Significance of Using Cell Phones in Classroom

In the modern and ever-growing society, cell phones have become the integral part especially for the adolescents and k-12 children. Recently a study have been conducted which shows that around 82% of the students from high school make use of their mobile phone devices on the regular basis. The popularity of the cell phones has been increased in the students. So, it has become the matter of debate that the students should be allowed for using  smart phones in classroom or not.

It is also the matter of argument that how much the usage of mobile phones is considered as disruptive and disturbing to the learning environment by the educators and the parents. This leads to the development of negative behaviors among the students like cheating on exams, or usual classroom disturbance. Cell phones also help in enriching and enhancing the instruction experience, as it is also considered as the educational tool. Cell phones have the best use in the classroom that includes:

1. Ensures the accurate use of cell phones in the classroom – The correct use of cell phones in the classroom starts by setting up the expectations of the teachers for the students form the very beginning. A research has been conducted that helps in the development of an agreement or contract with the help of the students have been made for the engagement of cell phones in the classrooms. This contract should clearly define several consequences that occur while misusing the cellphones in the classroom or breaking the particular agreement/contract.

An article has been published on the usage of classroom that defines the method of changing dynamic classroom instructions that could help the person in ensuring that the wide use of cellphones should remain consistently focused in academic areas. The method of teaching in classroom has also changed from the traditional method to the large use of technology in the classroom.

This technology has enabled the easy access to the teachers in monitoring each and every student whether they have properly performed their tasks or not. There are less chances of doing or acting any negative behavior when the students make use of their cell phones and teacher is walking all around in the classroom.

2. Cell phones have become the best tool of participation – In the classroom studies, the use of technology and the cell phones have increased the participation of the students in various activities. For example, at the website poll platform, teachers can easily create poll questions for the students so that the learning could be done in the better and effective way as the wide use of cell phones creates impact in some or the other way.

Students can send their responses to a particular number where live and the instant results of the poll can be easily reviewed and analyzed in the classroom only. In this way, teachers can easily determine the overall understanding of the student on a particular topic and could be able to adjust and make their further plans according to the results obtained. Cell phones can also boost the participation of the students in another way.

Teachers can invite their students on twitter and messaging to ask any question throughout their lesson. This mode of learning engages the students in having more participation and encourages the timid and the shy students to ask the questions they are not able to ask in the traditional classroom learning method. This technique also ensures that good questions should not be missed out from the students to ask.

3. Cell phones can be used as a resource in the classroom – For providing quick references in the classroom; cellphones can be served as best tool. There are various applications and websites like Webster dictionary app, thesaurus app and other easy-to-use resources that could help the students in double checking the spellings, look for alternative word choices or word definitions. Students that are learning second languages or foreign languages have many foreign dictionary applications. These apps are easily available without occurring any cost and other different applications help the students in adding and inserting new verb to the sentence to make it effective and meaningful to the same language they are learning.

Moreover, the students can easily contribute in the meaningful classroom discussions by looking up into the online news articles by making use of cell phone technology. There are certain applications that help in covering the data relevancy of the news by making use of maps, images, videos, games and articles written by the children writers.

4. Cell phones are used as an organizational tool – By making use of cell phones, a person can easily perform al tasks on time and with efficiency even in the classrooms that includes projects, homework and deadlines. For instance, there is a cross-platform application known as myHomework. It allows the students to have the access over the device that offers the intuitive and convenient alternative to the traditional paper planner. With this, students could directly receive the notifications or reminders of the upcoming deadlines and allow the students to make their assignments and projects on time in an effective manner.

For organizing your notes, there is an application known as Evernote. It allows the students to transcribe and have the access over their notes across various devices. With this, students can type their notes during their studies at home and can also access them in their classrooms by making use of the application of the cell phone.

Teachers can take the pictures of their hand written notes form the black or white boards present in the classroom and share it directly to the students by making use of Evernote application. If a student missed a certain period or class, then teachers can update the notes on the same application as it also comes in handy form for the students.

Conclusion

In the each and every phase of human life, the technology of using cell phones in the classroom is becoming integrated every year. Teachers can also integrate the cell phone technology in the classrooms in one or the different forms and can apply them to their planned lessons and teaching styles. With the rapid change in technology and culture, students are highly experiencing the usage of mobile technology in their classroom learning.