By Leah Holliday
Everyone has seen the commercials where parents are talking to their children, but the kids are too preoccupied with their phones to even hear the parents. Though it is hard to admit it, it is absolutely true.
In class, students have a difficult time paying attention. Why not incorporate cell phones, which can keep our attention, into class while making it educational? There are so many ways to use cell phones in an educational environment. Polleverywhere.com is a web site that allows someone to make and send a poll, an alert or any of the other things it offers to selected people.
With this teachers can have their students participate more in class. This would reduce the amount of students that fall asleep in class. Students will also be able to retain more information because they will have something to link their knowledge, to so drawing it from their memory will be easier.
With all the applications on any phone, there are already added benefits that can be used in a classroom setting. When a student forgets their calculator at home, their phone can serve as another calculator. If presenting something to the class, students have the ability to record or take pictures in order to aid memory.
While attending a field trip, students can document the events or important things that are observed. This can be used to create artistic projects reflecting on the trip.
Internet access can provide students with research for in class projects instead of having to wait for a day when it is possible to go to the computer lab or get laptops into the class rooms.
Every single teenager I know could use a dictionary. If we had instant dictionaries in our hands then we would not have to waste time in order to look up words, and the papers that teachers grade will not have as many errors, resulting in not as many points deducted from assignments.
It is understandable that teachers fear students using the devices to cheat, but rules can be made to compensate for this. For example, teachers could make each student take out their cell phone before a test and turn it off, while keeping it on their desk for the entirety of the test. Then teachers could monitor the phones instead of assuming that we are using them.
If teachers want the best for their students, then we should be allowed to use the technology available to use for our benefit is class. This is the 21st century and technology is made to be used.