A Systematic Review of the Educational Use of Mobile Phones in Times of COVID-19

This article aims to review what research has delved into the educational use of mobile phones during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-eight papers indexed in the Journal Citation Reports database between 2020 and 2021 were analyzed to do this. These works were categorized into the following categories: the mobile phone as part of educational innovation, improvement of results and academic performance, positive attitude towards mobile phone use in education, and risks and/or barriers to mobile phone use. The conclusions show that most teaching innovation experiences focus more on the device than the student. Beyond its innovative nature, the mobile phone became a tool to allow access and continuity of training during the pandemic, especially in post-compulsory and higher education. For this reason, a positive attitude towards using mobile phones was also found in the analyzed papers among teachers and students. Finally, limitations and risks were found that must be considered in return to the "new normality".