My answer to the above question is absolutely not. Although cell phones have become a big part of our lifestyle, they do not have a place in the classroom. It is easy to come up with three reasons why cell phones should not be used in school after being in the classroom for the past ten weeks.
1. Cell phones are a distraction. Students are constantly tring to get away with texting friends while they are in class. Many students are obsessed with their phones and continually look at them when they are supposed to be working in class. It is hard enough to keep teenagers focused on the content they are supposed to be learning without having to compete with people who they would rather talk to that are readily available through their phones.
2. Cell phones create a medium for both instant and constant communication. In a school building, this can create problems. At the school where I am currently teaching, bullying among students is a major concern. Cell phones can add to this problem. When I was in middle school and high school, students would pass notes back and forth to each other. Now it is even easier to make comments about people or engage in petty fights with other students via text message during school. I have overheard several instances of things like this happpening at our school. Emotional situations created by text message are a negative influence on the student and those around them.
3. Cell phones are too hard to monitor and control. Since cell phones are personal items, teachers and staff can not directly address a situation that takes place through a cell phone. If teachers try to use a cell phone as a part of a lesson, how can they be sure that students will not be playing a game, texting, etc.? It is inevitable that students will abuse the priviledge since they know teachers can not directly see what they are doing on the phone.
While it would be great to utilize cell phone technoloy in the classroom, there are too many negative factors that prevent it from being effective.
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Hi Anddrea, I agree with all of the negative aspects of cell phone use in the classroom. It is easy to illustrate many reasons to prove cell phones do not have a place in the classroom. But, my question is, with the pace of technology today, is it possible you can envision cell phones in at least one classroom in the future?
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