Using Smartphones at class? Why not?!
by Balqist Hamada
Submitted for Final exam
UIN MALANG
The innovation in technology always emerges every year, especially
in communication sector. One example of the innovation in the field of
communication is smartphone. A smartphone is an integrated device with mobile telephone
technology and the ability to access the internet (Song). In this
century, Smartphones become something mandatory for everyone. They assume that
there are so many things that can be done only by a smartphone, such as
communicating, counting, searching information and so on (Timbowo, 2016). The
users of the smartphonesi itself are varies, for instance, office employees,
teachers, students, and etc. However, a research
conducted by Kibona and Rugina (2013) showed that the majority of the
smartphones’ users are students and the number of it always goes up every year.
Different from the past, recently the pupils use their smartphones openly and
discreetly as well. Some of the teachers allow that attitude because they
believe it can support teaching and learning activities. For instance, students
are able to access the Internet for reading e-books, sharing
information, and translating (Irwanto, 2017). Due to its positive sides in
facilitating students in learning, therefore using smartphones at class should
not be banned.
For most students, having a smartphone is something mandatory. They
consider that by using smartphones they can communicate and receive information
instantly and supports them in education as well (Daeng, 2017). With the
presence of sophisticated and unique applications provided by smartphones,
students are much helped in learning affairs. For instance, smartphones can
help students in learning English by using English dictionary, English idioms,
and so on (Barakati, 2013). Those applications are capable to make students
work faster because they do not need to open a traditional dictionary manually
that will take much time. Moreover, students may minimalize their grammatical
errors on their essays or papers as well by using grammatical error applications.
Besides those applications that can be downloaded freely through Play Store,
there is a feature which is already embedded in the smartphones. That feature
can be used for learning English too. It is Mp3 Player. Barakati claims that
Mp3 Player features are able to assist students in listening practice (2013).
From those evidence that have mentioned, it is clear that smartphones are able
to support students in studying more effectively and efficiently.
According to Kennedy and Krause (2007), some of the pupils become
frustrated and bored with school rapidly. For this reason, providing teachers
who have skills and knowledge to use ICT (information communication technology) effectively in class is a must. It means that although most of the
teachers do not belong to the ‘digital natives’ generation, the teachers have
to be able to be familiar with technology and integrate it with education
(Prensky, 2001). By integrating them, a research found that the teachers also
feel the positive impacts. For instance, the students can use camera features
on their smartphone to help them capture the materials without writing manually
which takes much time. Thus, the teacher can save the time and go to the next
materials. Furthermore, some of the teachers feel helpful with the presence of
social media that can be accessed through students’ smartphones. Here, the teachers ask their pupils via smartphone to review or
check the grammatical errors of their idol’s caption on Instagram or
their idol’s posts on Facebook. By using this attractive method, the
students are able to improve their proficiency in term of language unconsciously (Nurhayati,
2016).
Apart from its good sides, smartphones also bring bad sides for the
students. A research by Campbell (2006) showed that the ringing of the phone
during class considered as a serious source of irritation and distraction for
other students. However, this kind of problems
actually can be solved by applying silent mode on their phones. Thus, it will
not ring and distract the class anymore. Another opposition to the idea of
using smartphones at class is that sometimes students use their phone
for non-class purposes. For instance, they prefer texting, social networking
and emailing instead of accessing information that related to the materials (McCoy, 2013). The students did so to fight
boredom, entertain themselves, and stay connected to the outside world. This
behavior caused them to pay less attention in the classroom and miss
instruction. The alternative to surmount this matter is that the teachers can
invite them to play an educational game that will attract their pupils. Besides
that, Supriadi (2014) states, the teachers may give punishment, however, the
punishment must have pedagogical value. It means that the punishments have to
be able to motivate students not to repeat their bad behavior anymore.
The available evidence clearly lead to the
conclusion that using of smartphones during the class should not be prohibited because
of its ability to facilitate the teaching and learning process. For instance,
students can use cameras on their smartphones to capture the teacher materials.
Thus, they do not need to write manually which
is wasting time. However, sometimes the students use their smartphone for non-class
purposes such as texting or social networking instead of accessing information
that related to the materials. To solve this matter, the teacher can reprimand
the student or even gives a punishment that has pedagogical value. Thus, they
will not repeat their behavior anymore.
References
Barakati, D. P. (2013). Dampak
Penggunaan Smartphone dalam Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris (Persepsi Mahasiswa).
Manado: Universitas Sam Ratulangi. Retrieved from ejournal.unsrat.ac.id/index.php/jefs/article/download/1820/1431
Campbell, S.
(2006). Perceptions of mobile phone in college classrooms: Ringing, cheating,
and classroom policies. Communication Education. Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.bing.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1070&context=journalismfacpub
Daeng, I.T.M., N. M. (2017). Penggunaan
Smartphone Dalam Menunjang Aktivitas Perkuliahan Oleh Mahasiswa Fispol Unsrat
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dalam Pembelajaran Kimia SMA. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323003380
Kennedy, G.
& Krause, K-L.(2007) Educating the net generation: Implications for
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and Mass Communications. Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.bing.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1070&context=journalismfacpub
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