USING MOBILE PHONE IN ENGLISH TEACHING

Mobile Phones And Student Learning In Secondary Schools

Article by Elizabeth Hartnell-Young
Nadja Heym

Paraphrase of this article:

This article is adapted from a report produced by the University of Nottingham for Becta, an agency of Britain's Department for Children, Schools and Families. Dr Hartnell-Young is Group Manager, Research Branch, Education Policy and Research Division, DEECD Victoria, and has worked as a Research Fellow at the Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Nottingham. Nadja Heym is a postgraduate student at the University of Nottingham.

Actually Mobile phones is a tools of communication, not only for communication but also it has many function of the activity of life such as take a picture, make a video, play games  and etc. that is general function of the mobile phones. In Britain, for example Many of teenager are said to have mobile phones. (Mobile Life Youth Report, 2006).

The developing of technological capacities of mobile phones used for educational purpose. That is specific function of the mobile phones. Now, “ smart phones” can use to view a PDFs, and possess additional features such as a stopwatch and a GPS, and etc. but according to some school, mobile phone is useless for educational. A research project undertaken by the University of Nottingham has explored the use of mobile phones to support secondary students' learning. The study, conducted over nine months in 2007–08, involved 10 secondary teachers based in two individual schools and one cluster of three schools, in different areas of the country. It also involved over 300 of their middle and senior secondary students, selected by the teachers. The teachers chose the activities and the extent of participation for each group of students.

Using mobile phones also prohibited in the classroom, but sometime may to use for  students were allowed various levels of personal use such as receive important class for their parents.

The teacher and students realized that the mobile phones is very useful in daily life, it had improved  their communication of each other. For example, students could sent massage to the teacher  if they got the problem of learned. Many of student feel surprised that the mobile phones was successfully used for learning, and they enjoy to use mobile phones as a educational tools.

Sometime, some parents didn’t agree with this project, but they were invited to join in this project. In order they know what the real purpose of this project.

Early in the project, the students showing that it has two functions  in educational namely positive function ( for school life) and negative function ( social life).

References :

http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/mobile_phones_and_student_learning_in_secondary_sc,28526.html?issueID=11897