Muhammad Annahar / 18202244015 1

Writing in Academic Context

Restricting Cell Phones Usage in the Classroom, Should We?

We cannot separate the use of cell phones in our daily life. We can use this compact
device to watching a movie or taking notes anytime and anywhere. In a school context, cell
phones have become a debate in our society, whether it is beneficial or even harmful. People
state that the use of cell phones should be restricted, especially in the classroom. They have a
stigma that this device will only become a distractor instead of supporting their learning
process. Contrast with the statement, many evidences show that these micro-computers hand-
held could help their learning process.
Like I mentioned before, historically, cell phones have been banned as a result of the
perception that they are disruptive (Lenhart, 2012). However it is not always true, the teacher
along with students can use cell phones as a medium for conducting an effective and efficient
learning process. Cell phones could become a medium for collaborative learning (K. M. Thomas
et al., 2013). To be able to do that, the teacher needs to know how to use cell phones as a media
to create a collaborative learning. Cell phones support collaboration through a number of
unique attributes, including mobility, applications, games, and collaborative contextual
environment (Patten, Sá nchez, & Tangney, 2006). Students can use cell phones to collaborate by
creating digital storybooks (Kolb, 2011), playing games (Reinders, 2010), or using Google Earth
(Lomas, Burke, & Page, 2008). Caballé et al. (2010) stated that cell phones can be used to
support collaboration through anywhere synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Further, students can use cell phones to communicate/collaborate with peers and teachers by
using the audio recorder, texting, and/or accessing wikis (Engstrom & Jewett, 2005).