Smartphones - Research Paper Example

Use of Smartphones in Education The mobile industry plays a big role in digitization of the education system all over theworld. Initially colleges, universities, and various schools discouraged the use of mobile phones in the learning centers. Currently, the trend has changed, and instructors and teachers are encouraging students to have Smartphones for connectivity. There are various uses of Smartphones in schools such as connectivity of students and tutors, issuing of assignments, e-learning, and many others.

According to Hingorani and others, connectivity is a vital thing for students and other stakeholders in the education sector (Hingorani, Kamal, Woodard Donald, and Askari-Danesh 33). Smartphones assist students in the universities and colleges to connect to their instructors in various activities such as giving assignments and rescheduling classes. Statistics shows that Smartphone are essential devices and contribute positively to the lives of students. 53% of the phone uses are at the age of 18-24 years while 63% of the users are at the age of 25 to 34 years in the USA (33).

Although Smartphones are very useful in academic institutions, they can also be harmful to schools especially during exam periods. Some of the harmful effects of students having Smartphones in schools especially Universities are cheating in exams, texting when instructors are in class and disturbances when they ring. There are several advantages of using mobile phones in the class by the students and teachers such as connectivity enhancement. Tutors and instructors can give assignments to students through the internet without the necessity of physical contact.

Students do not need to visit the library to search for items as they can use the internet, which enhances their studies. According to Hingorani and others, students who do not have Smartphones experience some fear known as Nomophobia especially in the universities (35). There is increased usage of mobile phones by the youth aged between 18 and 35 years with most of them preferring Smartphones compared to other types of phones (36). As the students, advance their academic levels, their usage of mobile phones increases.

Mobile phones have many accessories making their usage have a wide diversity in terms of its uses such as calculators, navigators, and maps, which are very useful to students and instructors (36). Students normally utilize Smartphones in performing most of the class work such as calculations, studying maps, and downloading lecturers’ notes.There are many other services in the universities that require students to use digital gadgets such as Smartphones. The services include the online libraries, students online registration, and e-learning (Hingorani, Kamal, Woodard, Donald and Askari-Danesh (36).

Some Smartphones have stopwatches that help the learner to carry out scientific experiments without the necessity of carrying a real stopwatch in the lab. Students can also record explanations during lectures to help during future revisions of the topics. Some exercises such as mathematics have many diagrams and formulas, and instructors may prefer using the mobile phones to send scanned and photographed assignments to students via the internet. The instructor needs to take photos of the assignment, post it on the school website, and request the students to download the material.

In conclusion, the growth of the mobile phone industry is a blessing to the education sector all over the world. The phones help to save time and reduce the students workload especially the science and mathematics student with diagrams and formulae. Smartphones assist students in the universities and colleges to connect to their instructors in various activities such as giving assignments and rescheduling classes. There are many other services in the universities that require students to use digital gadgets such as Smartphones to access services such as the online libraries, students online registration, and e-learning.

Works CitedHingorani, Kamal, Woodard, Donald and Askari-DaneshNasrin. “Exploring How Smartphones Support Students’ Lives.”Issues in Information Systems. 2012. 13(2): 33-40 pdf