s society, smart phones are a part of a student’s average, everyday life. No matter what people are doing, they find time to look at their phone and make a call, read a text, check e-mails, or search something on Google. Even though people find so many uses for them throughout the day, they are a controversial subject to talk about in their use in the classroom. Many schools have policies strictly prohibiting the use of smart phones in school. For schools to ban the use of smart phones is a major mistake. They only look at cell phones as a distraction to students, and don’t understand that this generation is dependent on the technologies of today. What educators need to do is ask themselves

Have you ever heard of the gruesome Columbine High School massacre? This incident occurred on April 20th 1999 and involved two students embarking on a shooting rampage, killing twelve students, a teacher and wounding twenty three others. Unfortunately during this incident, the school 's most easily accessible phone was on the complete other side of the school in the library. Perhaps some of these lives could have been saved if the students in this class had cell phones that they could 've used to contact the authorities more quickly. The issue we are addressing today is the usage of cellular devices in educational facilities. Both Cameron and myself believe that cell phone usage is of extreme convenience, and has academically beneficial

The article “Lift the Cell Phone Ban”, David Rapp (2009) addresses cell phones more as a positive impact in classrooms because there are more social apps, reminders such as alarms and calendar events, and provide accessibility. Teachers let students use their cell phones for school purposes instead of being seen as a distraction. After an experiment using Bluetooth networking teachers realized information sharing provided as useful. Having teachers get out of the box intimidates some, but it would be a better idea to give the students a chance since it is a part of their everyday lives. The GoKnow program turns a cell phone into a valuable tool for teachers and students to use for educational purposes and easier to turn in documents. David

The Center for Disease Control’s 2008 Wireless Substitution report shows that one of every seven Americans place and receive most, if not all, of their calls on a wireless phone. The increase in cell phone usage has expanded into our children’s schools. Many children in today’s society carry a cell phone on their person to school. This increase of usage and change of demographic has created a debate in many schools.

In “Lift the Cell Phone Ban,” Rapp (2009) asserts cell phones are educational tools because of helpful apps, their widely accessible, and they have a myriad of settings for reminders. In Saskatchewan Canada at Carik School started an experiment in cell phones became important to the curriculum. Instead teachers looking at them as a bad thing, Principal Taylor looked at them as a tool for students. Testing the Waters Educators were uncertain about the idea of using cell phones because only 40% had cellphones. Teachers realized that having Bluetooth for easier information online was critical. This worked out well in “Lit Circles” giving the students all easy access online. Learning Curves- Teachers didn’t feel comfortable with the idea because

Many people believe that bringing cell phones to school may cause distractions. However, a recent study leads more and more people to believe that mobile phones could in fact be a “powerful learning tool” (Docksai), serving as a mobile computer ("Cell Phones in the Classroom” ). Elizabeth Hartnell- Young, a research fellow from the University of Nottingham tracked 331 students from 14 to 16 years old, for learning through cell phones. They used cell phones to make short videos, set homework reminders, record poems, and transfer files from home to school (Docksai). Students described their learning experience as “motivated” (Docksai). Many experts pointed out that students have a “deep comfort level” with mobile phones (Docksai). In other words, students could learn more if they enjoyed what they were doing. An increasing number of teachers have changed their point of view towards cell phones, many now believe that cell phones would exert positive effects on education. For example, some teachers have already started to collect homework online and answer questions through text- messaging. A school in Saskatchewan encouraged students to read and share thoughts about books through their cell phones (Docksai). Furthermore, according to a recent survey, the majority of students could refrain from using cell phones and not be distracted by them in class. In fact, over 71% of students didn’t

Many teachers believe that cell phones don’t belong in a classroom because there are several disadvantages. An example maybe a student who uses a cell phone in class has no intension in listening or paying attention to the teacher. This student has a short attention span who cares about socializing more than his/her education. Cell phones can be very disruptive; they can invade people’s privacy and can also be used as harassment or bullying. The usage of cell phones is creating a huge problem particularly when they are used in school.

There is an increasing number of apps on cell phones that allow teachers to assign work that wouldn’t normally be reachable. Students can learn responsibility from resisting the urge of getting on their phones during class time. Students will work better when they get a fresh break from working hard all day in school. If students are continuing to succeed with cell phones in class, why should we feel the need to take them

The next topic of discussion is cell phones in classrooms. The article being summarized is entitled The Only Thing We Have to Fear is…120 Characters. In this article, Kevin Thomas and Christy McGee (2012) make arguments for the use of cellphones in classrooms in spite of the fact that 69% have banned them. This paper responds to the many reasons for disallowing their use, and then it goes on to highlight some ideas about why cell phones should be used as educational tools. Both sides of the discussion certainly make valid points.

Administrators often are concerned about inappropriate use of cell phones in schools and this is the major cause of restricting their use. In the United States, school policy regarding cell

Smartphones have become a part of everyone’s body. Almost everything can be done through smart phones. Paying bills, doing grocery, buying food, and more time consuming tasks can all be done almost instantly by smartphones. Many jobs and institutions today do not allow the use of smartphones during a certain time, especially schools. Prohibition of cell phones in school is a good idea to prevent students from getting distracted. However, high school students should be allowed to access their cell phones at school, because high school students are mature enough to use their cell phones productively and beneficially. Having access to internet is very important to high school students. Many students could not afford to have all kinds of devices, such as laptop, tablets, and cell phones. Entirely banning the usage of cell phones can make students hate the school causing them to be more arrogant.

Even though, “that their students are using them to text friends,” some teachers say “, or update their various social media sites.” Some teachers have a no-tolerance rate for having cell-phones in the classroom because they could be on sites that they shouldn’t be on during class time. Moreover, there is a easy solution, “change the classroom dynamic from lecturing at the front of the room to having no traditional front of the classroom at all.

In Tamara Brenner’s article, “The Use of Mobile Devices in the College Classroom”, she stresses that the use of cell phones is distracting in a college classroom setting. This article was published by the Bok Center by Harvard University. Brenner has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology, and taught undergraduate life science classes at Harvard. Today’s day and age is almost completely dependent on technology. Teenagers and students today have a completely new problem to deal with as far as how to balance cell phone time and lecture time in classrooms. Anybody in a college classroom setting should pay attention to what is in this article, especially students and teachers. Brenner uses strong studies and research papers to inform the reader about the issue as well as looks at all sides of the argument on how distracting mobile devices are in the college classroom.