Pros of digital devices in the classroom

● Peace of mind: Cellphones and smartphones can offer parents a little more
peace of mind when their children are at school. Parents know that in an
emergency the student can contact them, or vice versa. In addition, more and
more cellphones and smartphones contain GPS devices that can be tracked if
necessary.
● Instant answers: Access to the internet provides instant answers for the
curious. This is the search-and-learn environment kids are involved in today.
Now, when they want to know “Why do leaves change color,” they are only a
search away from an answer. This also gives students the ability to get an
answer to a question they may feel uncomfortable asking in class. If a teacher
uses a term they don’t understand, they can find the answer discretely, and
without interrupting the class.
● Wider access to information: With internet access, children can be exposed
to a world of creative ideas outside of their bubble. They can learn other
languages, teach themselves how to draw, knit, or play chess. They have
access to an endless array of options available to help them learn, and gain
skills they might not otherwise be exposed to. All of this can be accomplished
through a smartphone, which can be a valuable learning tool, if used correctly.
● Access to video: Electronic devices in the classroom can enhance the
learning experience by providing instant video access. Martin Luther King’s “I
Have a Dream” speech is not just something to read about. Man’s first step on
the moon, early flight, presidential speeches, bridges being built—they all are
made more real and easier to digest in the form of instant video availability.
● Wide range of music available: Sure, you might think of kids listening to
their pop, hip-hop, and rap music on digital devices, but remember
that all music is available. This gives students access to classical, jazz, big
band, and early rock ‘n’ roll. Students could have the opportunity to compare
and discuss the differences in these styles in a way that is familiar to them.
● Social learning: Social media can have a negative connotation when you link
it to kids. However, there can be an educational aspect. Social learning is a
great way for students to share information, thoughts, and ideas on a subject.
Properly focused, quieter, and shyer students may blossom in a social
learning situation made possible by digital devices.
● Teacher advancement: Finding ways to effectively utilize digital devices in
the classroom provides teachers with an opportunity to advance their skillset
and grow with their students. Many teachers are taking their digital literacy to
the next level by earning an MEd in Educational Technology Leadership.
 Cons of digital devices in the classroom
● Harmful effects of digital devices: There are concerns from the EPA about
long-term exposure to wireless devices and computer screens. While there is
no direct evidence of harmful effects, the EPA discourages too much
exposure for students who have video screens in front of their faces or
computers in their laps. If students frequently use these devices at home,
additional exposure at school could be viewed as harmful.
● Inappropriate materials: While schools can limit the availability of websites
that can be viewed on their network, students may find links that slipped
through the system. There will also be times that students will not be
accessing the internet through a monitored network.
● Distraction from schoolwork: With the temptation of social media and
texting in their hands, students may focus solely on their social life instead of
the lesson plan.
● Child predators: Child predators are a problem everywhere. Using digital
devices at school creates just that much more exposure and potential danger
for students.
● Cyberbulling: This is an increasing issue that’s grown exponentially in recent
years. Permitting use of digital devices in the classroom could potentially lead
to more of it.
● Provide a disconnect: While some believe digital devices make for greater
connections for students, there are also those who believe too much time with
digital devices disconnects students from face-to-face social activities, family
communications, and nature. Digital devices in the classroom could lead to an
even greater disconnect.
● Could widen the gap: Technology spending varies greatly across the nation.
Some schools have the means to address the digital divide so that all of their
students have access to technology and can improve their technological skills.
Meanwhile, other schools still struggle with their computer-to-student
ratio and/or lack the means to provide economically disadvantaged students
with loaner iPads and other devices so that they can have access to the same
tools and resources that their classmates have at school and at home.
Should schools permit digital devices?
Some school districts have seen great improvements by allowing digital
devices in the classroom. One thing is clear: if digital devices are permitted,
there should be guidelines and rules in place.
Students need to be taught online safety, the use of judgment in determining
good quality sources of information, and restraint from personal use in the
classroom. In other words, they need to learn all about digital
literacy and digital citizenship.
There are many resources for teaching these concepts, and a great place to
start is the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Their comprehensive standards focus on the skills and qualities students
should have in order to be successful in the digital world. ISTE also teamed
up with Google and developed an online digital citizenship game
called Interland. It educates kids about digital citizenship in interactive ways.
Students learn how to be good digital citizens as well as how to combat
hackers, phishers, oversharers, and bullies.
If a school is going to allow and/or encourage the use of digital devices in the
classroom, then teachers also need proper support in terms of training,
professional development, and curriculum. They can start with curriculum and
PD resources such as those provided by Common Sense Media, but in order
to fully utilize them, teachers need time to plan and collaborate. Digital
devices should only be used when there are specific goals in mind, focusing
on student safety, digital citizenship, critical thinking, collaboration,
advancement, and equity.

PROS OF CELL PHONES IN SCHOOLS:

● Easy communications: Both parents and teachers will need to stay in touch
with their children and students, so cell phones will make this communication
simple. Also students use cell phones to join peer to peer discussions which can
help them ask any thing educational during this discussion. This discussion can
be hosted on online educational social networks like Piazza.com, this network
has mobile phones apps which a student can install and join any academic
discussion using their mobile phones. In most cases, shy students find such
remote platforms useful, because they can stay anonymous and ask a question,
as opposed in a live classroom where they will fear to raise their hand to ask a
question or help from the teacher or their fellow students. Teachers can also use
text messaging service to send simple assignments to their students while at
home. Parents can easily keep track of their children using cell phones, so in
case some thing pops up during school hours, the child will just contact their
parents.
● Safety Reasons: Since cell phones are light and easy to carry, they can act as
emergence contact tools for students. Disasters are unavoidable and they
always distrust our daily activities. It is very important if a student has a
personal phone to use and contact their parents, head teachers or police in case
some thing wrong happens. Many times students get mixed up in wrong groups
while at school and they get bullied or get involved in wrong acts like drug use.
These two harmful behaviors have resulted into deaths on many students, but
when a student has a cell phone, they can call for help from their parents,
friends, teachers or the police. Child bulling is on the rise in many schools, shy
students can’t fight back, so they need to have a cell phone with them, so that
they can call for help at any time.
● Mobile Learning: It is very important for students to be in position to learn
from anywhere at any time. The education world is changing and many
scholars are attending virtual classrooms. Online education is now becoming so
popular than before, mobile phones have also helped in the growth of M-
Learning. Unlike a computer, cell phones are light and easy to carry.
Advanced cell phones like the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, have wide screens
which can display data in high resolution and they also have big storage
hardware which can be used to store electronic books. Services
like Dropbox.com and Box.com can be used to store academic notes remotely
and students can access this data anywhere. Mobile learning applications
like Piazza.com can allow teachers create virtual classroom and assign course
work to their students.
● Use cell phones as research tools: Students who do subjects which require
field work research will need cell phones while in the field. All modern cell
phones can be used to take pictures in the field, create reports using simple
word processing applications, save and submit data back to their schools. If
their school has a remote storage facility, students can easily back up their field
work notes, videos and picture on that server while in the field. Most mobile
phone service providers offer cheap internet subscription packages, so students
will find it easy to transfer data or make more extensive research online using
their cell phone.
● Improve relationship between teachers and students: Since teachers can
easily text their students course work, also students can easily ask their teachers
questions using text messaging services . During this discussion, both teachers
and students get to know each other deeply. The teacher will get to know the
weakness of their student because text massaging on cell phones is more
 personal and private. A student will feel free when communicating with their
teachers via text messaging and the teacher will have a great chance of helping
their students on a personal basis using a media familiar and comfortable to
their student.

CONS OF CELL PHONES IN SCHOOL:

● Distraction: Since today’s cell phones have more than one application,
students will always get distracted in the quest of trying to discover and try out
new cell phone applications. Female students are more likely to get distracted
by mobile applications like Pinterest.com, Facebook or twitter, then for the
male students, they can get distracted by cell phone game applications or video
streaming applications. This continuous distraction will affect a student’s
concentration in the classroom, and it can also distract other students around
them. At the end of the term these students will fail their exams because during
classroom hours they where playing games or watching youtube.com videos.
● Cheating of exams: Since student X was watching videos during classroom
hours, when it comes to exam time, they will resort to cheating. So they can
decide to scan their notes on their cell phones or use text messaging service to
cheat exams. Then some students can Google exam questions and copy
whatever they find online, and in most cases t