Robert Godwin-Jones, Ph.D., is Professor of World Languages and International Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and past Director of the English Language Program there. He writes a regular column for the journal Language Learning & Technology on emerging technologies. In this final post of a series of 4, Robert gives some advice on best practice when using mobile devices in the language classroom. Read Robert’s previous posts on making the case for using mobile devices in the classroom, getting started with technology and how this affects language skills.
Facing the fear
Here is 1 perspective on mobile device use in the classroom, from an ESL teacher:
“Smartphones are here to stay. For English teachers, that means we need to either ban iPhones, Androids, Blackberries and whatever next flavor arrives – or – we have to learn how to incorporate the use of smartphones into our routine. I’ve discovered that just ignoring their use in class doesn’t help. After all, I am an English teacher trying to encourage my students to communicate in the English language.” (Beare, 2017).
Other teachers and school administrators may feel quite differently, viewing student phone use in the classroom as harmful to learning, as it distracts the student using the device, as well as possibly those nearby. The fear is that students will not be using the phones in ways that relate to the work being done in class, but rather will be texting friends and checking Facebook. This fear is widespread. Studies have shown that students are very much aware of the distraction factor and are amenable to finding a workable set of guidelines.
Practical solutions
One practical option is for students to place their phones into ‘flight’ mode during class or to use the ‘do not disturb’ setting. The latter has the advantage of allowing emergency contact by designated family members or friends. In any case, it’s advisable to have a clearly set out policy for when mobile phones are to be used. Having student phones on and available at all times during the lesson is likely not optimal. As discussed here, best practices in mobile use for language learning indicate that they be used in short periods of time, with follow-up activities built around information generated by the mobile use, but no longer needing mobile access.
Students continuously using their phones in class may be a signal to the teacher regarding the class environment. In a classroom in which students are fully engaged in the learning at hand, there are likely to be fewer bored or distracted students. In communicative language learning, we expect students to be using the language actively as much as possible, collaborating and communicating among themselves, not listening to the teacher lecture. In that sense, introducing mobile devices as a new teaching and learning tool follows this instructional pattern, with the teacher as guide and facilitator. The variety of activities possible through mobiles aligns with the recommendations from researchers to provide a wide range of classroom activities catering to different learning styles (Oxford, 2003). The fact that mobile device use can address a variety of student learning styles points to the flexibility and versatility in their use in language learning.
The importance of training
It is undeniably the case, however, that even language teachers who have accustomed themselves to relegate more responsibility and authority to students for learning, may still feel uneasy about introducing mobile devices into the classroom and relinquishing even more control. Teachers should not be expected to integrate mobiles into their teaching without sufficient training. Teacher training is most effective if it targets the specific context in which teachers work. How mobiles are going to be used depends on the instructional goals, students’ proficiency levels, and the ages of the learners. The local context may provide little individual leeway for teachers, as there may be curricular mandates in place or specific classroom guidelines that make mobile use problematic. An important starting point is to ensure that teachers and students understand institutional policies, if any, in place regarding mobile use in class. Having a clearly articulated, widely understood, and universally implemented mobile use policy leads students to anticipate expectations in each of their classes. This helps both students and teachers, whilst lessening the probability of classroom clashes over phone use.
Teachers are well advised to start small, using devices initially for familiar classroom tasks, perhaps using activities outlined here and by others. As confidence increases, teachers will find new ways to use the technology that fit their own curricular needs and student proficiency/interest levels. Eventually, they may find that mobile devices offer an optimal vehicle for bridging the gap between classroom and out of school learning. While teachers may start doing with mobile technology what they have always done, they are likely to find many more opportunities exist for motivating and empowering student learning, inside and outside the classroom.
Find out more by downloading the free whitepaper on using mobile devices in the language classroom. Look out for Robert Godwin-Jones’ next article on developing language skills using mobile devices.