Week 9: Mobile Phones at School

I am part of an eLearning Coordinators Network that meets each term. It seems that every single time we meet, we end up discussing mobile phone policies. The debate is ongoing in the group and there are certainly arguments for each side that make perfect sense. I personally believe they can exist in schools, but there needs to be very strong policy around their use. No matter which side you choose, I think it has to be about the culture around the decision how it is followed up in the environment. Too often the teachnology is blammed and not the structures around it.

Both the scenarios below show school with phones in the classroom:

Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HcU60aDKNnM/maxresdefault.jpg

https://nordic.businessinsider.com/globalassets/genrebilder/school/phone-school-tt-jesscia-gow.jpg

The first picture demonstrates phones being used to support learning. Mobile learning activities lend themselves to contemporary learning theories, specifically behaviorist, constructivist, situated, and collaborative learning (Crompton, Burke & Gregory, 2017). As well as snapping classroom information, students may use phones to record lectures, enter reminders into their calendars or participate in interactives classroom quizzes. Not just facilitating participation, mobile phones can be a creative technology that allows users to create and share their content (Granito, 2011). 

The second picture demonstrates mobile phones being an active distraction in the classroom, with the user listening to Spotify instead of the teacher. In both cases, the teacher and the classroom expectations are the influencing elements - not the phones themselves. Just becuase students have a phone, doesn’t mean they will automatically do the wrong thing. The first teacher allows the use of phones for educational purposes and students know what they can and cannot do. In the second classroom poor choices with mobiles phones seem to be an issue and yet this may be solved with some strong rules and consequences. If it leads to a total classroom ban - so be it. But I believe it is good to give students the chance to learn to self-moderate and be responsible instead of tying their hands behind their backs.

References:

Crompton, H., Burke, D., & Gregory, K. H. (2017). The use of mobile learning in PK-12 education: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 110, 51-63.
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Ganito, C. (2011) "Transparent classrooms: How the mobile phone is changing educational settings." International Journal of Cyber Ethics in Education (IJCEE) 1  (3) 59-69.