MobileActive.org

This paper set out to answer how schools and educators might consider using mobile phones to support effective teaching and learning opportunities by reviewing literature which explores both the negative and positive impacts of mobile phone use in the classroom.

The key findings point to a lack of informed decision making by schools on mobile phone policy. Findings suggest a wide variety of opportunities for enhancing classroom learning through the flexibility of time and place in which learning can occur and the ability to offer context based learning opportunities. The use of mobile phones have been found to be effective in building relationships particularly with more non-traditional or disengaged students. Negative aspects of mobile phone use by students include socially unacceptable behaviour, such as the serious nature of ‘txt-bullying’ as well as being a classroom distraction and having impacts on lowering literacy rates.

Mobile phone use in classrooms may still be largely the focus of research reports rather than mainstream adoption by schools yet if teachers are open-minded and begin to explore the technology that so many of their students are already bring in to the classroom there is huge potential for enabling a variety of effective learning strategies.