Cell Phones in School: Nuisance or Learning Tool

The 1999 shootings at Columbine High school and the September 2001 terrorist attacks triggered policy changes to ease restrictions on cell phone use in school (Ballaro). This fueled a national debate over the safety benefits and distractions of using cell phones in school. If parents and students can contact each other during the school day, it could inform students of an emergency or help potentially help prevent an emergency. Most students carry their phone on them during the school day already, giving us the opportunity to use them to benefit their education and safety. Cell phones can be used as a learning tool to do homework and communicate with others, allowing them to complete group assignments.

Web. 22 Jan. 2014. . Tyrell, Joie. "From Textbooks to Texting." Newsday [Long Island, NY] 17 Oct. 2011: A4+.

In the United States 327,577,529 people own a mobile phone in 2013(Lee). There are several places where phones are controversial such as schools (Lee). Cell phones should be used in school because they can be used for safety, educational uses, and they are a way of the future. Students need cell phones in school for safety so that, if there is an emergency in their family, their parents can call their child and the student will answer it immediately (Should Students Be Allowed to Use Cell Phones at School?). It also means students will be safer when they walk home alone (Should Students Be Allowed to Use Cell Phones at School?).

Ever since incidents such as 9/11 and Columbine, high schools have started implementing new rules regarding cellphones. Cellphones regard the attention of building managers, teachers, parents, and students. Although teachers see them as a distraction and a way to cheat, they can be quite helpful to students. School districts should permit students to use cellular devices in school for purposes of improving their education and providing themselves a sense of security. By permitting the use of cellphones in school, students can increase their knowledge and complete school work by using applications and other features on their smartphones.

Cell phones have many instructional benefits in a student’s academic career. Author Carol L. Tilley stated correctly that cell phones “would support and allow for enhanced communications and collaboration”. Through new technology students can use many different applications during class that are interactive with their teachers lecture. For example a teacher may have a power point lecture and have questions... ... middle of paper ... ...ir parents or a family member to come and pick them up. Even at school when students are getting picked up to go home there are preditors.

Throughout this essay you'll read about the pros and cons regarding cell phones usage. Overall, this essay will attempt to argue that students should be allowed full use of their cell phones during school hours. Firstly, cell phones are a useful object when needed in an emergency. When parents need to contact their kids, they would have access to talk with them on their cell phones. People say "But there's phones in the office", So?

Does using a cell phone in class affect a student’s learning? Cell phones can be a benefit in school by replacing other materials in the classroom. The materials cell phones can replace are: dictionaries, timers, calculators, and other items that are usually used in the classroom. Students can improve their projects by using their cell phone to record data. Also, many websites can help students send answers to their teachers via text messages.

Parents can get instant communication in case of a family emergency or any school related emergencies. Students can use their phone in the middle of class when they do not have access to a computer to look up information for projects. Gazda 2 Also phones can serve memory aids; students can take pictures of experiments or procedures to remember what they did and why they performed them. Having a cell phone on you can really come in handy when you forget your notepad and pen at home, you can use the voice recording operation to take notes that day. Computers are another useful tool in the classroom; computers in school make learning fun for the children who struggle learning in a regular... ... middle of paper ... ...ositive and negatives when using it; the positives clearly balance out the negatives.

Using smartphones in the classroom lift students learning Thus, the usage of smartphones in the classroom helps the students gain more knowledge On the other hand, both students and teachers can use this helpful tip, at the end of class, when a whiteboard is full of notes, they can simply snap a picture of it with their smartphones (Clark, 2012).] Smartphones is not only for searching purposes but at the same time it can give convenience to the students not to copy anymore from the board instead they can take a picture of it after the lecture. Taking pictures of the lecture can help the students focus more in their lessons Thus, taking snapshots with their lessons is helpful for students What are the positive and negative effects of smartphones to students The positive effect is that smartphones is a supplemental learning tool for students while the negative effect is that, students will then be dependent on their

14 Nov. 2013. Higgins, Josh. "BYOT: Bring Your Own Tech to School." USA TODAY. 08 Aug 2013: B.6.