The use of cell
phones in education has created some discussions and some educators do not want
to use cell phones in school. Some
reasons include:
- Cell phones may make it easy for students to cheat. To prevent this, teachers should move away from the front of the class and roam. According to Ken Halla, “It’s harder to do the negative behaviors when the phones are out and the teacher is walking around,”
- Students can use cell phones to send inappropriate content, playing games or setting up a meeting for crime. Discussing the appropriate use of the cell phones, reminding students about these and sticking to consequences if rules are broken should assist in curbing this behaviour.
- Cell phones cause students to be distracted or become disrespectful. Ensure that cellphones are turned off when not in use for academic purposes and there can be a place for them to be kept if students are not allowed to keep them in their backpacks.
I believe that
high schools especially should embrace cell phone use in school but
should ensure that before use, there is a policy that teachers, parents and
students are familiar with, students should continuously be educated on proper
use of phones at school and teachers must be consistent with regards to
consequences if rules of use are broken.
A smart phone can be a powerful educational
tool in the classroom since it has the ability to provide students with so much
information because of easy internet access, a multitude of education-friendly
apps. They can assist students to be
actively engaged and more attentive, stay organized and for assessing learning,
cell phones can be used for students to complete research in small group
projects, using pollwverywhere.com (see how it works in diagram below) to test students’
knowledge of their subject material before a test.
Is it time to move into the 21st century and
begin using the resources we have available to engage our students in the
learning process more readily?
No comments:
Post a Comment