Cell Phones in the Classroom: Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions

This study employed a survey to examine the perceptions of 92 preservice teachers enrolled at a small Midwestern liberal arts university regarding their support of the use of cell phones in the classroom, the benefits of specific cell phone features for school-related work, and the instructional benefits of and barriers to using cell phones in the classroom. The study also compared the perceptions of the preservice teachers classified as digital natives with those of the preservice teachers classified as digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001) to determine if there was a relationship between perceptions and age. Results from the analysis of the survey indicated that although most of the preservice teachers were unsure about allowing cell phones in the classroom, they indicated that the devices’ calculator, access to the Internet, and audio player features provided instructional benefits. In addition, more than half identified anywhere/anytime learning opportunities, increased student engagement, opportunities for differentiation of instruction, increased communication, and increased student motivation as benefits of using cell phones in the classroom. Their leading concerns included classroom disruptions and cheating. Pearson Chi Square tests found no relationship between preservice teachers’ perceptions and age. The results of this study have implications for teacher education programs that are interested in teaching/modeling the use of mobile technology in classroom instruction as well as bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives.