ISFD N° 52 EAP 1st Year “B”

Student: Festter, Ana

Teacher: Quispe, Valeria

This essay attempts to determine whether cell phones can be included in the
classroom as an educational tool or if its use only leads to distraction?

Everyday life is assisted by the use of technology, as a consequence, more and

more students are bringing them to class. At least in Argentina, not all schools and
universities have internet access or enough computers for everybody, so their
use can be an interesting option to enrich lessons. However, it is a debate if they
can be used as educational tools or not. 
On the one hand, if properly managed, cell phones can be very helpful as they give
students access to tools and applications which can teach them to develop better
study habits like time management and organization skills. They can be used for
varied purposes. Some teachers take advantage of them by providing students with
resources to find more information about a topic. This can include videos, news
stories, online discussion groups and more. Allowing students to access these
resources in class can help encourage participation and discussion. Cell phones can
give students access to more information, letting them research more about a topic
while having class discussions. This is especially true for current events that have
not yet been covered in school textbooks.

While cell phones can be used as learning tools, it is a challenge to make sure
students are using them for school-related tasks. A cell phone can easily turn from”
classroom learning tool” into “classroom disruption” because of the variety of uses
it has. They can also lead to disconnection from face to face activities, less in
person discussion and fewer learning opportunities. Learning to work together with
others is an important part of students’ education and can be lost with too much
dependence on cell phones and other digital technology. Another drawback is that
they can also be used by students to access information while taking a test, leading
to cheating.
In many countries there has been a discussion whether to encourage the use of cell
phones as an educational tool or not. The positions are varied. Countries such as
Spain, are thinking of banning them while Italy sees them as potential aids to
enrich lessons. Many others, such as China or India, let each school decide whether
to include them or not. While the United States, among other countries, let students
check their cell phones as long as they are in silence. In Argentina, their use was
prohibited in 2016 but now this government promotes it due to the lack of
technological devices and the poor quality of internet access. Although in Buenos
Aires 2.800.000 students were given notebooks thanks to “plan conectar” created
by the “Kirchnerista government”, not all those computers are available. However,
in April 2019 there were already 4 million students connected at all educational
levels throughout the national territory and 44 percent of total state students.
According to Unicef, at least 60 percent of children use cell phones to
communicate, 80 percent have internet access and half of them are connected most
of the day.

Clearly, there are both pros and cons to students having cell phones in school.
Although they can be used as a learning tool in the classroom, this only works as
long as students use them effectively. This means for teachers who decide to use
cell phones (or any other digital device) as part of their lessons, it is important to
set ground rules and keep a close eye on how they are being used.

Students think that cell phones should not be banned and consider that they should
be included in the classroom. When students were asked about the frequency they
use their cell phones as learning tools, eighty percent pointed out that they used
them regularly to translate, as calculators and to search for meaning or spelling of
words, among other things. All of them consider cell phones useful to enrich
lessons. They mentioned Photomath, Duolingo, Geogebra, google drive and word
reference as the most useful learning applications. Most of them have used
YouTube tutorials at least once to learn different things, from a tie knot to a
Mathematical equation. Half of the students admit checking messages while
working with the cell phone which leads to distraction. 
Last year, due to the global pandemic and lockdown, students around the world
were homeschooled and digital devices were absolutely indispensable to the
learning process that turned the numbers around, which was previously in debate
or banned, in 2020 it was totally necessary to not lose a year of learning.

Taking everything into account, cell phones are a helpful resource to enhance any
lesson for many reasons; They give access to a wide range of creative and useful
applications and they can be used, not only in the classroom, but also students can
continue the learning process at home. That gives them the unlimited possibility of
learning about absolutely everything beyond the classroom. Schools are a part of
our lives, we cannot leave technology out as we use it every day and all the time.
Another reason to include these devices is that, at least in Argentina, not all
schools have enough computers for all their students or internet access, so mobile
phones are an interesting option considering that most students have one. Teachers
should look for the best way to include them, make sure students use them for the
right purpose and also encourage them to enter the fascinating world of learning by
suggesting links or applications that can widen their students’ knowledge.
Referencias
- Di Santi, Matías (24 de mayo del 2019)
https://chequeado.com/el-explicador/conectar-igualdad-los-estudios-muestran-que-las-
computadoras-mejoraron-el-aprendizaje-de-los-estudiantes/