Technology devices such as laptops, cell phones, and many more are not just becoming a huge part of our everyday thing, but is also being accepted in classrooms worldwide. And with that the issue comes to mind, is it right to have students use technology devices in class, is it ethical, is it right, and as technology advances everywhere shouldn’t classrooms as well too? And many more, which brings me to the big question, “Does laptop and smartphone devices improve academic skills?”. So with that, there are going to be lots of pros and cons opinions to answer this question.
For example, people that are going against it (cons) suggest that schools should ban both phones and laptops in class because of how distracting it is for it’s students. Then as for the people who agree and are with it (pros) suggest that with technology devices (laptops, phones, etc.) can help benefit every student from research purposes to developing technical skills for their future careers in technology. To sum up, why this issue and question is important is because, this depends if schools should be changed for the future generations and if it’s right, also this talking about schools around the world as well.
The first topic that should be discussed is that, “Do you think that it’s ethical to have students with the ability to use phones/laptops in class?”. And from sources such as “Choices/Current Health” in an article called, “Should Schools Ban Cell Phones? You Feel Lost without Your Phone, but Many Teachers Think It’s a Classroom Distraction. Should You Be Forced to Leave It at Home?” it states that, “it’s not unusual to find a sea of students ignoring each other because they’re mesmerized by their phones”, and, “A phone ban could also improve our academic abilities.
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When we’re glued to our phones during class, we’re obviously not paying close attention to the teacher”. This shows that students nowadays focus too much on their phones to the point that it distracts us from important things such as school lessons, which also affects student’s social skills and up to students being able to understand the lesson and actually do their work. However it then states that, “For example, smartphones come with plenty of features that teens can turn to in order to improve their studies. I use an app that helps walk me through confusing math equations’.
This shows that, phones aren’t as useless as some teachers think they are, and instead could provide extra help for students who don’t understand a topic which is common with apps any student could find online. To sum up, sure sometimes cell phones are distracting for students in class, but however it could be that “extra step” or help that students need from understanding a hard topic in math they just learned to studying for a test, but also a bonus to think about is that students can do they anytime, anywhere with mobile technology.
The next topic is that should be discussed is that, what some pros and cons are talking about and their perspective, however I am going to be talking about the cons opinion first. There are a lot of options and perspectives that cons people have, however there was something interesting in a book a I reading called, “Electronic Devices in Schools”. It states that, He describes ways that laptops can be distracting…Snyder believes that students should learn from the spoken word”, and that students get way too distracted and can’t resist going on their YouTube, Instagram, or FaceBook, etc..
This shows that as I said, technical devices such as laptops can be very distracting for students with the students not paying attention to the teacher at all, this includes cell phones too, and I also know this because my Ap seminar class has the same problem but was solved with a technical software! To conclude, both cell phones and laptops are too distracting for students for a classroom environment, especially when connected to Internet, and can’t simply resist.
Then as for the last topic is an opinion from the pros side of the situation. I found an interesting article called, “THE USE of INTERNET by UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS in SELECTED UNIVERSITIES in NIGERIA.’, which as you can see talks about the technological impact in Nigeria. It states that, “Due to increase in world population and globalization, higher education is growing amazingly at a tremendous pace in Nigeria and other countries and the world at large has witnessed rapid growth in their educational sector’, and, “that the Internet provides wide range opportunities for easy access to relevant and current literature, wide range of instruments, online opportunity for validation of instrument, simulation of an on-going research, and so on’.
This shows that, as the world around is advancing so should they, and that having access to the internet has been an amazing benefit for students, even college students, and all around Nigeria with it’s vast and worldwide information becoming available for many people and to benefit the country a lot. To sum up, just students having access to internet have provided not just tons and tons of information but an amazing change in education for the country as said, and this change in education for advancements in classroom isn’t just talking about classroom in the U.S. but the world as well.
To conclude this discussion as a whole, there a many perspectives and opinions about if technology should be accepted into classrooms now as the world is advancing closer and closer to a technical world. With that being said, based on the the articles and research, I believe in my opinion that technology should be accepted into classrooms with many benefits that outweigh the cons of the discussion. A few examples is that students could use educational apps to help study before an important test, and students can focus and learn in a new generation of technical careers for students.
However I can’t just ignore the cons, so I believe that sure these cons could and would happen, but that’s why we need them to get used to having laptops and cell phones in class without using them to goof off or go on social media. In conclusion, technology devices such as laptops, cell phones, etc. should be apart of classrooms as a whole now, but as the cons go, it depends on how we represent and introduce technology to students as they now become a new generation that will revolve around technology, and hope to get amazing careers out of the experience so that they help benefit this world of technology as well.
Work Cited
- ‘Should Schools Ban Cell Phones? You Feel Lost without Your Phone, but Many Teachers Think It’s a Classroom Distraction. Should You Be Forced to Leave It at Home?’ Choices/Current Health, vol. 34, no. 4, Jan. 2019, p. 2+. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A567634038/GPS?u=lausdnet&sid=GPS&xid=9f7ad03d. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.
- Willis, Laurie, editor. Electronic Devices in Schools. Greenhaven Publishing, 2012. Issues That Concern You. ‘THE USE of INTERNET by UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS in SELECTED UNIVERSITIES in NIGERIA.’ Global Media Journal, vol. 5, 31 Dec. 2012. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A319129799/GPS?u=lausdnet&sid=GPS&xid=2e739b0b. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019
