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Cell Phones in the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives. Dr. Kevin M. Thomas. SITE, 2012 Austin, TX. Barriers
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Cell Phones in the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives Dr. Kevin M. Thomas SITE, 2012 Austin, TX
Barriers • The most recent data on school policy regarding cell phones reveals 62% of schools have a ban on them in the classroom. This is surprising considering the dearth of empirical evidence to support such a ban. • 1st order barriers • Access/Cost • Time • Training • 2nd order barriers • School stake holder attitudes • Disruption • Texting • Sexting • Cheating • Cyberbullying Background
Benefits • Cheap (digital divide) micro-computers • Ubiquitous • Portability (A³) • Instructional • Texting • Digital Camera • Video recorder • Audio recorder • Podcasting • Geotagging • Internet access • Apps (QR codes) • Student Polling • Calculator Background
Research Questions • Do teachers support the integration of cell phones into the classroom? • If so, what classroom benefits do cell phones provide? • If not, what barriers do you perceive to allowing cell phones in the classroom? Research Questions
Attendees 101 K-12 teachers at the Imagining the Future of Learning (IFL) conference held annually at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. Participated79 (78%) participated in the study by completing the cell phone survey Gender 53 (67.1%) female and 26 (32.9%) male Grade Level 30 (38%) elementary 19 (24.1%) middle 30 (38%) school Teaching Experience 16 (20.3%) had 1-5 years’ experience, 16 (20.3%) had 6-10 years’ experience and 47 (59.5) had 11+ years’ experience teaching. All of the participants worked at schools with policies against the use of cell phones in the classroom. Participants
What was gathered? Basic demographic information Beliefs regarding the appropriateness of cell phones in the classroom Perceived benefits and barriers Development Potential barriers, benefits, and uses were identified in the review of literature on cell phones in education. All survey data was coded as categorical. Cronbach’s alpha For the survey items was = .73 suggesting that the survey is reliable because items have relatively high internal consistency. Survey
Data Analysis • Differences between teacher responses on cell phone use in the classroom based on gender, grade level, and years of experience, and if so, whether the differences were statistically significant. • Frequencies • Pearson Chi-squares • Cross tabulations • Pearson Chi-squares • Kruskal-Wallis • Data were reported as frequencies, cross tabulations, Pearson Chi-squares, and Kruskal-Wallis Chi-squares. Data Analysis
Questions 1: Do teachers support the use of cell phones in the classroom? 69.6% = Yes The Pearson Chi-square showed that the frequency pattern was statistically significant, X2 = 13.13, df = 1, p < .05. The cross tabulation showed that the association between gender and support use of cell phones in the classroom are not the same. Females support the use (74.5%) of cell phones over males (25.5%). Findings
Questions 2: What barriers to Cell Phone Use Do Teachers Perceive? Findings
Questions 3: What benefits to cell phone use do teachers see? 70% (n=56) are already using cell phones for school/class related work. Findings
Questions 3: What benefits to cell phone use do teachers see? Findings
2001 Newburg Road Louisville, KY 40205 502.272.8409 kthomas@bellarmine.edu drkthomas.wikispaces.com Kevin M. Thomas, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Bellarmine University Frazier School of Education Questions