English Essay: Analyzing Cellphone Impact in University Classrooms

This essay delves into the multifaceted impact of cellphones in the classroom, acknowledging the increasing prevalence of mobile devices among students. It investigates the potential benefits, such as access to educational apps, language learning tools, instant computations, and online resources, while also addressing the drawbacks like distractions, opportunities for cheating, and potential health concerns related to radiation exposure. The essay highlights how cellphones can facilitate deeper class discussions, supplement lessons, and provide easy access to information, while also acknowledging the potential for misuse and disruption. The author references several studies to support the arguments, ultimately concluding that the effectiveness of cellphones in the classroom hinges on responsible utilization and controlled access to minimize distractions and maximize learning outcomes. The essay emphasizes that the direction of device utilization determines its feasibility and there is no clear distinction between the advantages and the disadvantages of cellphones in a classroom.

Running head: ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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The question of whether or not cellphones are useful in the classroom is highly dependent
on the type of usage it finds in a classroom scenario. As technology progresses, more and more
students have started bringing their mobile devices into the classroom. As this trend is on the
rise, many people have begun questioning whether the assistance of mobile devices in the
classroom could prove beneficial for the students. This essay will look into the effectiveness and
the distractions which the devices could provide in a classroom setting and thereby attempt to
scale the advantages and the disadvantages of using cellphones in the classroom.
Mobile devices especially cell phones can be used beneficially in the classroom in some
of the following ways. The first could be to use educational learning apps, which could let the
students access tools which could help them stay ahead of their class work (Thomas, O’Bannon
& Bolton, 2013) and could also be used to teach the students to develop time management and
organizational skills. Cellphones can find significant importance in a language classroom where
a lot of the teaching and learning materials can be accessed on the mobile device (Baker, Lusk &
Neuhauser, 2012). Furthermore, the abundance of educational learning apps as mentioned above
also contributes towards practising more exercises and gaining better insight about the target
language (Dooly, 2018). Besides, even in science and technology classrooms, using a cellphone
can prove to be a serious advantages by providing instant access to instant computations. The
second could be incorporating social media into class work which could encourage them to
participate in deeper discussions. The third could be supplementing lessons with online material
that could be shared amongst the students on their phones (Thomas, O’Bannon & Bolton, 2013).
Cell phones could also give students easy access to information on the web. Furthermore,
cellphones can also become an effective medium of note taking and in a more contemporary
setting where smartphones are becoming excessively smart by easily providing access to modern

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technologies like smart scanning (scan an image or a text to immediately find search results or
take a snapshot), and voice assisted writing (which can convert speech to text) as well as a
variety of authorised apps like google lens and google translate which can also make education
significantly easier (Brown & Hocutt, 2015). Furthermore, reading and writing apps like Acrobat
Reader or Word are also receiving collaborations with cloud storage platforms like Dropbox
which is making studying and accessing materials all the more easy and versatile while also
making working on the movement a possible objective to accomplish.
However there are several drawbacks which could be drawn from this provision. The
opportunity for cheating, and other distractions like unsolicited use of social media, gaming and
browsing inappropriate content could increase in such situations disrupting the teaching –
learning process (Maphalala & Nzama, 2014). Firstly, a cellphone can become the potential
cause for disturbance and distraction in the classroom. Secondly, even though a cellphone can
potentially become the new textbook / notebook, there are complications with that as well. Given
the opportunities of distraction are very high, it is debatable how many students actually benefit
from the utilisation of smartphones in class. Cellphones can also become a medium for cheating
where the students might engage in exchanging text messages without the teachers knowing.
Besides, there are more causes for concern especially where the cellphones can be used for
inappropriate and unsolicited purposes. A restriction of age therefore needs to be put in such
situations (Mittal, 2014).
A question therefore arises nonetheless where the use of cellphones are heavily put under
question and rightfully so. McCoy (2013) has attributed a lot of disturbances in classroom
learning to be caused by the use of digital devices for non – classroom purposes. In a study, he
has highlighted that the average American university student uses a smartphone about 10.93

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times for non – classroom purposes in a typical classroom activity day. Non classroom purposes
included a range of activities like texting, social networking, emailing, playing games and
browsing videos on YouTube (McCoy, 2013). Other researchers have also indicated that because
of the short term effects of using smartphones in classroom, there are several long term
implications of the process that range from a steady decline in classroom attention and
concentration to lack of motivation to study. Baker, Lusk & Neuhauser (2012) have also
identified that since the use of digital technology like smartphones are much more prominent
among the younger generation that the generation of the teachers and the professors, a lot of the
faculty members find it very disturbing and distracting as well. Finally, there is the most
common disadvantage of harmful cellphone radiations, prolonged exposure to which can be a
cause for several physiological disorders like migraine, nausea and vomiting to stress and
extended fatigue.
Therefore, in conclusion, even though there are difficulties which could come along with
allowing usage of cell phones in classrooms, the benefits could not be looked over. The students
could access much more information than available in their text books. However this access
should be controlled in order decrease the drawbacks which come along with it. There is no clear
cut distinction between the advantages and the disadvantages of cellphones in a classroom. The
direction of utilisation of the device will determine its feasibility.

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References
Baker, W. M., Lusk, E. J., & Neuhauser, K. L. (2012). On the use of cell phones and other
electronic devices in the classroom: Evidence from a survey of faculty and
students. Journal of Education for Business, 87(5), 275-289.
Brown, M. E., & Hocutt, D. L. (2015). Learning to use, useful for learning: a usability study of
Google apps for education. Journal of Usability Studies, 10(4), 160-181.
Dooly, M. (2018). I do which the question”: Students’ innovative use of technology resources in
the language classroom. Language Learning & Technology, 22(1), 184-217.
Maphalala, M. C., & Nzama, M. V. (2014). The proliferation of cell phones in high schools: The
implications for the teaching and learning process. Mediterranean Journal of Social
Sciences, 5(3), 461.
McCoy, B. (2013). Digital distractions in the classroom: Student classroom use of digital devices
for non-class related purposes. Journal of Media Education.
Mittal, R. (2014). Use of cell phones in classroom teaching: Boon or bane. International Journal
of Research, 1(8), 1253-1257.
Thomas, K. M., O’Bannon, B. W., & Bolton, N. (2013). Cell phones in the classroom: Teachers’
perspectives of inclusion, benefits, and barriers. Computers in the Schools, 30(4), 295-
308.