In the modern world, almost everyone has a smartphone, starting as young as elementary school. However, their presence in the classroom has been highly debated with some schools issuing widespread bans while others attempt to embrace the technology. Smartphones have undoubtedly changed the way people communicate. Instructors fear, albeit correctly most of the time, that cell phones will be used for non-educational activities. However, issues with enforcement of cellphone bans as well as numerous benefits that the smartphone apps and student attachments to their devices can bring from an educational perspective suggest potential to utilize it as an academic tool. Cellphones can be used as a vital educational tool for organization, learning, and communication but can easily become a detrimental distraction, which supports an approach that encourages smartphone use in a supervised and responsible manner in the classroom.
Benefits
Mobile phones can be used as beneficial tools for information and organization in the academic context in the classroom. According to Torbjörn (2017), “the tasks for which the students wanted to use mobile phones were doing calculations, searching for information, translating words, communicating, keeping a calendar and taking pictures” (p. 74, par. 3). Information seeking and organizational concepts are vital to a student’s success in the classroom. Using mobile phones to search for additional information for help on their assignments or watching resources provided by instructors can greatly enhance the classroom experience and student performance. Data is key in the modern information society, and mobile phones offer access to resources and the Internet with information that is more updated than textbooks for example. With teacher guidance, the class curriculum can be supplemented with relevant and reliable digital materials that offers tools for copying, highlighting, or taking screenshots of vital facts to be studied later. Meanwhile, certain application on smartphones can improve organization by helping maintain due dates on assignments and class announcement through notifications.
Cellphones can be used to reinforce material that is learned in the classroom through peer communication. According to Ngesi et al. (2018), “these two technologies proved to be not only viable but also sustainable because of both their pervasive nature and their affordability” (p. 10 par. 6). Their study focused on foreign language utilization through SMS and Mxit instant messaging and found that it could be a vital tool for follow-up teaching and student reinforcing the English language in direct communication during and outside class. Unfortunately, historically the well-regulated and rigid frameworks of formal education are not a good fit with connectivity of mobile phones. Mobility and connectivity of mobile phones has the potential of being integrated into the curriculum, and depending on the region and type of education, the device has significant flexibility on its place in the classroom activities and beyond (Torbjörn, 2017). Based off this study, it is prevalent that students continue to utilize mobile phones whether they are banned or not, and most often for social media and communication. Therefore, it is in the best interest of instructors to embrace this activity and find ways which smartphones can be flexibly included to reinforce curriculum and learning without becoming overwhelming distractions.
Opportunities
Mobile phones hold the opportunity of revolutionizing the education sector by introducing alternative learning processes and methods of instructional delivery known as ‘new learning.’ “According to proponents of new learning, mobiles facilitate designs for personalized learning in that they are responsive to difference and diversity in the way learning occurs. They facilitate designs for situated learning by providing learning during the course of the activity” (Valk, Rashid, & Elder, 2010, p. 120, par. 4). Mobile technology digitizes and innovates student learning, also helping students build on critical skills of the 21st century which are creativity, communication and collaboration, research, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, and digital citizenship and technology operations (Keengwe et al., 2014). Mobile phones which commonly include capabilities of virtual reality, real-life rendering, and significant processing power can be used to facilitate interesting and authentic learning, introducing real-world problems or projects in a virtual setting that are beneficial to subject-specific learning.
As technology capabilities increases, mobile phones contribute to new directions in instruction such as mobile learning (mLearning) that can be utilized both inside and outside the classroom, improving access to education. According to Valk et al. (2010), mLearning “can also increase access in those situations where cost represents a significant barrier to learning. For those in rural or remote areas where environmental and infrastructure challenges hinder other learning modalities…mLearning presents great opportunities” (p. 119, par. 4). Smartphones are valuable technology in terms of capabilities for their price point. In many cases, it may improve access to learning and technology for populations unable to afford laptops or tablets that are commonly less efficient in comparison to smartphones at lower-end price ranges. mLearning can contribute inside the classroom as well through activities such as collaborating on a virtual project with students from other schools to tuning in as a class to a digital lecture with participative elements. This concept ultimately alters the character of education due to the nature that mobile technology has with the instructional process.
Challenges and Obstacles
While devices have benefits to learning, they hold significant challenges as well, particularly the distraction and social components of smartphones. Distraction is commonly cited as the biggest challenge and concern to educators in regard to technology in the classroom. According to Keengwe, Schnellert, and Jonas (2014), “…many school leaders only see them as a hindrance to meaningful learning especially considering their host of likely distractions from student ring tones, e-mails, texting, tweeting, and cheating” (p. 444, par. 2). Distracting elements as noted by students and teachers alike include notifications and access to social media, texting or gaming. With access to social media communication, outside the classroom social elements such as harassment and bullying can come into the classroom resulting in greater disturbances (Keengwe et al., 2014). In the classroom, the cellphone has become almost symbolic as youthful rebellion against authority, by shifting away from classroom tasks. Distractions may also negatively impact students that are low-achieving or have attention disorders in classroom activities where there is a lack of support for structured use (Torbjörn, 2017). While some school districts attempt to resolve this issue by virtually blocking access to certain websites or applications on school grounds or teachers physically monitoring the use of devices in the class, this creates significant management and cost burdens on the school (Dias & Victor, 2017).
Digital learning on mobile devices creates certain technological and practical barriers that can affect limited groups of students as well as the general education process for everyone. According to Dias and Victor (2017), “However not all children have access to modern technology at home not only in developing countries but also in developed countries…Majority of mobile devices used for education seemed to be messy and poorly executed” (p. 341, par. 6-7). There is the concept of accessibility, as not all children will have similar smartphone devices. Different operating systems and technological capabilities of the devices based on cost make it virtually impossible to plan a unified classroom activity. This can also contribute to the mobile phone status among peers, creating unhealthy pressures and addictive behaviors impacting mental health (Keengwe et al., 2014). Use of mobile devices requires constant internet connectivity and other technological issues that may arise such as device malfunctioning, low battery, and other aspects require teachers to have a back-up plan or spend significant time on managing the nuances of these educational technologies (Dias & Victor, 2017).
Conclusion
Cellphones in the classroom are shown to be significantly beneficial on a number of educational tasks ranging from organization to information search, with significant opportunities for academic connectivity and studying. However, applicable evidence shows that there are numerous technological, social, and practical barriers to utilizing mobile phones in classroom settings. Ranging from distractions to technical utility, it can be understood why many instructors are reluctant to adopt this new technology which is touted as ‘transformative’ for education. Going forward as smartphone accessibility and capabilities increases and with a creation of more unified and stable educational networks and applications, potentially the student devices has opportunities. Nevertheless, at this time, banning the devices will have a negative effect and instructors should encourage periodic and independent use of smartphones on some assignments that encourages responsibility and academic interest from students.
References
Dias, L., & Victor, A. (2017). Teaching and learning with mobile devices in the 21st century digital world: Benefits and challenges. European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2(5), 339-344.
Keengwe, J., Schnellert, G., & Jonas, D. (2012). Mobile phones in education: Challenges and opportunities for learning. Education and Information Technologies, 19(2), 441–450.
Ngesi, N., Landa, N., Madikiza, N., Cekiso, M. P., Tshotsho, B., & Walters, L. M. (2018). Use of mobile phones as supplementary teaching and learning tools to learners in South Africa. Reading & Writing, 9(1), 1-10.
Torbjörn, O. (2017). Mobile phones in school: from disturbing objects to infrastructure for learning. Gothenburg: Department of Applied Information Technology, University of Gothenburg.
Valk, J.-H., Rashid, A. T., & Elder, L. (2010). Using mobile phones to improve educational outcomes: An analysis of evidence from Asia. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 11(1), 117.