One fear that many teachers and institutions have is that cell phones and tablets (and, in some cases, laptops) are distractions in the classroom. While students could use these devices for research and calculations, they are just as likely to use it for social media and non-academic reading. In many cases, this leads to strict rules governing their use in the classroom.
In the article Student Impressions of Academic Cell Phone Use in the Classroom, Jack Tessier documents a study where he allowed students free use of their cell phones for looking up information to share with the class when necessary. The discipline for this study was science course concerned with environmental issues; such a course relies heavily on information for forming and testing hypotheses.
The study found that the use of cell phones was overwhelmingly positive for the students. Students reported using cell phones all the time, and use in the classroom was comfortable for them. Students reported that it helped them learn, was not a distraction, helped them enjoy the class more, and marginally improved attendance. To be fair, the study did rely on student responses to student perceptions, so the results have to be taken with the understanding that students who want to use cell phones will likely report positively about them regardless.
Still, if students are reporting so positively about cell phones, and we can acknowledge the potential benefits of powerful information machines at the students' fingertips, isn't that a pretty good case for trying cell phones out in the classroom?
Personally, I have found classrooms with relaxed technology policies to be more engaging and communicative. There is always the concern that students will use technology for non-academic purposes, but this can be mostly mitigated by oversight by the teacher and policies of accountability in the syllabus. In my own classrooms, I can see myself fostering technology as an excellent way to engage students, and give them powerful tools to enhance their learning experience and capabilities.
Works Cited
Tessier, Jack. “Student Impressions of Academic Cell Phone Use in the Classroom.” Journal of
College Science Teaching, vol. 43, no. 1, 2013, pp. 25–29.
That's interesting, because I've found the exact opposite. I think what helps us, as graduate students, is that we have a fairly strong intrinsic motivation and are willing to invest a fair bit of energy into our coursework. Most students will be paying attention because they want to be there. It also helps that most of what we're doing is at or above our skill level, and thus keeps our interest; we're not revisiting things we've already learnt. But for my undergraduate degree, every time I had access to technology, it distracted me more than helped. And I found that discussions tended to get more derailed when other students were texting.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, in an ESL setting there are real uses to a phone. Google Translate can be a great tool for dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary. English resources can be consulted, covering the myriad topics which our textbooks can't. And in MANY ESL contexts, the students want to be there and want to learn. So it may be closer to the graduate student experience than to the undergrad experience.