The Only Thing We Have to Fear is… 120 Characters

Cell phones have been banned in 69% of today’s classrooms (CommonSense, 2010). Reasons for the banning of cell phones may seem obvious—kids will misuse them to cheat, use textese in place of Standard English, cyberbully, and sexting (Brady & Conn, 2006; Johnson, 2004; Obringer & Coffey, 2007). These fears have disregarded the fact that today’s cell phones are inexpensive, mobile computing devices with a number of applications (assessments, digital images, podcasting, and internet access) that could be beneficial in the classroom. The bonus to these applications found on cell phones is that the majority of teenagers already own one and are efficient in their use. The question is, should the fears of the misuse of cell phones and the technology they provide prevent teachers from tapping into the many opportunities and benefits that cell phone use in the classroom might provide? This paper explores the current research to refute the claim that cell phones are responsible for aberrant behaviors and to explore the potential instructional benefits of cell phones in the classroom.