Cell Phones in School: Nuisance or Learning Tool

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Cell phones over the past few years have become essential to teens. Attributable to this increase in cellphones teens bring them everywhere including school. Consequently though, students who bring them into school often use them without the teacher’s consent and get distracted. On the other hand, if teachers allowed the use of these devices, they could work as an aid. Although some believe that phones distract students in class, implementing them in the classroom could help learning, and may help students use them as safety measures. Cell phones have numerous uses in the learning process because of student’s daily use and availability. Most students carry cell phones and use them in class, so implementing them into lessons should help teachers get students attention in class more. Shane, of USA TODAY, mentions this when he says, “Teachers ask students to use their smart phones to look up a vocabulary word, take a photo of an assignment written on the board or text themselves a homework reminder” (A4). Implementing cell phones into classroom learning criteria could save teacher’s time, and increase students engagement in the class. In another instance, Shane notes statistics from a study that shows how often students use cell phones. For example, students use cell phones rarely in class under adult supervision. Shane explains, “A November study from Teen Research Unlimited, done for the Verizon Foundation, found that 39% of middle-school students use smart phones to do homework. Among them, just 6% said they were permitted to use a Smartphone in class” (A4). Statistics such as this show that students use cell phones to their advantage, so teachers should use this to their advantage as well. Cell phones implemented in school would ... ... middle of paper ... ...ll phones can make school more engaging. Cell phones could also attribute to safety measures such as communication in the case of a disaster. Students could contact authorities immediately. Methods such as this one engage students in learning and help the school become safer. If cell phone use could help solve some issues that’s all the more reason to use them. Works Cited Higgins, Josh. "BYOT: Bring Your Own Tech to School." USA TODAY. 08 Aug. 2013: B6. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Schoenberg, Nara. "Is Your Smartphone Hurting Your GPA?" Chicago Tribune. 17 Mar. 2013: 24. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Shane, Brian. "Smart Devices Make for Smart Kids." USA TODAY. 28 Dec. 2012: A4. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Tyrrell, Joie. "From Textbooks to Texting." Newsday. 17 Oct. 2011: A4. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

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