CELL PHONES IN THE CLASSROOM?

  

How should smartphones be used in the classroom?

Internet-based technology has reached a point where students are constantly connected to the answers.  While the answer that they find may not be an accurate answer, chances are that students can find some information to help them.  A recent Harris poll (2014) revealed that while over 53% of elementary students, 66% of middle school students, and 82% of high school students owned a smartphone; yet, only 42% report using their smartphone for school work. 

When addressing the use of cell phones in the classroom educators and students can have vastly different opinions.  Teachers over 50 tend to view cell phones as a distraction more than an educational tool in the classroom, whereas younger, presumably more “tech-savvy” teachers tend to be more open to the use of smartphones (O'bannon & Thomas, 2014).  Smartphone ownership is associated with age, income, and education level in a predictable pattern (See Table 1; Anderson, 2015).  There is still a digital divide associated with SES and living in rural communities (Anderson, 2015).

            Obviously, non-academic cellphone use can distract from student learning.  Students k-12 who participated in the Harris Poll (2015), reported that the majority of students prefer using tablets and laptops for collaborating with other students (Harris Poll 2015).  Hispanic students are much more likely to use mobile technologies in school than African Americans or Caucasians (Harris Poll, 2015).  Despite the potential to use smartphones for more than an endless pool of knowledge to find answers, it seems that web 2.0 and 3.0 applications are not used in the classroom. 

Table 1:Smartphone Ownership 2015
	Smartphone Ownership	Computer Ownership
Age
18-29	86%	78%
30 -49	83%	81%
50-64	58%	70%
65 +	30%	50%
Income Level
<$30,000	52%	50%
$30,001-49,999	69%	80%
$50,000- 74,999	76%	90%
$75,000	87%	91%
Education Level
Less than HS	41%	29%
High School	56%	63%
Some College	75%	81%
College +	81%	90%
Adopted from Anderson, M. (2015). Technology Ownership 2015.  Pew Research Center. Retrieved from  http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/the-demographics-of-device-ownership/

In preparing students for their future, they will need to not only find answers but also evaluate sources.  Students will use technology for collaboration and complex problem-solving.  Yet, this is not what they are learning in the classroom.  This raises some questions that need to be addressed by educators:

1. Does the curriculum taught in schools support Web 2.0 (collaboration) and Web 3.0 (intersection) technologies?  A Web 3.0 application might be using Google Maps and Earth to learn about how city capital buildings are positioned in different parts of the country, or following the movement of a character in a novel.

2.  What encourages teachers to use Web 2.0 or Web 3.0 applications in instruction?

3.  When does using technology for collaboration and problem solving become a necessary skill set?

4. Why are students turning away from smartphones and tablets in favor of a laptop for schoolwork? 

References

Anderson, M. (2015). Technology device ownership 2015 Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/the-demographics-of-device-ownership/

O'bannon, B. W., & Thomas, K. (2014). Teacher perceptions of using mobile phones in the classroom: Age matters! Computers & Education, 74, 15-25.

Harris Poll (2014). Pearson student mobile device survey 2014. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/us/en/pearson-ed/downloads/2015-Pearson-Student-Mobile-Device-Survey-Grades-4-12.pdf