Mobile phones for learning in mainstream schooling: resistance and change

This paper, based on empirical research, considers how structure and agency together reproduce the social practices surrounding mobile phone use in secondary schools in the United Kingdom. Many schools have policies banning their use in class, reflecting and supporting the dominant social construction of mobile phones as tools for social use, but not for learning. This study aimed to understand how mobile phones could support learning in secondary schools, and identified activities across many subject areas and year levels. It also showed that hands-on experience had a positive effect on students’ attitudes to mobile phones for learning in school. The results indicated that decisions on ownership of devices and technical issues in integrating mobile phones with networks and virtual learning environments are important considerations for schools wishing to use mobile phones for learning. It concluded that teachers have a great deal of agency, and that they display this by innovating or resisting change.