Literature Review

Introduction

Topic
Since the start of the 21st century, technology has been evolving and growing each day in and out of schools.  The 21st century framework encompasses a variety of student outcomes and how those outcomes are going to be supported (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2011).  One outcome for learning is the use of technological skills.  One specific technological tool that has evolved in the past century has been mobile devices.  Currently, there is a debate on whether cell phones should be allowed as educational tools.  The positive and negative effects of cell phone use is examined in the articles reviewed, as well as the impact cell phones have on people.     

General Overview
Overall, research showed the benefits to using cell phones in the classroom. Many articles gave specific examples of meaningful learning opportunities with a cell phone and provided applications that can be used by students in the classroom.  None of the articles reviewed gave completely negative feelings on the use of cell phones in an educational setting.  Research showed that cell phones are more than just a piece of technology, but create an emotional tie with an individual (Carter, Thatcher, Applefield and Mcalpine, 2011).  There are many people that criticize this idea though because there has been no major research that these technological tools affect the theory of learning (Shuler, 2009).

Perspectives
There were two main perspectives that were addressed in the articles reviewed about using cell phone in schools.

Cell Phones as an Educational Tool
One of the main perspectives seen within a variety of articles was using cell phones as education tools.  One school used cell phones to implement The Video Cell Phone Project, where students were given the opportunity to learn through a video interview with an expert on a topic being studied (McNeal and van’t Hooft, 2006).  There are a variety of phone applications such as ChaCha, Poll Everywhere, TextTheMob and Google SMS that could be beneficial to student learning, as well as very engaging (Nielsen, Prensky, and Webb, 2011).   Even with the most basic mobile phone that have voice-only, they could be utilized to learn the English language or listen to lectures.  Cameras, the internet browser, text messaging, GPS and graphic displays all can be used to instruct effectively (Prensky, 2004).

Cell Phones Should Stay Out of the Classroom
On the other hand, cell phones can be seen as a distraction and a way for children to get involved in unethical behavior.  A cell phone is not part of the cultural norm in schools, therefore it has no place there. Another reason people do not agree with cell phone use in classrooms is that a phone’s characteristics can be so diverse from another phone.  Finally and most importantly, there has been no learning theory connected with mobile devices in the classroom (Shuler, 2009).

Rationale
In this review, I looked at the positive and negative aspects of the use of mobile devices as educational tools.  My goal was to examine a variety of articles that gave both pros and cons for cell phone use in the educational setting.  Most of the research seemed reliable and able to be used for this purpose.  However, Banning Cell Phones on Public School Campuses in America, had few sources and one being an anonymous source.  This raised questions on whether this particular article was very reliable and accurate with information (Johnson and Kritsonis, 2007).

Body

Kinds of Work Reviewed
Throughout my research, I reviewed a variety of scholarly articles and book excerpts on the topic of mobile devices as learning tools.  Although many of the articles briefly shared some concerns about mobile learning, the majority of articles were proponents to mobile learning within the classroom.   

Description of Important Works
What cell phones mean in young people’s daily lives and social interactions was a quantitative study that discussed the emotional impact cell phones have on young adult lives.  This study was done on 72 undergraduate students in Georgia.  During this study, researchers took away cell phones for 24 hours and many of these students were negatively affected by this.  Information and communication technology (ICTs) allow communication with family, maintain social ties with friends and help manage daily life.  Because most young people have not known a life without a cell phone, it showed how much people rely on these devices and have an emotional tie to them in their daily life (Carter, Thatcher, Applefield, and Mcalpine, 2011).  

Anywhere, Anytime: Using Mobile Phones for Learning discussed The Video Cell Phone Project, which allowed students to be reporters.  Students were given the opportunity to research a topic on their phone, watched video clips pertaining to the topic, created a variety of questions and conducted a video interview with a knowledgeable person on the topic (McNeal and van’t Hooft, 2006).

Teaching Generation Text Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning was a book that stated educators need to find the benefits to using cell phones, which are so prevalent in today’s youth.  This book sheds light into why mobile devices are powerful learning tools, especially through texting. They described easy tools to use such as ChaCha, Poll Everywhere, TextTheMob and Google SMS to use in the classroom.  If students are motivated to use cell phones on their own, they concluded educators need to take advantage of them as learning tools.  In everyday life, many children yearn to have their own cell phone.  They may think it is cool to have, fun to use, and a way to communicate socially with their friends.  Educators need to find a way to incorporate this tool and teach children the appropriate use in the classroom because students are enthralled by mobile devices.  This article showed what many educators, school leaders, and government officials worried about cell phones in classrooms, but the authors found positive uses of cell phones (Nielsen, Prensky and Webb, 2011).

What Can You Learn From a Cell Phone? Almost Anything! advocated for cell phones in educational settings and Prensky stated his opinion bluntly and cannot understand why educational leaders would not use this powerful learning tool as a motivating instructional mechanism.  One and a half billion people have a mobile device, and Prensky refers to it as a powerful computer. Even with the most basic mobile phone that does voice-only, he discussed the ways it could be utilized as well as other important features such as cameras, internet browser, text messaging, GPS and graphic displays. I agree with Prensky’s analogy that a cell phone is a computer.  Most people think about a laptop or desktop when they hear the word computer. Our society needs to see the benefits of using what is already out there to incorporate into daily learning (Prensky, 2004).

Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Learning Environment (SMILE): Using Mobile Phones to Promote Student Inquires in the Elementary Classroom was a quantitative research piece that discussed a project called the Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Learning Environment (SMILE).  This cell phone application allowed students in a fourth and fifth grade classroom to use cell phones in order to create their own questions on a topic being presented, which their peers then responded to.  This educational project encompassed the Constructivist theory, where students created their own knowledge.   The teacher was given control with this learning activity because she/he had a management application which let them view all the questions being asked on the mobile devices used.  This management application could aid as a formative assessment tool to enhance teaching and learning.  With a technological tool, there is difficulty that can always take place.  In this particular study, 6 out of the 32 students were not success with this application because of technical difficulties or difficulties understanding the program.  Nonetheless, there was positive feedback from the students that completed this pilot study and the majority saw this as an educational technological learning tool, allowing them to create effective questions on topics (Seol, Sharp, and Kim, 2011).

Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Learning discussed the opportunities, challenges and goals of mobile learning.  The United States is lagging behind a variety of other countries on student achievement.  Although this article promoted mobile devices in the classroom, it looked at both the positive and negative sides of cell phones and created goals of mobile learning.  This was a very well written article (Shuler, 2009).

Conclusion

After analyzing the work of of numerous researchers, most agreed that mobile technology should have a place in the classroom.  The United States is lagging behind a variety of other countries on student achievement.  Five specific goals for the use of cell phones in an educational setting were for people to learn about technology, develop easy to use tools for other educators, promote the positive aspects of mobile learning, prepare educators how to effectively use cell phones and stimulate other leaders on the global benefits to cell phone use in the classroom (Shuler, 2009).  By doing this, more people should see the benefits to having cell phones in the classroom.  Even with the most basic mobile phone that does voice-only, a cell phone can be utilized to learn the English language and listen to lectures.  With basic functions such as cameras, an internet browser, text messaging, GPS and graphic displays, a phone is powerful computer in your pocket (Prensky 2009).  Buying textbooks costs millions of dollars each year for school districts (Nielsen, Prensky, and Webb, 2011).  Why do schools not utilize what students already have and find ways to make cell phones into a useful, engaging, and meaningful learning device?  The 21st century is one in which technology plays a major role and an educator can make a immense impact on learning through the use of mobile devices.