Smartphones in the classroom : evaluating the effects of incorporating smartphones to aide in student comprehension

Abstract

Over the past ten years I have seen the evolution of the cell phone taking place. I watched the demand for cells phones grow from a few students having them in my class to every student in my classes having a smart phone. You will see students taking selfies or checking Facebook on a regular basis. I set up rules requiring them to put their phones in a box at the beginning of class, but this only worked for a short amount of time. I decided to incorporate their phone use into my lessons with hopes that this would alleviate the constant war that has developed in my classroom. We used the smartphones to take tests on test banks that I made on Kahoot, and Quizlet. My primary action research challenge was 'How can I incorporate cell phones to aide in student comprehension.' I was curious to know whether my students would do better on tests if they used their smartphones to take them. My research questions were: 1) What effects will the use of smartphones have on test scores? 2) Does the use of smartphones change student attitudes towards taking tests? 3) Will the use of smartphones help student comprehension?