5 Reasons to Allow Students to Use Cell Phones in Class

1. If we are preparing our students for life after school, we should allow them to use the tools they will be using when they get there. How many jobs can you think of right now where a smart phone is not beneficial? Mechanics order parts on their phone, engineers view blueprints, doctors calculate dosages, and grocers check inventory. The list is endless. By the time our students enter their professions the need to utilize mobile technology will be even stronger. Not preparing our students for that world is negligent. 2. In a time when schools are facing tightening budgets, using technology that is readily available is logical. How many schools point to a lack of funds as a reason they are not doing more with technology? We can go a long way towards solving that problem by using technology that is available for free and probably in a majority of HS students' pockets. 3. Mobile devices are great for teaching 21st century skills. If you want kids to learn to collaborate, what better tool can you use than a phone? Videoconferencing with people all over the world becomes easy. One of the main arguments against student phone use is that kids might cheat. My response is that tests that are so lacking in rigor that students can look up answers on a phone or get them from another student are lousy and outdated in a world where information is free and easy. We need to get used to the fact that kids don't need to know "stuff" nearly as much as they need to learn to use that "stuff." Tests of recall don't prepare our students for the world ahead. Kids know this - it's why they think school is irrelevant. Kids working together to find solutions to problems (collaboration) should be encouraged, not labeled as "cheating." Policies that ban cell phones because students might text each other are shortsighted. As Kevin Honeycutt is fond of saying, "Students used to pass notes on paper. We never banned paper."

4. Double standards are not OK. I know of several districts where administrators come into classrooms with iPhones and/or iPads to take notes on teacher observations. Yet, in these same classrooms students are not allowed to use mobile devices. The message this sends to students is totally unacceptable. These are great tools. Kids know it. Let them use them. 5. We need to teach kids responsible ways to use technology. Keeping them "safe" by refusing to expose them to technology is irresponsible on our part. Students are using cell phones whether we ban them in school or not. They are communicating, sending pictures to each other, using social media and social networking, and consuming information. We need to be teaching them how to do this while protecting themselves from both mistakes they might make that will follow them for decades and others who want to do them harm. The dangers and pitfalls of using mobile devices aren't going away. Isn't it our responsibility to teach our students to be safe?

Resolved: Personal Electronic Devices in the classroom should be allowed. WLPPF Def: Personal electronics refers to any instrument that uses electricity, for ex: tablets, cell phones, and computers that is owned by the student for at least a one-year term. Standard: The standard, or weighing mechanism, for this debate should be the quality of education. Since this debate is about personal electronics in the classroom, it will impact education the most. The team that can best prove that their side of the resolution betters the quality of education should win today's debate. WTS, WH3A Contention 1: Ebooks Ebooks, or books read on screens, are the new revolutionary way of reading. Educause.edu asserts that ebooks improve learning because they: have built-in dictionaries, pronunciation guides, and highlighting, motivating students to check the meaning of each word and pronounce it correctly can also integrate video, audio, animation, and interactive simulation Access to newspapers for free In addition, there is cost benefits, according to about.com: Average of $5.50 savings per nonfiction book and textbooks Average of $2 savings per fiction book So judge, clearly ebooks have more capabilities that regular books. These capabilities have been shown to enhance learning, and provide costs at a lower price. This argument ties into the standard because, obviously, if you have something at a lower cost, you would most likely buy it. Therefore, students will have more educational materials with them, and the savings can also translate into increased funding for other classes that can further enhance student learning.

Contention 2: Enhances learning According to Report to the President on the Use of Technology to strengthen K-12 Education in the United States, co-authored by Charles Vest, the former president of MIT, electronics have been very promising to improve America's education by giving us: valuable skills in logic Access to educational websites More extracurricular and interactive learning These skills have been shown to yield the following results: Carrollton City School District (Georgia): Computer technology has reduced the dropout rate from 19 percent to 5 percent (74% decrease), and the failure rate in ninth grade algebra from 38 percent to 3 percent (92% decrease). Clearview Elementary School (California): the use of technology resulted in an increase in standardized test scores from the bottom 10 percent to the highest 20 percent in the state. Maine.gov also states that student assigned laptops have improved the student's education: Writing scores improved by 33% 2 times more students met the state standards vs. students who weren't assigned a laptop in class. Professors from UC Berkeley found students who use laptops excessively did 11% better than the other students in her class. National center for education statistics says that 76% of grades have improved with technology in class and will improve with electronics they can take home. As you can see, judge, personal electronic devices have already prevailed in classrooms that have already allowed them. They are shown to enhance learning and improve the quality of education, tying into our standard.

Contention 3: Group learning and file sharing According to thirteen.org, group learning encourages: diversity more interaction in student learning Peer feedback According to "Pros and Cons of File Sharing", file sharing, or exchanging files on a computer network, encourages: Flow of ideas from everyone Efficient working: each student can revise on different computers at the same time. Therefore, file sharing can involve more students compiling up their ideas into one report, thus improving the learning experience for children. Since dictionary.com defines file sharing as exchanging files on a computer network, it can only be done electronically. In addition, email and other network servers promote group learning, and all of its benefits. If personal electronic devices were allowed in the classroom, the quality of education for students could improve a lot by promoting both group learning and file sharing.

Personal Electronic Devices in the classroom should not be allowed:

Since my opponent wants to use the quality of education as the standard in this debate; I will argue that the quality of education deteriorates with the usage of Personal Electronic Devices.

Personal Electronic Devices defined my opponent; "Personal electronics refers to any instrument that uses electricity, for ex: tablets, cell phones, and computers that is owned by the student for at least a one-year term."

Therefore, Personal Electronic Devices are completely independent from education. Their usage can or cannot be used for the purposes of education, depending on the the responsibility of those who use them.

Since my opponent has quoted studies that refer to the improvement of education from K-12 and College, I am going to use this age group as the standard for the quality of improvement. In this age group, an area known as the frontal lobes is not fully developed. The frontal lobes are responsible for executive function which are critical to logical decision making. So if Personal Electronic Devices are allowed in the classroom, then logically people in this age group would struggle make proper decisions. Therefore Personal Electronic Devices would deteriorate the quality of education.

I do agree with the contention that Electronic Devices administered by the school would help in the quality of education. They provide a reminder to students that the Electronic Devices in this context are for the purposes of education. However they do not belong to the students, the duration in which they borrow them they are not ever owned by the students. If something happens to the Electronic Device, they are obligated to compensate of at most a value equal to the device in question; depending on whatever the true owner decides. Therefore, Electronic Devices administered by the school cannot be considered as evidence to support my opponents argument.

Two of my opponents arguments use Electronic Devices administered by the school as evidence for his contention that Personal Electronic Devices help in the quality of education. Based upon the logic above, they cannot be used as evidence and are empty arguments.

The last contention asserts that Personal Electronic Devices help in the quality of education because they promote group learning. This may be true, however they do not provide evidence in why they should be allowed in class. My opponent uses the definition according to thirteen.org:

diversity more interaction in student learning Peer feedback According to "Pros and Cons of File Sharing", file sharing, or exchanging files on a computer network, encourages: Flow of ideas from everyone Efficient working: each student can revise on different computers at t he same time. Therefore, file sharing can involve more students compiling up their ideas into one report, thus improving the learning experience for children.

Personal Electronic Devices do not promote group learning in the classroom. All the above points do not require a Personal Electronic Device. All above bullet points refer to good communication, a Personal Electronic Device facilitating communication would obviously slow the process of communication between two people in the same room.

Since the burden of proof is on my opponent, if I refute his arguments as I have done; then I have won this argument

My Opponent clearly has no contentions and therefore as already lost this debate. But I will still refute his refutations.

His Refutation to Contention 1: None, My opponent completely drops this argument

His Refutation to Contention 2: "Since my opponent has quoted studies that refer to the improvement of

education from K-12 and College, I am going to use this age group as the standard for the quality of improvement. In this age group, an area known as the frontal lobes is not fully developed. The frontal lobes are responsible for executive function which are critical to logical decision making. So if Personal Electronic Devices are allowed in the classroom, then logically people in this age group would struggle make proper decisions. Therefore Personal Electronic Devices would deteriorate the quality of education.

I do agree with the contention that Electronic Devices administered by the school would help in the quality of education. They provide a reminder to students that the Electronic Devices in this context are for the purposes of education. However they do not belong to the students, the duration in which they borrow them they are not ever owned by the students. If something happens to the Electronic Device, they are obligated to compensate of at most a value equal to the device in question; depending on whatever the true owner decides. Therefore, Electronic Devices administered by the school cannot be considered as evidence to support my opponents argument."

I don"t understand when he says that the electronics don"t belong to the student. The are "personal" electronic devices so the student will buy their own device. Secondly, when he talks about the "bad choices made by kids" he means cheating. I have 3 responses: 1. Right now, schools restrict us from using the textbook during tests. They can restrict us from using electronic devices during tests also. 2. Just because we are allowing electronic devices in class doesnt mean they always have to be on the students desk. The teacher can easily tell students to put away their electronics.

3. There will always be dishonest people who decide to cheat no matter what. Even if there werent electronics, there would still be cheating going on.

His refutation to Contention 3: he says my argument is true and that I didn't explain why it should be allowed in class I EXPLAINED IT IN MY CASE THAT THEY HELP KIDS EDUCATION! DOES HE WANT ME TO STATE MY CASE AGAIN!

I CANNOT THINK ANY THING ELSE OTHER THAN AN AFFIRMATIVE BALLOT!!!!

Awesomeness, first I would like to thank you for this debate.

You clearly did not understand my argument and have even admitted that you don't. So why you would refute arguments that you didn't understand is beyond me. You attacked your own distorted understanding of my arguments and are refuting things that I never claimed.

You are attacking a straw man. You misrepresented and misunderstood everything, including your own argument.

The first thing you did wrong was actually in the very beginning; you wanted to argue the point that personal electronic devices in the classroom should be allowed. There is a huge distinction between personal electronic devices and electronic devices given to you by the school to use. To reiterate the point I made above, your first two contentions gave evidence to the argument of quality of education increasing with electronic devices given to students by the school. Both contentions used evidence in cases where electronic devices were administered by the school.

Again both contention used evidence in cases where electronic devices were given to students by the school.

Contention #1 asserts that e-books are better than textbooks. But they don't tie personal electronic devices. If a school decides to use the concept of e-books as a means to improve the quality of education; then they must provide an electronic device as a standard for all students.

Contention #2 cites studies in which electronic devices were given to students. Personal Electronic Devices and Electronic Devices assigned by the school are completely different from each other. This is the failure of your argument, you do not prove anything for personal electronic devices but for the argument of electronic devices provided by the school. I hope you understand this by now, because I'm not going to repeat myself.

Contention #3 is simply a nonsense argument. Personal electronic devices can help in education outside the classroom, in which communication over long distances is essential for collaboration. But inside the classroom is a whole another story. Where is the logic that asserts that personal electronic devices help promote education(through communication) between two people in the same CLASSROOM. People in the same classroom can communicate with each other without the usage of Personal Electronic Devices. I assert that this argument is true OUTSIDE the classroom but not inside the classroom.

Just to make sure, I want to say it again. What you want to argue and the evidence you use aren't complementary. You do not even make one argument for PERSONAL electronic devices helping education INSIDE the classroom.

Last point, you state that since I didn't make any contentions I automatically lose the debate. I did didn't I? The argument of the non maturation of the frontal lobes is a perfectly adequate argument.

You said that by bad choices I mean by cheating. This is not true, I meant by procrastination. Not paying attention in class. Texting your friend. Playing games on your personal electronic device. etc...

The burden of proof is on YOU; if your argument is defeated, then I win. Even though I did make a perfectly adequate contention, I DON'T have to make one.

You basically argued for the wrong thing and therefore it is automatically void. You have lost this debate. At the very least, I hope you understood why you lost this debate.