Personal Electronics should be allowed in the classroom

-- Introduction -- I completely agree with Con's conclusion... you should VOTE PRO! :)I apologize in advance to the audience for my opponent's poor structuring of his rebuttal. I'm going to address the arguments in the original order I presented them to make it easier to follow. However this will be difficult since Con dropped 5 of my contentions. While I presented 10 arguments in my favor, he responded to only 5. Furthermore, the 5 he responded to weren't even all my contentions. For instance, the last argument of his box responds to the idea of saving money on textbooks via e-Readers. However nowhere in this debate did I ever make that argument to begin with (though it's a good one I probably should have brought up!). To me this indicates that my opponent has not only completely failed to address my points, but is taking most of his arguments from another source that highlights this debate. Why else would he respond to arguments I didn't make? Clearly he Google'd arguments against electronics and is applying those here even when they are irrelevant. That said, I think I've made my case for points going to Con for spelling and grammar (structure) and perhaps conduct. -- Pro's Arguments -- 1. Computers hold students' attention.Con dropped this. Extend my arguments.2. Electronics help students learn at their own pace.Con dropped this. Extend my arguments.3. While direct teacher-pupil interaction is important, allowing students to do educational work on technological devices while helping students individually at the same time allows more students to learn at once. Teachers may also utilize testing programs that allow them to see what areas particular students need help in. Con dropped this. Extend my arguments. 4. Allowing students to use electronics during school can help teachers impart skills necessary to succeed in a modern economy. Con dropped this. Extend my arguments.5. Many studies have found that technology in the classroom has helped.Con responds by citing studies that suggest technology in the classroom has not helped. I've already addressed this in the previous round, noting that (a) standardized tests are not a good measurement of learning; (b) different testing yields different results anyway - some in my favor. 6. Electronics give you access to innumerable informational websites and sources.Con dropped this. Extend my arguments.7. Many classes are offered online. If you can take a class strictly using the internet, then you should be able to take a class that incorporates it. Con dropped this. Extend my arguments.8. Computers make it quick and easy for students to edit their papers or other work. In response, Con has says that computers allow plagiarism and that you can use computers at home. Both of these responses are completely irrelevant. I've already addressed how/why it is easier to plagiarize at home, and allowing electronics in the classroom won't prohibit that. This also fails to respond to the fact that computers in the classroom allow students to work efficiently at school and not only in the home.9. There are computer programs and other electronic tools that make learning easy and more importantly fun.Con dropped this. Extend my arguments.10. Cell phones can be used in school for emergencies.While it's true that real emergencies might be infrequent, they still occur so my point still stands. Fires occur in schools very rarely and yet they conduct multiple fire drills in school per year just in case something happens. Also, Con says the risk of cheating outweighs the possibility of emergencies, yet I have addressed cheating and other related incidents in my rebuttal to his few points. Moreover, the school offices are just not equipped to handle all emergencies. -- Con's Arguments -- 1A. Teenagers use cell phones to cheat.I pointed out that students utilize other ways to cheat (peers, cheat sheets, etc.) aside from cell phones. Con concedes, but notes that more students cheat with cell phones. This doesn't change the fact that cheating has/will occur regardless, and also fails to respond to my points that:- This can be combatted through more attentative teachers, particularly during testing- Cell phones may be prohibited during testing times only- Perhaps the teacher can collect them before the beginning of class and return them at the end during exam daysRegarding breaking through cell phone jammers, I have never heard of that nor was I able to find anything through Google. Considering my opponent hasn't cited or sourced info indicating that this is accurate, I'm not sure we have any reason to believe it, not that I think this is a strong contention in his favor anyway.1B. A lot of students admit to"seriously cheating on a written work," primarily through plagirarism from the internet.Con's only argument here is that students can c/p work from the internet and utilize it in an essay. Obviously this is completely irrelevant because students can do that while working on papers at home and not only in the classroom. I've already explained in the last round why this is far more unlikely to happen in the classroom anyway which Con didn't respond to. Moreover there are programs teachers can utilize to ensure that students are not plagiarizing, such as turnitin.com [6].2A. Con quotes a parent saying they don't believe in technology in the classroom.Con says "A personal opinion by an engineer who works at a highly valued company matters." His opinion would matter if we were talking about engineering, but we're not. 2B. Waldorf schools don't utilize technology, and the students are very successful.Con writes, "The article states that the graduation rate in normal schools with electronics was 68% and in waldorf it is 94%. this increase was caused just because of the hands on learning." This is perhaps the most insulting response (or lack thereof) of the debate. In the last round I gave a plethora of other possibilities that explain student success at Waldorf schools, absolutely none of which my opponent responded to, nor did he prove that the increase in success was because of the hands-on learning specifically. He is being completely dishonest (bad conduct) when he says that the article specifies this distinction, considering the article specifically states that they can NOT validate this as the sole distinguishing factor. 2C. Even though computers were given to children in Peru, they were not particularly successful.Con says, "The technology given to the Peru students was the same as the technology as the one given in America to make the study most accurate."This completely neglects my entire point. I never denied that students in Peru were given similar technology, but that those kids grow up in a completely different environment, and those variables will surely impact the way they perform on standardized testing. Con did not respond to this. Furthermore, equipping children with technology alone is not a way to assure educational success, so there was no reason to expect the kids in Peru to do better. Of course Con did not respond to this either.-- Conclusion -- My opponent pretty much dropped every single one of my arguments, and I negated all of his points several times over. -- Sources -- [6] http://turnitin.com...