Should Secondary School Students Use Mobile Phone in the Classroom?

Should Secondary School Students Use MobilePhone in the Classroom?1. Introduction In the world today, digital technology is fast growing and it is quickly being integrated into the society in such a way that it is hard to keep pace, let alone thinking about the effect it will have on people's lives.All over the world, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have so much filled our classrooms with such a rapid pace.Educators and school administrators at the wake of this change face this growing challenge as they face a wireless generation of students that are quickly evolving daily on digital technology.Communication is highly mobile with one third of the world's population using mobile phones.In an e-commerce report on March 16th, 2018, it reveals that Nigeria with an estimated population of 193 million people, has 162 million mobile subscriptions, this amount to 84% of the population using a mobile phone.This being the case, it is evident that so many people own a mobile phone and have internet access, this would have direct impact on students learning, Gabor and Esztelecki (2015).The launch of mobile phones in 2001 liberated Nigerians from the shackles of land phones (National Telecoms-NITEL).Not long after that, in 2008 we had new brand of phones called smart phones which came along with 3G network and since then Nigeria has experienced so much change and the smart phones have captured the market.Smart phones with its multiple functions ranging from multimedia features, email, calculators, calendars, office programs, social communication platforms (Facebook, Instagram, twitter, WhatsApp), GPS functions and games, have put a powerful computing device into the pockets of both adults and students.This digital tool that is so convenient, affordable, and fast in communication is bound to be welcomed by most students.Mobile phone as an educative tool have received so much arguments on its integration into the classroom.This research work is arranged thus: The purpose of the study, the limitation of the study, the literature reviewthis will summarize previous studies on the use of mobile phones in the classroom, the research methods, followed by the results of the questionnaire, summary of findings, discussion and then conclusion. Purpose of the StudyIn order for students learning to improve, educators should integrate everyday technology into the classroom, Thomas and O'Bannon (2013).Hence, the need of this study is to explore Secondary school teachers and student's perspective on the use of mobile phone in the classroom, how often they use these technological tools and if we should consider integrating mobile phone as a learning and teaching tool in our classrooms.Based on this, our research questions are thus:• To what extent is mobile phone an important tool for effective teaching and learning?• Are there some factors militating against integrating mobile phone in the classroom?The significance of this study is to create awareness among teachers and students at secondary school on the importance of mobile phone as a learning and teaching aide in the classroom.The findings will help students know the