Smartphones in the Classroom? Let Students Decide

By David Gooblar. Should students be allowed to use personal technology in the classroom? That’s a contentious issue for many instructors, myself included. Concerns about distraction—web-surfing, Facebook-checking, Scrabble-playing—may prompt instructors to adopt policies that ban students from using laptops, tablets, and smartphones in class.
Understandably so. It is incredibly frustrating to be trying hard to connect with students from the front of the class, only to see their screens. Students have all day to check their email. Shouldn’t class be a time when they are completely present, free from the constant attention-hogging of today’s Internet? - See more...