PHONES AS A CLASS DISRUPTION TOOL

I have this friend whose school prohibits the use of phones during classes. In fsct, you can't even take a phone to class. The only exception was that students used tablets or iPad. Not any device with a small screen. According to this friend, the reason for this law was that phones posed a distraction to students in class, but because they needed devices to aid learning, the iPad served as replacement. With iPad and tablets, it was difficult to deviate from the course of learning or go wandering around on the device.

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As students, we are allowed to bring our gadgets to class. Today, as an instance, our lecture/project required thar we scan a code on our lecturers system. The code would thereon lead us through to a link from where we would fill out a form and then gain access to certain materials. There was no other way that we could have gone about that project(which each student was to submit on/before Sunday) without our phones. Imagine being disallowed from taking phones to class.

Then again, some lecturers work with digital textbooks, which are way cheaper than hardcopy, and students are expected to use the materials during class. Not to forget that using devices helps to make research easier during classes.

However, by a larger mile, smartphones are more of a distraction in the classroom than they are helpful.

On a smartphone, even if students are trying not to be distracted, notifications, emails, texts from friends, etc. are liable to pop up and serve as a distraction, even if the student does not open it.
Honestly, if you've been waiting on a text or a notification of sorts and it comes in during class, it can be distracting. Students and young people face this connection(you could call it an addiction even) with their phones that are difficult to wrestle off. From making a Google search, they're off to reply just one message, and before you know it, they're hooked.

While phones are a good classroom tool, I think there should be regulations around its use during lesson hours.

Somehow, I think that students should use mobile phones to supplement lessons after school. During lesson hours, it's important thar students pay attention in class and consult their teachers in areas where they experience doubt and difficulty rather than refer to their phones.

Truth be told, students who are not sincere toward their studies, if allowed to use mobile inside the classroom, will surf the internet to look for everything, except study related material.

A cell phone can easily turn from a classroom learning tool into a classroom disruption tool. When students use their cell phones to check social media and text their friends in class, it leads to distractions for those students as well as for their peers. Phones can be a helpful learning tool in class and as much as I have no qualms with students using them in schools, I don't support their usage during lesson hours as they disrupt the teaching and learning process.

Moreover, students are in school to learn, be interactive, and sharpen their minds and knowledge. Using AI for tests and all only makes them dependant, thereby carrying out less and less intensive study to truly know. I think that using phones does alter their learning process and capabilities. Regulating its usage should work.

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