Smartphone at Lectures: Punish or Encourage Using It?

It’s probably hard to find someone who doesn’t have a mobile phone. Some teachers sound the alarm and insist on the law banning a cell phone at lectures. Is a mobile phone really a problem? Is it really necessary to punish students during the lecture for using such a convenient, modern information and communication tool? Or maybe the teacher should tell students how to use gadgets as learning tools? Whether students need help on their math homework, essay samples, guides for writing papers, and other material, they can get it using their mobile. As an illustration, visit domyassignments.com and get more information on how do they assist on your math homework. Let’s discuss if there are benefits of using mobile technology for lecturers.

How to Use a Smartphone with Educational Purposes?

Let’s talk about the advantages of modern gadgets. Everyone is familiar with the free app for smartphones, the WhatsApp program. This kind of online communication enhances educational potential. Using the WhatsApp application, all the members of the group can post text and audio recommendations, videos from lessons and changes, a photo report on the completed projects, plan the learning process, and discuss issues.

Luc de Clopier Vovenargue said: “Almost all-important things people do by correspondence; therefore, speaking is not enough.” A modern student is well versed in gadgets. He/she appreciates the set of features that a modern device has. Focus the student’s attention on using a mobile device right in the lesson, to show its capabilities and usefulness.

Today, almost every school and college teacher uses an interactive whiteboard in the work, demonstrating tables, charts, algorithms with its help. Using a cell phone, you can create an electronic directory. Students take pictures of useful information and keep them in separate folders for subjects. Very often, when studying new material, you need to remember a whole chain of actions. This happens as follows: the teacher shows the pattern, and the students individually or frontally – repeat it. But at home, they forget about this algorithm of work and call for help from their parents or custom academic helpers. In fact, using a feature such as a video or audio recording of an algorithm may come in handy. This is an indispensable help to the student. Also, students can write down their answers at the blackboard to self-evaluate their performance. In addition, cell phones can be a good tool for taking notes. By installing an app for taking notes, students can draw diagrams, tables and graphs easily using their cell phones.

5 Reasons Why the Ban on Cell Phones at Lecturers Is Unreasonable

A famous American teacher Michael Soskil encourages you to think about the rules that prohibit the use of smartphones at lecturers.

1. If you prepare students for adult life, then you must allow them to use those tools that in the future will become part of their daily lives. Using a smartphone makes it easier to work in almost all specialties. By the time students acquire a profession, the need to use mobile technology will be even stronger. Not to prepare students for this is a serious omission.
2. At a time when some educational establishments are facing budget cuts, the use of easily accessible mobile technology is logical. How many schools and colleges indicate a lack of funds as a reason why they do not use modern teaching technology? The solution to the problem is possible for free because the tools of modern mobile information technology are in most students’ pockets.
3. Mobile devices are great for gaining the knowledge and skills of the 21st century. If you want to engage students in collaboration, what could be a more effective tool than a telephone? Video conferencing, regardless of distance, is easy. One of the main arguments against using the phone in school/college is that students can easily cheat. Teachers must get used to the fact that students should not know “the full amount of educational material.” Most teachers mistakenly believe that only then students will be able to learn how to use this material. Often students work together to find a solution to a learning problem and it’s very helpful as they learn how to work in a group.

This should be encouraged, not considered “fraud.” The policy of banning cell phones is short-sighted. When the children threw cribs to each other, no one was going to ban the paper.

1. You must teach children to be responsible for using mobile technology. Keeping students safe by protecting them from mobile technology is irresponsible. Students use mobile phones, whether you ban them at school/college or not. They communicate, send photos to each other, use social media and social networks, and consume information. The task of a good teacher is to teach them how to protect themselves from mistakes that they might make.
2. They can use mobile as a dictionary. Dictionary is one of the most required learning tools for every student. Every student must have installed a good dictionary on his or her mobile phone. Any time they see any difficult word they can search for the meaning, part of speech and how the word is used inside sentences. In addition, talking dictionary will help students to learn accurate pronunciation of words and they learn to pronounce the words correctly. For instance, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is not only developed for language learning, but also it contains the features like: speaking and writing tools, iWriter, express yourself notes teaching tools, videos and activity worksheets, lesson plan and many more features that can help students in overall study environment.

Students should understand that mobile technology will accompany them for many decades, and if not done right, can harm them. Dangers and traps using mobile devices do not go away. What do you think of using technologies such as mobile phones as a learning tools during a lecture in a classroom, will it benefit them or no. Please feel free the pros and cons of this using the comment section below.