I agree with Egan in that there are many examples in my life that support Egan's viewpoint. Throughout high school, I learned to depend less on teacher's teaching me, instead I learned how to self study material covered in class because sometimes the material is not taught in a way easy for me to comprehend. In addition, I have also become more independent in that I know longer rely on my parents or anyone else to keep track of my schedule or tasks, both are handle by my self now.
Attending Sycamore also allowed me to develop a wider range of interests. I was able to take the courses I wanted as well as choose the difficulty. I was able to take different types of courses some of which were interesting such as computer science and physics, and I also discovered courses that I dislike such as Spanish and chemistry.
For my research project, I have barley started writing as I've been searching for more sources that oppose the viewpoint of smartphones being helpful in education. I feel that having a good balance of sources between the two viewpoints is essential if I want to draw valid conclusions. Over the break, I'll most likely finish writing section 4 and if I have time, It will include a bulk of my sources as well as statistics. After that, I might search for more sources because you can never have too many. But overall, I will probably compare sources that support and oppose smartphones in the classroom, and using those sources I will conclude whether or not they are beneficial.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Research Project Updates
This week I found sources that were against smartphone use in the classroom, as well as examples where the phone industry has sponsored the use of smartphones in the classroom. Both of these are conflicting opinions on whether smartphones would be beneficial to students.
The first source states the viewpoint of a professor at Bryant University, who believes that smartphones are a big distraction in the classroom and that they're too expensive to maintain. He believes that students spend too much time surfing the internet and texting in class instead of paying attention. One notable statistic from this article is that 66% of people between ages 18 and 24 answered that they fear losing or being without their phone meaning they are very attached to their phone and easily distracted by them. The smartphone ownership at Ball State has also increased from 27% to 69% in just three years.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/03/21/smartphone-use-among-college-students-concerns-some-professors
The second article describes how the phone industry is claiming that smartphones are making students smarter and that it can improve math skills. Digital Millenial Consulting funded school districts in Chicago, San Diego, and Florida with smartphones as a part of a study to research the effects of smartphones and how they affect student performance. Students were given high-end Windows phones which they used for social-networking, research, and other various software. These students' grades were then compared to students who were not given smartphones and the group with the smartphones scored 25% than the students who were not given smartphones. The cost for each to student to receive a smartphone was costly at one thousand dollars a year.
My research this week has been successful. I found studies that showed smartphones were beneficial in the form of statistic as well as opinions from college professors that are against the use of smartphones in the classroom. My goal for next week is to find more studies supporting or perhaps against the use of smartphones in the classroom as well as the best type of smartphone for students. Some other areas I need to research are ways to soften the heavy expense of funding smartphones for each student and any apps on the phones which are beneficial.
The image below shows distribution of smartphone vs non-smartphone ownership by grade level.
The first source states the viewpoint of a professor at Bryant University, who believes that smartphones are a big distraction in the classroom and that they're too expensive to maintain. He believes that students spend too much time surfing the internet and texting in class instead of paying attention. One notable statistic from this article is that 66% of people between ages 18 and 24 answered that they fear losing or being without their phone meaning they are very attached to their phone and easily distracted by them. The smartphone ownership at Ball State has also increased from 27% to 69% in just three years.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/03/21/smartphone-use-among-college-students-concerns-some-professors
The second article describes how the phone industry is claiming that smartphones are making students smarter and that it can improve math skills. Digital Millenial Consulting funded school districts in Chicago, San Diego, and Florida with smartphones as a part of a study to research the effects of smartphones and how they affect student performance. Students were given high-end Windows phones which they used for social-networking, research, and other various software. These students' grades were then compared to students who were not given smartphones and the group with the smartphones scored 25% than the students who were not given smartphones. The cost for each to student to receive a smartphone was costly at one thousand dollars a year.
My research this week has been successful. I found studies that showed smartphones were beneficial in the form of statistic as well as opinions from college professors that are against the use of smartphones in the classroom. My goal for next week is to find more studies supporting or perhaps against the use of smartphones in the classroom as well as the best type of smartphone for students. Some other areas I need to research are ways to soften the heavy expense of funding smartphones for each student and any apps on the phones which are beneficial.
The image below shows distribution of smartphone vs non-smartphone ownership by grade level.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Capstone Project Progress
I've decided my topic will be on the effects of smartphones on students in the classroom and whether it would be a good idea for more schools to implement smartphones for each student. The major factors I'm researching are how do smartphones affect grades, time to do homework, and possible distractions caused by smartphones; depending on those factors, I can determine whether smartphones are actually beneficial in schools or whether they are just a distraction and shouldn't be implemented.
Some other factors to consider are the cost of smartphones, best brand of smartphones, preventing cheating through smartphones, what apps are useful, and the learning curve of using a smartphone. So far I've found data correlating smartphone ownership and house income.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/195006/percentage-of-us-smartphone-owners-by-household-income/
The graph supports my expectation that households with a higher income are more likely to own a smartphone, however it should be noted that in all the levels of income, the ownership of smartphones increased from 2011 to 2012.
The biggest challenge so far is finding big studies correlating smartphone usage and grades/test scores. Most studies only sample a class or they're just a testimonial from one student, but not a lot of studies sample a high school or a bigger population. I have found many sources that support the use of smartphones and very few that oppose it and I've kept track of them on Easybib. However, my other questions have been answered by most sources I've come across. The graph below from 2012 also shows that most smartphones users are skewed towards the younger generation.
Some other factors to consider are the cost of smartphones, best brand of smartphones, preventing cheating through smartphones, what apps are useful, and the learning curve of using a smartphone. So far I've found data correlating smartphone ownership and house income.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/195006/percentage-of-us-smartphone-owners-by-household-income/
The graph supports my expectation that households with a higher income are more likely to own a smartphone, however it should be noted that in all the levels of income, the ownership of smartphones increased from 2011 to 2012.
The biggest challenge so far is finding big studies correlating smartphone usage and grades/test scores. Most studies only sample a class or they're just a testimonial from one student, but not a lot of studies sample a high school or a bigger population. I have found many sources that support the use of smartphones and very few that oppose it and I've kept track of them on Easybib. However, my other questions have been answered by most sources I've come across. The graph below from 2012 also shows that most smartphones users are skewed towards the younger generation.
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