Smartphones in the classroom. Current practices and future visions. Perspectives from teachers and children

Introduction to the chapter: The portability and personalized nature of smartphones facilitates ubiquitous (mobile) being online and constant connectivity, even at school. These affordances extend children’s online opportunities but also pose new challenges (Alper, 2013; Wartella et al., 2014; Haddon & Vincent, 2014). This chapter investigates practices and meanings associated with the presence of smartphones in a school environment. We can embed this within the circuit of culture (Johnson, 1986; Du Gay et al., 1997), which identifies interconnected cultural processes that help us to understand the role and impact of smartphones in teachers’ and children’s lives. We will use the framework to structure the analysis of how smartphones are being used (consumption), mediated (regulation) and perceived (representation and identity) within a school environment, taking into account the perspectives of both children and teachers. We formulate three research goals. First, we aim to understand the current trends and practices concerning smartphone use and mediation in school environments). Second, we aim to uncover the opportunities and challenges teachers and children experience when dealing with the presence and integration of smartphones at school. Third, we look at the expectations of teachers and children towards a successful integration of smartphones in a school environment. To help us answer these questions, we designated two dichotomies that are visible throughout the various cultural processes we will discuss. First, there is the apparent opposition between the school context and the home context. Previously, these contexts have been studied separately. Smartphones, however, offer functions that have blurred the boundaries between ‘school’ and ‘home’ and between ‘learning’ and ‘entertainment’ (Jenkins, 2006; Jenkins et al., 2006; Jenkins, Ford & Green, 2013). For example, children and teachers use social media (e.g. Facebook) not only as a source of entertainment, but also to communicate about homework and collaborate on school assignments. The second theme is the tension between autonomy and control. Building autonomy or independence is an important developmental task for young people (Kowalski, Limber & Agatston, 2012; Fine, 2004; Ito et al., 2008). On the one hand, smartphones support developing autonomy. They enable children to create their own spaces to interact with peers, without (much) interference of adults (Köhl, Gützenbrucker & Herdin, 2014; Lenhart et.al., 2010). On the other hand, smartphones can also be employed as tools for control and supervision (Blair & Fletcher, 2011; Campbell, 2006; Ling & Yttri, 2002; Nelson, 2010). Parents can easily connect with their children to check how up on them, even during school hours when children are under supervision of their teachers. This is an example of how smartphones can be a tool for parents to keep in touch and control their children throughout the day. Furthermore, it illustrates again how smartphones contribute to the intertwining of the home and school contexts. This chapter combines insights from both qualitative and quantitative data. As for the children’s perspectives, we draw on the quantitative and qualitative data from the Net Children Go Mobile project collected among 9 to 16 year-olds. The survey data help us to contextualize and explain the qualitative data that in turn provide us with more insight into the experiences and perceptions of the children. As for the teachers’ perspectives, we draw on focus groups, interviews and observation data from three research projects in Belgium (Flanders) in which 41 teachers participated. Our participants teach children aged 3 to 18 years old in kindergarten, primary school and secondary school. Smartphones are the main focus of this chapter, but the scope of the studies we build on is wider as they take into account various kinds of mobile media or devices that share affordances such as portability and individual or personal usage. Participants do not always specify the type of device, platform or application, and often talk about ‘mobile media’ in general. Therefore, we also use the terms ‘mobile media’ and ‘mobile devices’ in this chapter, which mainly refer to (platforms and applications for) smartphones and tablets.The portability and personalized nature of smartphones facilitates ubiquitous (mobile) being online and constant connectivity, also at school. These affordances extend children’s online opportunities but also pose new challenges. This chapter investigates practices and meanings associated with the presence of smartphones in a school environment. We look at how smartphones are being used (consumption and production), mediated (regulation) and perceived (representation and identity) within a school environment, taking into account the perspectives of both children and teachers. We formulate three research goals. First, we aim to understand the current trends and practices concerning smartphone use and mediation in school environments (RQ1). Second, we aim to uncover the opportunities and challenges teachers and children experience when dealing with the presence and integration of smartphones at school (RQ2). Third, we look at the expectations of teachers and children towards a successful integration of smartphones in a school environment (RQ3). This chapter combines insights from qualitative and quantitative data. As for the children’s perspectives, we draw on the quantitative and qualitative data from the Net Children go Mobile project collected among 9 to 16 year-olds. The survey data help us to contextualize and explain qualitative outcomes, and the qualitative data provide us more insight into the experiences and perceptions of the children. As for the teachers’ perspectives, we draw on focus groups, interviews and observation data from three research projects in Belgium (Flanders) in which 41 teachers participated. Our participants teach children aged 3 to 18 years old in kindergarten, primary school and secondary school.status: publishe