User:BSI26/Mobile phone use in schools

The use of mobile phones in schools by students has become a controversial topic debated by students, parents, teachers, school leaders and administrators. The debate around the use of phones in schools is connected to determining whether phone use in schools and in the classroom negatively impacts academics or whether they are a useful and necessary tool for learning. This issue is ongoing in all levels of education from K - 12 and university/college campuses. Using a phone as a tool to access information for learning is referred to as mobile learning or m-learning. Research examines whether students are capable of multitasking with their phones while engaging in school related tasks. Multitasking is defined as doing more than one thing at a time which results in divided attention.

Studies- Positive Impacts

There is an acknowledgement that the use of mobile phones as a learning tool to conduct research and school related tasks does not provide the same level of distractions or issues for students. Many proponents also state that cell phones can enhance classroom learning. The main argument for the use of cell phones in classrooms is the ability to access information and complete tasks such as record data or create a podcast. Others argue that cell phones can help when materials are in short supply such as dictionaries, timers and digital cameras.

The fast pace changes within mobile technologies combined with secondary school students’ increased access of mobile internet devices has created new and improved methods of communication, collaborative learning and access to information. A 2020 study about teachers' attitudes towards supporting and facilitating mobile devices in the classroom was conducted. A teacher's attitude, gender, age, experience level and the availability of technical support and resources played a role in the acceptance and use of technology in the classroom.   Other studies showed that high school teachers were open to mobile learning but were not adequately capable of incorporating the technology. 920 Greek teachers were part of this study. There was high agreement with over 60% of the sample who agree there are advantages of mobile learning in the classroom and that it can enhance learning if teachers are provided with adequate support. Some of the positive aspects of mobile devices in the classroom are linked to the ability of students to access information quickly and that it increases the students interest level. The Greek teachers stated that the quick access of information through mobile devices has provided students with the ability to communicate with other students inside and outside of Greece and has helped with the implementation of education programs from other European countries. As a result, students are able to have more exploration around lessons and topics.

As technology changes, the research around its use and impact have also increased. Research has found that mobile technology has increased and improved the transmission and delivery of multimedia content along with supporting discussions and discourse, real-time, synchronous and asynchronous, using voice, text and multimedia . In a 2017 study of 1,121 teachers, they identified student access to the internet as the most useful function of mobile phones for school-related work. Another important benefit pointed out by researchers for the support of mobile phones in classrooms is that students are able to have more ownership over the learning through student-directed learning when they are able to record classroom lectures, presentations, directions for assignments, as well as respond to course assessments and polls. Researchers state that mobile phones, when used constructively, can be powerful tools to support student learning. Technology and mobile phone access have allowed teachers with the ability to personalize instruction which creates more student-centered learning opportunities.

Safety is another component to the positive impacts of mobile phone use in schools. Many supporters of mobile phones in classrooms state how it is a necessary device to be able to access in emergency situations. Students at schools that have dealt with gun violence, indicate that they believe mobile phones provide access to quick emergency communication. Schools can send text messages to students to inform them of any emergency situation occurring on school grounds.

Even with the many benefits associated with technology and mobile devices, there are still many schools that deem mobile phones as a distraction and something that needs to be dealt with and removed from the classroom. As a result, teachers have not been permitted to optimize all the benefits and discover all the ways that mobile devices can benefit their teaching and student learning.

Studies - Negative Impacts

A study conducted by Scott Campbell was done to explain the challenges associated with mobile phones in college classrooms. A combination of students and faculty members were part of the research. According to his research, there is no public consensus to the appropriate etiquette for individuals when engaging in private behaviour in a public space. Classrooms, especially college classrooms have been found to be among the least acceptable places for mobile phone use.  Even though the research is suggesting that phone use in a classroom is bad social etiquette, Campbell states that a third of university students in the United States play video games on their mobile phones or laptops during the class. There is new acceptance and understanding of the value of the internet and new forms of e-learning. However, many believe that e-learning occurs elsewhere (outside of the classroom) and phones within a classroom is and still seen as problematic. In Campbells study, which had a mix of students and faculty totalling 176 individuals reported negative attitudes about mobile phones in college classrooms. The ringing of the phone during class was seen as the biggest problem due to it causing distractions. The lack of background noise in a classroom makes the ringing more apparent and more of a distraction.  

Cognitive theory of multimedia learning is among the earliest theories to try to understand how and why multitasking impacts learning. This theory argues that when individuals are in a multimedia context, the learners are exposed to both words and pictures, which are part of two different information processing channels (Auditory/verbal channel and visual/pictorial channel). Meaningful learning requires cognitive processing to take place in both of these channels as well, but learners have limited capacity when multitasking with multimedia context.

In more recent studies by Daniel Felisoni and Alexandra Godoi in 2018, the same perception about mobile phones has continued. If mobile phones are present in a classroom and being used for other tasks not related to learning, it is viewed as a distraction. In combination to phones being a distraction, students have a false understanding of their ability to multitask effectively which can lead to poor academic performance.  Presently, social media use has been examined and the increased use of social media is negatively related to academic performance. 117 graduate students and 107 undergraduate students self reported about their GPAs. From this it indicated that students who had heavy facebook use had lower GPAs. Felisoni and Godoi examined if cell phone use in the classroom or during free time made a difference in GPA. Tracking software was installed on cellphones to bypass any bias in self reporting. They concluded that smartphone use during class resulted in lower academic averages due to students being distracted by the use of technology and were not focused on lectures and other academic activities. Daniel Felisoni and Alexandra Godoi state that social media and messaging applications compete with lectures for students’ cognitive resources.

Many students have reported using cell phones while in class, studying or completing homework. The multitasking of this behaviour is connected to lower academic performance in their study when multitasking using social media, emailing through the computer or cell phone compared to students who did not multitask.

Equity and Access - COVID-19 Pandemic

In developing countries, switching to the online method of learning was a less popular option but forced upon people due to social-distancing measures imposed during the Covid pandemic. Issues around accessibility were highlighted in different studies. The issue around availability and sustainability of internet connection, accessibility of the teaching media, and the compatibility of tools to access the media were some of the common issues faced by students. COVID-19, brought digital inequalities to the forefront with schools going online. Even in developed countries, internet access is not always guaranteed or accessible to many students. More than 6% of the population in the United States (21 million people) have no high-speed connection. In Australia, 13% of the population does not have access to high-speed internet. Globally, only just over half of households (55%) have an internet connection, according to Unicef. In the developed world, 87% are connected to the internet compared with 47% in developing nations, and just 19% in the least developed countries. As a result, many students are expected to learn online at home due to lockdown measures, and are unable to participate within their education. Reports from Unicef show how children within the South Asian region have been impacted greatly due to the pandemic and school closures because the region has one of the lowest rates of home internet access. Unicef has laid out some solutions to address the digital divide within countries. Leveraging mobile phones is one of the solutions. They found that smartphones, and even basic phones, were an important resource in supporting children’s education. Data shows that majority of households have a mobile phone and a large portion of those phones are smartphones. However, limitations continue with children having to share mobile phones amongst many members of a household.