Should Students Have Cell Phones in the Classroom?
With the advancement in technology, cell phones have become available to everyone including students. It is still debatable whether students should or should not have cell phones in class. Different studies have revealed both the negative and positive effects of cell phones in the classrooms. The opinions of the teachers have changed over time with the teachers embracing the positive impacts of cell phones however; the threatening negative impacts have left them indecisive. Cell phones were proposed into classrooms to promote student engagement during lessons, however; the negative impacts outweigh the benefits. This essay is of the opinion that students should have cell phones in the classrooms.
Disruption and Distraction in the Classroom
Cell phones are disruptive when used in classrooms. Cell phones ringers, playing games, chatting and even calling divide students' attention (Tindell & Bohlander, 2012). Sometimes they're lost into texting and do not concentrate on the lectures. Besides texting, the students send sexually provocative messages. When cell phones ring during the lessons, they disrupt the flow of the lessons. Some students will play games during the lessons and in their free times instead of reviewing the lessons. The National School Safety and Security Services state that students use text messaging to cheat in exams. Moreover, they can use the internet to cheat.
Impact on Academic Performance
Studies have found that schools that banned the use of cell phones in schools experienced an improvement in performance. Limiting the use of phones in schools promotes academic success. Dr. Richard Murphy reported that when cell phones are allowed in schools, the vulnerable students are hurt. The low-performing children and those coming from poor backgrounds will be damaged and the learning inequalities are exacerbated (End et al., 2009). Wasting their time on cell phones instead of books makes them worse at the end of the day.
Decreased Student Performance
With cell phones in the classrooms, students do not perform to their level best. They primarily use their phones for amusements. Because of their divided attention, they would either, miss out listening to important details in the lessons or forget some of the information they were taught. When they are doing tests while texting, they are likely to forget some details.
Negative Effects on Student Well-being
Students with cell phones all the time are likely to exhibit chronic restlessness such as fatigue, reliance on stimulating drinks, and stress. These effects do not make it conducive for a student to achieve his/her class goals. Furthermore, they are prone to mental illness and a life of sorrow. The concentration on their normal activities, including their schoolwork, is reduced.
Cyberbullying and Privacy Concerns
Students who spend most of their time online are likely to be cyberbullies or be victims of bullying. Through technology, bullies can harass students when they're in class. Bullies disrupt students by sending them awful messages and nasty comments all day. Students may use cell phones to invade people's privacy by taking their pictures without permission. Some students would take pictures of their teachers and ruin the reputation of the teachers. This ruins the teachers' and other students' reputation. The students may also record videos of fights in school and post them online. These acts are damaging to the school's reputation. Students with phones in classrooms tend to be scared of losing their phones. Due to the insecurity, they pay too much attention to their phones.
Obstructed Public Safety and Unnecessary Attention
Parents have thought that cell phones can be used in classrooms in case of emergencies; however, cell phones can be more of a hindrance. Students have used cell phones to call in bomb threats. Furthermore, public safety is obstructed in that the control of the event is limited. The students are also likely to raise unnecessary attention when they are planning to do something illegal. Parents should not insist on giving their children cell phones to contact them; instead, they can use the student's services. Students who use cell phones in school are likely to be victimized. In one case, one student was troubled and could not concentrate in the class because of the disturbing text she received from her boyfriend.
Annotated
Bibliography
Thomas, K. M., O’Bannon, B. W., " Bolton, N. (2013). Cell phones in the classroom: Teachers’ perspectives of inclusion, benefits, and barriers. Computers in the Schools, 30(4), 295-308.
Most of the teachers support the use of cell phones in the classroom since it promotes student engagement and motivation of students. Historically, cell phones were viewed as a disruption of lessons, however; after a critical review, the teachers considered the benefits of the tool. With cell phones in class, the teachers noted that the students are very interactive and engage more on the topics being studied. The students use cell phones during the lessons to research more on the topics and provide solutions to questions. The study also found disadvantages of cell-phones in the classroom which include class disruption and lack of access to all students. However, the article concluded that the teachers have found that the advantage use of cell phones in the classroom out-weigh its disadvantages.
Thomas, K., " O’Bannon, B. (2013). Cell phones in the classroom: Preservice teachers’ perceptions. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 30(1), 11-20.
Thomas and O’Bannon seek the art teachers’ opinion on allowing cell phones in the classroom. They conducted a survey that asked for the views of 92 preservice teachers on cell phones in the classroom. Further, the study divided the teachers into digital natives and digital immigrants to find out if there is a difference in their perceptions. The teachers were not sure about allowing cell phones in classrooms and acknowledged both the advantages and disadvantages. They noted that cellphone devices' such as the calculator, audio player and the internet offer instructional benefits to students. Moreover, the cell phones increase students' participation in the lessons. The teachers were, however, concerned about cell phones disrupting lessons and making students cheat in exams. There was no difference in the perception of the preservice digital natives and preservice digital immigrants.
Kuznekoff, J. H., " Titsworth, S. (2013). The impact of mobile phone usage on student learning. Communication Education, 62(3), 233-252.
Kuznekoff " Titsworth performed an experiment on the impact of cell phones in classrooms on student learning. In the experiment, students were divided into three groups: control, low-distraction, and high-distraction. The students watched a video on a lecture, took notes and learning assessments. The findings showed that students that did not use cell phones during the lecture wrote 62% more detailed information than their counterparts. They could recall more information on the lecture and scored higher grades than other students. From this study, it is evident that mobile phones disrupt learning activities and students using cell phones during classes are not fully attentive to the lectures. Mobile phones reduce the students' concentration and as a result, students remember less of what they were taught.
End, C. M., Worthman, S., Mathews, M. B., " Wetterau, K. (2009). Costly cell phones: The impact of cell phone rings on academic performance. Teaching of Psychology, 37(1), 55-57.
This study was conducted on college students; they took notes on a video content after which they completed a multiple-choice test on the content. The students were divided into two groups; those subjected to the ringing condition in which the ringing of the cell phone was introduced during the lecture and the control group. This study hypothesized that the ringing of a cellphone impairs learning. The findings showed that the control group not subjected to the ringing condition scored higher than those under the ringing condition. The students in the ringing condition showed to lose concentration in the times when the phone rang; they were likely to lose concentration on the video content. This was evidenced I their notes where they skipped some information. The study concluded that cell phones cause academic impairment among students and therefore, should not be accepted in the classroom.
Froese, A. D., Carpenter, C. N., Inman, D. A., Schooley, J. R., Barnes, R. B., Brecht, P. W., " Chacon, J. D. (2012). Effects of classroom cell phone use on expected and actual learning. College Student Journal, 46(2), 323-332.
When students carry cell phones to classrooms, they generate high risks of attention. When students carry cell phones in classrooms, they will not only use the phones for learning activities but also for their own activities. In this study, Froese et al. (2012) estimated the number of questions that the students could answer when texting. With a repeated measures design experiment, the study found that the students lost close to 30% on the quiz while texting. It was apparent that texting during class lessons divides students’ attention and they lose concentration on what they are being taught. Further, they can’t fully concentrate on the test and this implies that they can’t fully remember what they were being told when texting during exams. Cell phones are therefore not to be allowed in classrooms as they prevent students from performing to their full potential.
Campbell, S. W. (2006). Perceptions of mobile phones in college classrooms: Ringing, cheating, and classroom policies. Communication education, 55(3), 280-294.
Campbell explored the challenges of students having cell phones in colleges. The study surveyed the teachers and students to access the extent of distraction that cell phones pose to college students. The distractive activities assessed include cheating, ringing phones in class and texting in class. The participants collectively expressed strong perceptions of these three activities as major problems that disrupt learning. These activities affected the performance of the students.
Tindell, D. R., " Bohlander, R. W. (2012). The use and abuse of cell phones and text messaging in the classroom: A survey of college students. College Teaching, 60(1), 1-9.
This study engaged the students and interviewed them on what they do with their cell phones in class. The students were open and revealed that they text and at times receive calls in classrooms. 92% of the students admitted chatting during lessons. They also browse the internet, access social media and send pictures. They do this with the unawareness of their tutors. 10% of the students confessed to text during exams which is detrimental to their performance. The study concluded that cell phones in the classrooms are destructive to students. This calls for a regulative management that discourages the possession of cell phones in schools. It’s evident that cell phones are more destructive than being beneficial.
References
Campbell, S. W. (2006). Perceptions of mobile phones in college classrooms: Ringing, cheating, and classroom policies. Communication education, 55(3), 280-294.
End, C. M., Worthman, S., Mathews, M. B., " Wetterau, K. (2009). Costly cell phones: The impact of cell phone rings on academic performance. Teaching of Psychology, 37(1), 55-57.
Froese, A. D., Carpenter, C. N., Inman, D. A., Schooley, J. R., Barnes, R. B., Brecht, P. W., " Chacon, J. D. (2012). Effects of classroom cell phone use on expected and actual learning. College Student Journal, 46(2), 323-332.
Kuznekoff, J. H., " Titsworth, S. (2013). The impact of mobile phone usage on student learning. Communication Education, 62(3), 233-252.
Thomas, K. M., O’Bannon, B. W., " Bolton, N. (2013). Cell phones in the classroom: Teachers’ perspectives of inclusion, benefits, and barriers. Computers in the Schools, 30(4), 295-308.
Thomas, K., " O’Bannon, B. (2013). Cell phones in the classroom: Preservice teachers’ perceptions. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 30(1), 11-20.
Tindell, D. R., " Bohlander, R. W. (2012). The use and abuse of cell phones and text messaging in the classroom: A survey of college students. College Teaching, 60(1), 1-9.
