Smartphones and teenagers, threat or opportunity

Within the 3rd International Digital Citizenship Conference celebrated in San Sebastian-Spain in May 8th, we took part in a round table debate about the use of Smartphone in education with teenagers. There is an open discussion about the benefits or threats of using such an innovative technology. Usually the main trend is to forbid the use of mobile phones in the classroom. We bet for considering the use of any technology if it can benefit somehow our learning/teaching process. Smartphones are very powerful devices that can be used in many innovative ways. We can profit their availability, since many students have one. In this paper we analyze how different authors understand mobile learning, we review previous experiences and their results in educational institutions using mobile learning, and we reflect on the threats and opportunities of using mobile devices in education. Finally we show an approach to a new educational paradigm that is being implemented thanks to the educational revolution derived from the use of mobile devices and we provide simple guidelines for its implementation.

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