Article: web.b.ebscohost.com.vmiezproxy.vmi.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=b45b177b-55c8-4762-b707-4388907dee1c%40pdc-v-sessmgr04
The scholarship I am recommending to Mrs. Diette is a position paper on the use of phones in the classroom published by Jennifer Cassidy. Despite the use of iPads, laptops, and chrome books readily available to most students nowadays, Cassidy recommends that mobile devices should be added into the mix in order to “place learning in the student’s hands.”
Drawing on a study from 2017 on the misuse of phones in the classroom, Cassidy puts the blame on the teachers. She claims that an instructor’s behavior directly impacts inappropriate cell phone use in the classroom. If a teacher fails to keep the students engaged in the activity, students feel an increasing need to reach for their phones due to boredom. Since students already want to reach for their phones in class, Cassidy claims that teachers can capitalize on the opportunity and use it to their advantage, stating that “the use of texting or social media in the curriculum should be viewed as an opportunity to engage students, not something to ban.”
We are in an increasing technological world, and cell phones are capable of doing much more than they were able to just a few short years ago. Cassidy postulates an opportunity for teachers to reach students through a more familiar mode, and comes to the conclusion that teachers will be able to reach more students of different learning styles. Her argument is well researched and raises important questions in the educational community; should we get rid of the stigma behind cell phone use in the classroom? Her argument is very convincing, and the research she has done is extremely valuable for Mrs. Diette’s 8th graders at Maury River Middle School. Kirk and I have recognized that a majority of the students have an issue staying engaged in class, and the laptops they currently have do not seem to benefit them, Perhaps a more familiar form of technology would allow teachers to reach students better, and keep them motivated during the class periods.