Cell Phones: Friend or Foe?
By: Andrea Zgoba — November 2014
iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6 … iPhones, iPhones, iPhones! iPhones a long with other cellular devices have slowly begun to take over our world as we know it. We see them being used at the mall, coffee shops, libraries, parks, at the gym, etc. Niall Ferguson states that “Even if you don’t have teenage kids, you’ll see other people’s offspring slouching around, eyes averted, tapping away, oblivious to their surroundings. Take a group of teenagers to see the seven wonders of the world. They’ll be texting all the way.” (web) It’s as if we can’t escape them. However, there remains one place that is largely cell phone free: schools.
Cell phones in the classroom have always been looked at as a taboo. Some teacher’s feel as if cell phones can be highly distracting and can severely hinder student’s academic success. Some feel that when students are on their phones they are too busy either texting or playing games and not paying attention in class. However, now as we approach the new age where cell phones have overwhelmed our society, it’s almost impossible to get rid of them. So, some teachers have taken the approach of incorporating cell phones in the classroom, and have found ways to incorporate cell phones into their daily lessons. Some do this by either using the various applications that can be downloaded onto their smartphones, or using the messaging feature to promote peer instruction and writing advancement.
Applications
Believe it or not cell phones can actually help promote education and academic learning. There are several apps out there that can help students organize and share their academic thoughts. For example, students can use the messaging application to communicate amongst their classmates about the subject matter being taught and any questions they have. This also, believe it or not, helps boost their literacy development. Larry Rosen and other researchers conducted a study to research how texting correlates to student’s writing. They observed over 700 students and reported that they “…found texting may actually help teens’ writing in informal essays and many other writing assignments.” (Web, 2009) With this being said, students are working on their writing constantly throughout the day! Also, by texting their peers during class, they do not have to disrupt the class or stop the teacher with questions that they could have answered by their peers!
Students use the instant messaging feature on their phones throughout the day to communicate back in forth with their peers. R.S. Helderman, author for The Washington Post, states that: “Instant messaging and e-mail are creating a new generation of teenage writers, accustomed to translating their every thought and feeling into words. They write more than any generation has since the days when telephone calls were rare and the mailman rounded more than once a day”(web). If this is true, why not continue to increase their writing by bringing that writing into schools!
In terms of formal assessments, there is an app known as StudyBoost that allows students to take quizzes using the SMS text messaging app on their smartphone, once again, practicing their literacy skills. The questions can be multiple choice or free response and can be generated by the teacher or by the student for practice! Therefore, this app can be a great study aid, as well as a great practice tool for their writing skills!
In addition to the apps previously mentioned, there are thousands more available for the iPhone, as well as other mobile devices. They range from subjects like math and science, to apps for PE! They also have cool apps where the teacher can ask a question; let’s say a practice problem during a math lesson, and the students can respond to it using their cellular devices. Then the teacher can view these responses and get a consensus of where the student’s are at, right during the lesson! Then the teacher will know whether or not he or she can move on. This tool works as a great type of informal assessment! No need to pass out worksheets and give them 20 minutes to answer a set of 10 problems, just display a question midway through the lesson on the SmartBoard, and then you are able to see how your students are doing, and more importantly, what they are thinking. This will help keep the students more actively engaged in class as well!
More on literacy development
As part of some literacy programs, students are working on writing based on the audience they have. If you are writing an email to a fellow peer you might use different language than if you are writing an email to a professor or business client. Texting helps students distinguish between these types of writing. Rebecca Alber, Edutopia online editor agrees. She states that: “The beauty of having students write for an actual audience is that it puts them in a situation of having to really think about purpose, organization, and word choice. They aren’t just doing it for the sake of a grade or because “we have to.”” (Web.) Student’s are learning how to distinguish between who they are writing to and what kind of language is appropriate. However, they are doing this in a way that relates to them, through texting.
A study preformed by Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization, found that “a third (34%) of teachers say using entertainment media has helped their students’ ability to multi-task effectively.” Common Sense Media defines media as tv, video games, as well as texting. By using cell phones in the classroom, students are able to boost their multi-tasking abilities, which can be extremely helpful when students are working on writing. Some students find it hard to brainstorm ideas and/or research information while writing, tasks that require multitasking. By implementing cell phones into the classroom, students will be able to practice their multitasking skills whether it is through texting their peers or using applications on their smartphones. Kelvin Lui and Alan Wong from The Chinese University of Hong Kong published a study that showed that “…those who frequently use different types of media at the same time appear to be better at integrating information from multiple senses when asked to perform a specific task. The authors posit that this result may be due to the subjects’ experience of spreading their attention over different sources of information while media multitasking.” (2012, Web)
Barney McCoy, associate professor of broadcasting at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, conducted a study observing what percent of students are using their cell phones in class, and for what reasons. He asked the students and found that 55% use their cell phones for non-academic reasons because they were bored. Learning should never be boring, it should be invigorating and interesting! If it is boring, in my opinion, it is a reflection of the teacher and how she or he teaches, not the students and their ability to learn. Knowing this, by changing up our lesson plans and incorporating cell phones into our lessons, chances are students will no longer be bored in class. Cell phone use can help promote engagement because they are using something they are so familiar with.
Despite this evidence suggesting that the use of cell phones is beneficial in classrooms, some teachers are very against cell phones and consider them to be too distracting to implement in schools. They argue that it discourages kids from paying attention at all in class because they are either texting their friends about plans for that night, using social media, or playing games. They don’t use their phones for anything remotely academic, especially while in the classroom. They also argue that students use their cell phones as a way to cheat. The students use their cell phones to text each other to share answers during a test or record the answers on their phones prior to the test and use their phones while completing the exam.
A study also completed by Common Sense Media surveyed that 35% of students have admitted that they have used their cell phone to cheat. However, if teachers walked around and observe their students while they take the exam, they can reduce that number to zero.
Other teachers argue that the reason they don’t want to implement cell phone use is because BYOD (bring your own device) programs are unfair to children who do not have cell phones. However, there are several options for students who do no own cell phones. One being that schools can provide a set of iPads for each class so the students who do not have phones can borrow an iPad for the lesson, and return it when the lesson is over. The iPad works just like any mobile phone and has a messaging option as well! If the school does not wish to purchase iPads for every class, for example, if it interferes with their budget, then perhaps the school can purchase fewer iPads for each classroom and have the students share. Katie Lepi, a writer for Edudemic, observed a one iPad classroom and the ways in which those teachers made it work. She writes that sharing and time management are essential tools and that as long as you keep your kids under control and on-task having one iPad in the classroom is “not a problem!” (2013, Web.)
If it were up to me I would definitely implement cell phones in the classroom. I think that they are a great addition to the school system because they can one, help students become more actively engaged in the classroom, and can help promote student writing as well!
So here lies the real question: what are we waiting for?
Resources
Alber, Rebecca. (2013, September 27). Common core in action: Writing for an audience. Edutopia. Retrieved October 2014. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-in-action-writing-for-audience-rebecca-alber
Apple to investigate death of iPhone 5 user. (2013) Retrieved November 3, 2014, from: http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-to-investigate-death-of-iphone-5-user/
Cheating kids in school: Why it happens and how to prevent it. (2012) Retrieved November 3, 2014, from: http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/cheating_in_school_why_it_happens_how_prevent_it
Common Sense Media (2012). Children, teens, and entertainment media: The view from the classroom. 11–12. Retrieved October 2014.
Ferguson, N. (2011, Month X). How will today’s texting teenagers compete? Retrieved November 2014. http://www.newsweek.com/how-will-todays-texting-teenagers-compete-67313
From summer to school: Back-to-school transitions. (2012) Retrieved November 3, 2014, from: https://blog.itriagehealth.com/summer-school-backtoschool-transitions/
Helderman, R.S. (2003, May 20). Click by click, Teens polish writing; Instant messaging teaches more than TTYL and ROFL. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2014. http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/literacy/articles/instant-messaging/
iKeepSafe. (2011–2014). Cheating and technology. Common Sense Media, Retrieved November, 2014. http://www.ikeepsafe.org/be-a-pro/ethics/cheating-technology/
Jaschik, S. (2013, October 21). Texting in Class. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved October 2014. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/21/study-documents-how-much-students-text-during-class
Kay, Roger. (2012, July 6). Multitasking: Good or bad? Forbes. Retrieved November 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerkay/2012/07/06/multitasking-good-or-bad/
Lepi, Katie. (2013, August 31). The teacher’s guide to the one iPad classroom. Edudemic. Retrieved November 2014. http://www.edudemic.com/the-one-ipad-classroom/
MCT (2009, November 5). gr8t news texting may help teens’ language skills. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 2014. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-11-05/news/0911080262_1_texting-passages-teens
50 Great iPad Apps For Kids With Reading Disabilities Who Need AIM. (2013) Retrieved November 3, 2014, from: http://www.akcam.org/50-great-ipad-apps-for-kids-with-reading-disabilities-who-need-aim/
Genre Pieces
Text Message between students:
I chose to create a realistic example of a text that could be sent between two students during class if cell phone use were to be implemented at their school. The focus student was very frustrated and confused about what the teacher was teaching so she texted her peer “Susie” and asked for help. The student received help from peer instruction and could regain focus on the lesson. She states that without her classmate’s help she would have been lost for the rest of the lesson and would not have learned a single thing. Many students refrain from asking questions in class because they are too shy or because they don’t want to interrupt the class. If students were able to text their peers, as shown above, they could have their questions answered without the need to turn to the teacher for help. Saving both the teacher and their classmates’ time.
Text between teachers:
I also created a realistic text between two teachers of the same grade. Karen is struggling to engage her students in her lessons on fragments so she turned to Carol for help. Carol recommended an interesting and engaging app called Sentence & Fragments Fun Deck. Which is an app that allows students to compete with one another and practice distinguishing fragments from complete sentences. I also wanted to include that it is extremely easy to download these apps because some teachers refuse to incorporate technology simply because they don’t understand it. However, with a click of a button you are able to download a variety of fun and educational apps straight to your mobile device!
Flyer
I created this flyer to express how the issue of cell phone use in the classroom is a a debate that is actually taking place amongst schools nationwide, today. The goal was to make it very realistic so it was as if this could be seen in an actual Elementary school. This flyer draws attention to how cell phone use might hinder but could also promote academic success and that both issues will and are currently being discussed in PTO meetings in a variety of schools.
