The cell phone in the classroom: a foe

or a friend? 

EUROCALL 2011

The cell phone in the classroom: a foe

or a friend? 

EUROCALL 2011Irina Averianova, Nagoya Business University, Japan

Irina Averianova, Nagoya Business University, Japan

Cell Phone - History

1973 - The first hand-held mobile phone by Dr Martin Cooper of Motorola

1979 – The first commercially automated cellular network (the 1G) was launched in Japan by NTT DoCoMo

1981 – The simultaneous launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

1983 - The first USAG network using the Motorola DynaTAC mobile phone.

Cell Phone – More History

1991 - The first "modern" network of digital 2G (second generation) cellular technology was launched by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Group) in in Finland

1999 – The first i-mode service (connection of mobile phones to the Internet) by NTT DoCoMo, Japan

2001 - The first commercial launch of 3G (Third Generation) technology was again in Japan by NTT DoCoMo

2007 - The first IPhone, Internet- and multimedia-enabled smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc.

2010 – The first 4th Generation iPhone model released in Japan.

Cell Phone - History

1905 2011

Cell Phone Statistics - worldwide mobile phone subscriptions

Rank

Country or region

Number of mobile phones

% of population

Last updated

- World Over 5 billion 2010

1 China 906,800,000 67.1 June 2011

2 India 840,280,000 70.23 May 2011

3 United States

302,947,098 96 Dec 2010

4 Russia 220,550,000 151.9 February 2011

5 Brazil 217,300,000 111.6 June 2011

6 Indonesia 168,264,000 73.1 May 2009

7 Japan 107,490,000 84.1 Mar. 2009

Cell Phone Functions Telephony

Text messaging

MMS

Email

Internet access

Podcasts

Photography

Various business applications

Gaming

Cell Phone – A friend?

Access

Ubiquity

More reading and writing among teenagers (B. Bass, Maryland Writing Project, 2002; D.Crystal, 2009)

Diversification of writing (H.Helderman, 2003)

Revising and editing (G. Jacobs, 2005)

Cell Phone – A foe?Cheating

2002 - University of Maryland, College Park, 12 students

2002 - Hitotsubashi University, 26 students

2004 - England, 287 school and college students

Multitasking

Disruption

Txting – instead of normative writing > lack of code-switching skills

Instant Messaging-Development1995 -0.4 messages per customer per month

2006 - 72% of all mobile phone users worldwide use Short Message Service (SMS).

Finland, Sweden, Norway - 90% of the population

The European average - about 85%

2010 - 2.4 trillion messages

Texting as Electronic Discourse: Written Speech Spoken Writing

(Hybrid, A new computer style, Internet Slang, Internet language, Net speak, Chat Room Shorthand, Tech-talk, Nu English)

DISCURSIVE DRIVES

Economy of writing

Linguistic relaxation

Maintenance of orality in the absence of direct auditory interaction

NUCB SurveyDo you have a cell phone?

Teachers – 73 % Students – 100 %

For STUDENTS: what kind of cell phone?

50 % have Smart Phone (iPhone, etc.)

For TEACHERS: Why not?

Happy without it.

No need.

Don’t need it in Japan.

Never had, never will.

NUCB Survey

How long have you had a cell phone?

More than 10 years

Teachers – 51 % Students – 17 % *

More than 5 years

Teachers – 39 % Students – 48.4 %

NUCB Survey - Functions

SMS, MMS, Email: “Never” or “Almost never”?

Teachers Students

48 % never send 4 %

32 % never receive 4 %

NUCB Survey - FunctionsTaking photos

Teachers Students

48.6 % never or almost never 11 %

Listening to sound files

Teachers Students

83 % never or almost never 36 %

NUCB Survey - FunctionsAccessing the Internet

Teachers Students

30 % 96 %

Playing games

ONLY 1 teacher SOMETIMES does

75 % of students DO

NUCB SurveyDo we need to use cell-phone for teaching and learning?

Agree DisagreeNot sure

Teachers

2.8 % 54.3 % 42.9 %

Students

47 % 3 % 50 %

NUCB SurveyHave you ever seen or heard or

read about any teaching/learning activities with cell-phones?

60 % of Teachers - NO

60 % of Students - YES

IF you ever --–”--- … would you like to try them in your practice?

72 % - NO or NOT SURE! 28 % - YES

NUCB Survey Students SHOULD NOT use cell-

phone at school

AGREE

Teachers Students

75 % 60 %

DISAGREE

Teachers Students

8.5 % 11 %

A Friend or a Foe?YES! “To address the educational needs of

our students it is important to understand how technology influences their everyday lives” (Hoopingarner, 2008)

YES! Japan is “one of the leading mobile telephone markets, not only in terms of size, but also in terms of innovation (Hulme-Jones, 2010)

YES! “The cell phone is the technology of choice for today’s students” (Hoopingarner, 2008)

A Friend or a Foe

Cell Phone at school - 2b or not 2b th@ts ?

Innovative research!

Innovative practice!Thank you!