Twenty-six percent of Americans get news on their cell phones, according to “Writing and Reporting the News” by Carole Rich.
Considering that convenient Internet technology on mobile devices such as tablets, laptops and smart phones is a young creation, this statistic is amazing. The way people receive information has been changing for a long time. It is blatant that mobile Internet technology is one of the supreme contributors to this change as well as one of the greatest piece’s of technology ever created.
Personally I read all my news on the Internet, either on my phone or laptop, and it’s not that I don’t enjoy reading the paper or a book. It is just that reading news or finding information on the Internet is more engaging. You can research the topic more conveniently as the tools to do so are in your hand. It makes discussing the topic much easier as well as more dynamic. So why do teachers oppose mobile electronic use in the classroom?
Students should be allowed near open electronics use in the classroom, albeit under certain circumstances. Obviously off topic electronic use should be prohibited and during exams electronics should be put away, but is it so ridiculous to think that using a mobile device in class during a lecture could be a great thing?
Most classes and lectures include a discussion. These open talks and debates are my favorite part of every class. It pushes students to express how they feel on the subject, as well as get different perspectives for a broader understanding.
I have been lucky enough to take multiple classes in my college career that have included lots of open discussion, but by far my favorite was a JAMM class I took my sophomore year. The teacher was open to us using computers to gather information when we would have discussions.
It created a world of opportunities. Fellow students could easily pull up statistics they needed, find articles supporting their ideas and find citations to make their conversation more credible. It wasn’t some crutch we used when we couldn’t think of ideas, instead it was a learning tool just like having a textbook on hand. The only difference is that you have endless sources to choose from.
I am not saying that all teachers oppose the use of electronics, because some do embrace it and I commend them for it. I am merely bringing light to the idea that access to these widespread electronic resources helps in the educational system.
I acknowledge the argument can be made that there is nothing to stop numerous students from abusing these privileges.
However if the class properly engages students enough, thoughtful discussion will take the place of petty entertainment.
Allowing students to use these mobile tools during discussion will help students get more involved as the information they are finding will help provide and build confidence to speak up. I have experienced this in classes where I lack of confidence to voice my thoughts, because I felt I did not have enough evidence to support my argument. However, after class I realized that all the information I needed was a couple clicks away, sitting on the desk behind me, turned off.
Students are paying a lot of money to learn and – hopefully – most of us realize we are lucky enough to get this opportunity to receive a post secondary education. We should not exclude a learning tool that will benefit the vast majority of students due to the poor decisions of a few.
Judd Sempel can be reached at [email protected]