Using Mobile Phones in K-2 Classrooms

Name of the Student

Name of the Institution

Introduction

Amidst rapid technological advancement, mobile devices such as computers, tablets and phones have become quite common and they have highly influencing the daily activities of human beings in most parts of the world. Some of these tools, such as computers, are being used by teachers as tools for teaching students, especially in colleges (Kearney et al., 2012). However, teachers of K-12 students hardly embrace mobile phones as tools that can be useful for teaching students. In fact, most teachers perceive mobile phones as tools that distract effective learning among the students. However, the view fails to recognize that the tools are present and it is difficult to rule them out. A recent survey carried out in the UK indicated that around 47 percent of children aged between 11 and 17 yeas have cell phones (Pixel, 2014). There are even many children younger than 11 years who have cell phones, but they are restricted from using them in classrooms. At the same time, surveys have shown that parents are increasingly purchasing mobile phones for use by their children (Pixel, 2014). The increasing saturation of phones owned by children should not be ignored. Whether teachers restrict them or not, it is apparent that children will increasingly use them. Rather than viewing them as tools that limit effective learning, teachers should embrace them. Precisely, teachers should support positive use of mobile phones in K-2 classrooms as tools for learning. If students perceive them as tools for learning, they are going to adapt to the positive use and will hardly be destructed from effective learning. However, the use of the mobile phones in K-12 classrooms should be limited by age. The approach may not be effective if it is applied to children in Kindergarten (Kearney et al., 2012). Thus, teachers should decide the education level where the use of mobile phones is appropriate. This paper explains how mobile phones can be used effectively in K-12 classrooms as tools for teaching students.

Discussion

There are numerous ways in which mobile phones can be used for teaching K-12 students. Firstly, most types of phones sold today internet features that allow the users to do access the information available on World Wide Web. Such phones can be useful tools for quick research. Teachers of K-12 students can teach students how to do research using such tools on the web to access information. The use of phones to do research can be an innovative way since the students can search for information even when they are away from laptops. For instance, students can use mobile phones to access information that is contained in websites and also texts that are available online (Kolb, 2010). They can read story books available online and also class materials that can be accessed online. Secondly, teachers can teach K-12 students how to keep homework diaries in phones instead of relying on the home hardcopy diaries alone. The home diaries may become tattered or get lost. A child feels that a mobile phone is a valuable price and thus, he/she can hardly lose it. Thus, the phone diary might prove to be a better reminder to student about homework than the home diary (Kolb, 2010). Further, teachers of K-12 students can utilize mobile phones through sending assignments and other information to students and then get feedback from them. This can be quite useful, for instance, in cases where learners are in holiday and the teacher needs to provide vital information to the students about their requirements when they will be reporting back to school (Kolb, 2010). The text messaging feature on the phones can also be useful to enhance interaction among students in a way that enhances learning. For instance, students can utilize it to remind their class mates to do home work when they are out of school (Kolb, 2011).

Most of the available phones have cameras and video recorders. Such features can also be utilized in learning in various ways. For instance, students can take pictures or make a recording of information written on the white board and then keep it in their phones. They can then utilize it when out of class to remind themselves about what they learned in class (Kearney et al., 2012). Also, teachers can take such pictures and send to students who are sick and unable to attend classes. As well, most mobile phones have voice recorders. Students can utilize the feature through recording what the teacher says in class. Students can then use the recorded information to remind themselves about what the teacher said in class (Kearney et al., 2012). In addition, students can discuss what the teacher taught them in class as they listen to the recorded information. Mobile phones can also be utilized by students as stopwatch in class, especially when carrying out experiments that are timed. Instead of going back to the lab to collect stop watches, a teacher can ask students to utilize their phones. Also, teachers can utilize the mobile phones when teaching to seek information from an expert or experts (Pixel, 2014). A teacher may call an expert to confirm something or seek some information. Also, the approach can involve the teacher placing students in groups and asking each group to call an expert in a certain topic and ask some information.

Also, phones can be used in class as calculators. Almost all phones today have calculators that can be utilized in making calculations, especially in cases where students do not have calculators. Thus, the phone is a useful tool for solving math problems outside class (Kearney et al., 2012). Some phones have dictionaries that can be used by students in searching for meanings of different vocabularies. Also, almost all phones have calendars. The calendars can be used by teachers in reminding students about tasks such as homework. Also, phones can be used in polling or quizzing (Dede & Richards, 2012). There is a program known as Poll Everywhere, which allows users to create quizzes or questions and sending them to other people to answer. Although the number of people who a user can send the quizzes to is limited to 40, it is a useful tool to educators since they can utilize it to create and send questions to students. Students can then send their answers (Dede & Richards, 2012). In short, the list of the ways through which mobile phones can be used in K-12 classrooms is endless.

It is essential to acknowledge that there are numerous challenges associated with the use of phones in classroom setting, which lead tutors to restrict their use. Benefits in the use of phones in K-12 classrooms cannot be achieved effectively if the existing challenges are not addressed. It is true that a phone can be distracting to effective learning in class when students are not allowed to use it the way they want without any regulation (Pixel, 2014). For instance, students who have mobile phones in classrooms can be listening to music, watching videos on the internet and texting their friends as the teacher writes on the board. Needless to say, such behavior is distracting as there is no way that a student can be paying attention to the teacher while also watching a video online or texting their friends at the same time. In some instances, students may phones may ring in class, leading to disruptions (Lemke, 2010).

However, the aforementioned issue of disruption can be solved through adopting strategies that limit the use of phones by students in class for other purposes other than learning. One of the possible remedies to the problem is to ensure that all students change the settings of ringing volumes of their phones before the lesson starts. This will help to prevent disruptions brought about by ringing phones (Lemke, 2010). Secondly, a tutor can ensure that students do not watch videos, listen to music or communicate through text messages of chats with other students or people who are outside the classroom through ensuring that a phone for every child is visible. This can be done, for instance, through making sure that every student places his or her phone at the right corner of the desk before the lesson starts. It is vital to note that human beings are attracted and glued to objects that are that are new to them. After getting used to the new objects, they divert their attention to the usual, more important issues (Lemke, 2010). In the same vein, students will get used to phones and thus, their attention will hardly be diverted by phones when they are learning. They will start perceiving a phone as a common object.

Another possible challenge is that students can start using phones as instruments for cheating during examinations. Students may not cheat through talking to one another using their cell phones during exams (Rideout, Foehr & Roberts, 2010). However, they can pass notes and answers to each other through text messaging. Text messages can be discreetly sent to other students even in the course of classes or exams. There have been cases where even tutors send answers to some students so that their classes do not fail (Rideout et al., 2010). This is extremely unfair to other students who do not have cell phones, the parents and even the culprits themselves as the results they get would not be a realistic picture of their performance (Rideout et al., 2010). In addition, the enhanced technology may allow students to go to the internet, which is an incredible store of knowledge and information, and get answers to their tests. This can set an extremely dangerous trend, where exams would be an unrealistic measure of the academic capabilities of the students unless they can be tested individually under strict watch or supervision (Rideout et al., 2010). However, the problem can also be solved. One of the possible ways of solving the problem is to ask students to keep their phones in their bags away from the exam rooms and then scrutinize them closely to ensure that they do not enter with their phones. Another option is to always inform the students about the long-term repercussions of teaching exams. As they learn about the repercussions, they will learn the important of not cheating (Rideout et al., 2010). Also, coming up with disciplinary measures for students who are caught teaching can help.

Issues have been raised that allowing kids to use phones to access internet in schools leads will open a channel for them to access illicit content from the web. For instance, children might use their phones to access pornography materials or violent videos in the internet using their phones when their use of internet is unlimited (Johnson et al., 2010). However, that problem is broader than what meets the eye. Even if kids are restricted from using their phones in class, they can still access the content when they are outside the class, in the absence of the teacher. The illicit content in the internet is highly likely to corrupt the minds of kids. For instance, the sexual images and video clips that are present in the internet portray women as sexual objects. As such, kids who view the clips are likely to internalize the same. Ultimately, such illicit content changes the perception of children towards women. They are likely going to view women as sexual objects even after they grow up and even treat them as such Papadaki, 2011). Also, very young children are likely going to experiment sex after viewing such content, even before they learn the meaning and implications of sex. However, the problem is bigger since children access similar or related content through other forms of media, since most advertisements, movies and other contents of the mass media are increasingly designed in a way that they have sexual appeal to the audience and they present women as sexual objects. In short, access to illicit content isn the media cannot be limited simply through restricting use of phones in classrooms (Johnson et al., 2010).

Despite this, there is need for an integrated approach to solve the problem, which requires efforts focused on achieving long-lasting goals. Firstly, schools can start with offering free internet to children through Wi-Fi. In doing so, the school can be able to limit the content that is accessed by the students (Johnson, 2010). Access to illicit content should be blocked. Given that children can still access illicit content in the internet when they are out of class or school using their phones, it is vital to focus on teaching them morals values and explaining to them about the negative effects of viewing the illicit content (Johnson, 2010). Further, teachers should give elaborate and true information to children regarding topics related to sex, and explain to them how the illicit content in the media fails to meet the ideals of the society and implications of practicing or engaging in what they see in the media. This is a fundamental solution that will be more effective in diverting the attention of kids against viewing the illicit content than simply restricting their use in schools. This is in consideration to the fact that the illicit content the kids view in the internet when they are out of class or school can corrupt their minds to the extent that they no longer concentrate on their studies. In that case, the learning process of the kids will be distracted, even though there are restrictions for access to such content (Johnson, 2010).

Solving the aforementioned challenges related to the use of mobile phones in classroom may not be enough. In order to enhance effectiveness in their use, it is vital for teachers to be provided with training on how to use mobile phones as tools for teaching students. Teachers should learn how to utilize mobile phones to communicate and corroborate with students. The teachers should engage with the mobile technology before they start applying it in classroom. Secondly, they need to learn the rules and regulations that they should apply to regulate the use of mobile phones by students in classroom. Most schools do not have a mobile learning policy. In case of such a situation, the teacher involved should initiate the policies by setting up guidelines on how students should use mobile phones in class. Thirdly, teachers ought to understand the different ways through which mobile phones can be used to teach students. Further, teachers need to understand the impact of using mobile technology on students. Even though mobile technology can be very beneficial, it can also have negative impacts on student’s learning if it is not applied appropriately. For instance, teachers should avoid overwhelming students with technology. Different applications of mobile technology in learning should not be introduced to kids at the same. Rather, the applications should be introduced one at a time.

The key reason why mobile phones should be utilized in class room for teaching K-12 students is that the approach transforms students into active learners. Rather than just listening to the teacher and doing assignments, the use of mobile phones is an easy way of engaging in their studies through enhancing their participation. Participation is enhanced, for instance, when kids utilize features such as voice recorder to record what the teacher says in class and then discusses it later with class mates when they are outside the classroom. Enhancing the participation of students in learning plays a vital role in making learning less boring to kids. Further, studies have shown that constructive use of mobile devices in teaching kids helps in inreasing their interest to learning, which is a major drive that is needed for the kids to concentrate in their studies (Lenhart et al., 2010).

Conclusion

Overall, the use of mobile phones in classrooms is one of the innovative ways that teaches can use to teach students in K-12 level. As mentioned in the above discussion, the approach can play a major role in enhancing the morale or interest of the students to learning. Importantly, the use of the mobile phones is one of the options that teachers can utilize to enhance participative learning among students in K-12 classrooms. As noted in the discussion, there are numerous ways that mobile phones can be utilized to enhance learning among kids, ranging from texting of assignments by teachers to students to more complex uses such as doing research on the internet. Despite the positive impact of the use of mobile phones, the risks and challenges involved in their use should not be ignored. Rather, effective solutions to the problems should be sought by the teachers involved, in corroboration with school administration, other teachers, parents and the students. In addition to that, tutors should be taught how to make use of mobile phones effectively in teaching students.

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