Smart Phones in Academic Environments
Background
When first beginning this project I was evaluating the misuse of smart phones by kids and teenagers. Misuse of smart phones is a fairly vague term but is intended to describe actions that results in using smart phones in ways that do not use the full potential. For instance using smart phones for just games and playing music. It really bothered me when I would see a group a kids huddling around looking at their phones and not interacting. It also bothered me when a group of people are having a discussion or a debate about something that can be looked up online. Smart phones have a plethora of apps and functions that make them great tools for productivity and learning. This lead me to looking into ways that kids could learn to use the full potential of smart phones. Finally this lead to me concentrating my focus on how kids use their phones in school, or more accurately how they do not. Smart phones as of now are widely viewed as distracters to the classroom because of their texting capabilities and the vast amount of apps that are not used in productive ways like game apps, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and other apps that have no really value. These apps lead kids looking at their phone is class rather than listening to the teacher.
In a world that is always changing, I find it interesting that the modern classroom is everything except for modern. I also find it interesting that we have not found ways to make learning easier and more effective for kids. Today's society tells kids that they can change the world through education and hard work. Yet we have to changed how kids learned, instead classrooms are run pretty much the same way they were run 10, 20, even 30 years ago. Using smart phones in classrooms could be a remedy for this innovative funk that schools have.
There are plenty of apps that can lead to better learning for students. Apps that allow the teacher to get an idea of what students understand and what they don't. Apps that allow students to access notes, homework, and grades both inside and outside of the classroom. Even apps that allow the teacher to make a linked calendar that all students can see so they will know when tests and papers are due. These little devices can be powerful tools for students and schools should reconsider the utility of them inside of the classroom. If implemented correctly smart phones allow for more engaging classrooms where they will encourage student involvement and learning, not distractions and mind-wandering.
In a world that is always changing, I find it interesting that the modern classroom is everything except for modern. I also find it interesting that we have not found ways to make learning easier and more effective for kids. Today's society tells kids that they can change the world through education and hard work. Yet we have to changed how kids learned, instead classrooms are run pretty much the same way they were run 10, 20, even 30 years ago. Using smart phones in classrooms could be a remedy for this innovative funk that schools have.
There are plenty of apps that can lead to better learning for students. Apps that allow the teacher to get an idea of what students understand and what they don't. Apps that allow students to access notes, homework, and grades both inside and outside of the classroom. Even apps that allow the teacher to make a linked calendar that all students can see so they will know when tests and papers are due. These little devices can be powerful tools for students and schools should reconsider the utility of them inside of the classroom. If implemented correctly smart phones allow for more engaging classrooms where they will encourage student involvement and learning, not distractions and mind-wandering.