#composition ii

[archiveofaffinities]

Geroges Vantongerloo, Composition II, 1921

[busyasabeeblr]

7.20.19 | Summer B is almost over!

Hey friends! Just a my simple desk spread while I was doing some close reads and writing an essay on a poem. Summer B is over halfway over and I’m finishing up my final project and essay for my 2 classes. 6-week classes are crazy! I’m actually doing pretty okay over here.

Hope all is well! ❤️

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[disruptedvice]

Semester of Brooklyn Nine Nine

I’ve been ragging on my comp II professor to start watching Brooklyn Nine Nine this whole semester.

Just about every damn day starts with “Nimi, did you watch the first episode yet?”

She still hasn’t yet. To her credit, that’s not of lack of trying. One time she started apologizing and laughing saying “I thought of you this weekend! I tried to pull it up on demand, but they only had the most recent season.”

Another student in my class said that he watches B99 on hulu, and my professor doesn’t have a hulu account anymore, and she was saying she might need to get a hulu subscription again specifically so she could watch Brooklyn Nine Nine like I’ve been convincing her to do all semester.

On Wednesday I told her “You know what? Just forget it. I’m gonna come by during office hours on Friday with my laptop and we’re gonna watch B99 and have lunch together.”

So yup, that’s what Imma be doing tomorrow. Hanging with the best damn English Professor and introducing her to the wonders of Brooklyn Nine Nine.

[musicmakesyousmart]

Hallucination - Composition II

Moonworshipper Recordings

2019

[academicshelp]

FREE ESSAY: Should cell phones be used in the classroom?

Email [email protected] for more essays and research papers. 

Technology has had many positive impacts on different aspects of life. Such aspects include medicine, education, politics and social interactions. Education has particularly benefited from technology because of the different ways it can be molded to improve efficiency of the transfer of knowledge. Cell phones are some of the most used technology gadgets by students in school. Cell phones are important because of the ease in communication it brought and opportunities of getting information and gaining knowledge through internet-enabled phones. Granted, there are negative effects of using cell phones in classrooms, the benefits are much more and the negative effects can be addressed with correct policies and regulations to get the best out of technology in the classroom environment. Several educational providers have expressed concerns of the negative impacts of cell phone use by students in classrooms, especially during sessions. Some of them understand that there is huge potential in tapping the benefits of cell phones in classrooms instead of summarily banning them which usually leads to frustrations among students and smuggling of these gadgets into classrooms.

The use of cell phones in classrooms by students is a significant problem that educators are grappling with in the United States. A study of six different universities revealed that college students use their cell phones eleven times per day in classroom. 92% of college students in the study used their cell phones to send text messages during classes (Brenner). Studies suggest that using the cell phones during classes reduce attention and students take low quality notes which translate to poor performance. In the same study, 80% of students concede that using cell phones during classes reduce their ability to pay attention and perform well in tests (Brenner). Another problem associated with the use of mobile device in classrooms is the distractions it has on other students especially if they ring or make noises (Brenner). These problems can however be addressed and the merits of cell phones harnessed to improve academic performance and social interactions.

It is understandable to ban the use of cell phones in classrooms if the school does not have a sound cell phone policy to follow. Even schools with policies find it hard to implement because students sometimes sneak in their cell phones to use in class. Most of the uses of cell phones in class are not educational, such as listening to music, interacting with friends online through text messaging, Facebook and Twitter, and watching videos on the internet. Some usages of cell phones are more damaging to students, such as pornography (Ormiston). It is therefore understandable to forbid the use of cell phones in classrooms if there is a responsible use policy and students are not adhering to it. However, it would be better to harness all the benefits of cell phones in classrooms by carefully designing policies that would encourage students to responsibly use the gadgets in classrooms.

Granted, cell phones are a distraction in classroom and make the teachers’ job difficult when they have to enforce the school policies that prohibit the use of cell phones in class (Matchan). There are schools that take away cell phones from students for the day in order to prevent them from using them in classrooms. Teachers in these schools complain that this policy has created a lot of frustration among students which has obviously affected their academic performances. It is for this reason that cell phones should be allowed in classrooms accompanied by relevant policies that ensure that the negative effects are not encountered. For instance, formulating courtesy policy for students can help. This policy can require students not to use their cell phones during classes for private reasons unless they are using them for educational reasons.

Educational adoption of technology should allow the use of cell phones in classrooms because of the different ways it can be used to make teaching fun and the interaction between students efficient. Smartphones are very popular currently because of the different abilities they have ranging from internet capabilities to software that can be used for educational purposes. Some software includes Dropbox and Evernote; these are applications for saving and sharing documents, videos and pictures (Ormiston). Students can therefore record a classroom lesson and share with other students of store it for later usage. For instance, many schools are changing their strategies for delivering educational material such as through recording and use of videos.

Podcasts are being used by teachers to teach students in subjects such as history and social studies while YouTube videos are fast becoming integral part education. A podcast is a form of digital media that has episodic series of mostly audio files that people can subscribe to and download. On YouTube, “how to” videos have become popular because of the audiovisual aspect which shows the audience how to do things. Since students have their cell phones in classrooms, they can download these recording and listen to them after lessons in order to understand better the content at their own pace (Ormiston).

Many students use cell phones for music while in classrooms hence distracting them from the academic work. However, this is not the reason to prohibit the use of cellphones because listening to music is not entirely bad. For example, Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher developed a policy that would encourage students to use their cell phones responsibly (Gershon). They propose that students should be allowed to text on the phones during lunch hour and listen to music during independent class work (Gershon). The use of technology responsibly by students is not only beneficial for them in the classroom environment and their academics but it also helps them develop general responsible use of technology even during after school hours. For example, the discipline to read an article on the phone without being distracted by social media websites like Instagram and Facebook can be achieved.

Cell phones should be allowed in classrooms because it demonstrates trust thus prompting them to be more responsible. Students, especially teenagers often behave in defiance when rules are imposed on them. Granting them the freedom to use their cell phones responsibly will avert the factor of defiance and help them focus on what matters most in the classroom, academic work. This requires well-trained teachers to handle students with care because even though they may be learning to be responsible, they will still be breaking some codes. Teachers therefore need to be careful not to be harsh on the students but encourage them not to repeat the mistakes. Some punishments that teachers can impose on students include temporarily taking the cell phones away from them when they text, make phone calls or listens to music during lessons in class (Gershon).

The most important use of cell phones in today’s society in school or at home is for communications. Parents buy their children cell phones in order to be able to reach them instantly to find out how they are doing. Although it is not advisable to constantly contact children while they are in school, it is perfectly okay to find out how they are doing during breaks such as lunch hours. Thus in case of emergencies, students can reach their parents like in the case where students forget books or calculators at home or for their parents to pick them up after school (Matchan). For parents, they can reach their children in school with disconcerting news through the administration because communicating with them directly may not be good for them emotionally. Instilling the principles of good use of cell phones in students is therefore more important than taking them away.

Cell phones are used mostly for social interactions between students and their other friends. This use can be channeled for educational purposes because the social media websites have begun to be used for educational purposes such as through online discussions on Twitter and Facebook. Teachers can introduce discussion groups on Facebook and ask students to discuss a topic on the platform during the lesson. This activity can be used not just for learning but also to teach students that social media is not just for social interactions but also for education. They will therefore become more responsible and careful in the use of cell phones and social media while in class. Technology in general is inevitable and the schools must embrace cell phones and frame them to serve the purposes for which the school exists (Kiema).  It is worth noting that social interactions are part of the objectives of a school environment and using cell phones to teach students how to healthily interact with their peers may be beneficial rather than harmful for them.

Research is a very important part of learning in today’s context and information is available everywhere on the internet. This is unlike the previous decades where information could only be gotten from the teaching materials (Ormiston). Students have resorted to searching for information on search engines like Google, Yahoo Search and Bing thus cutting short the time spent in acquiring new information.  When they develop research skills early enough in school, they will grow up to be very experienced in carrying out research for academic and other purposes. In future, it is projected that almost all information materials will be digitized and made available on the internet. Cell phones are therefore a perfect way to access these materials online and improve their learning experience. Teachers can encourage students to learn better through online research by giving the assignments in class that require online sources. Wikipedia, news sites for current affairs and online libraries all can be accessed through smartphones. In preparation for lessons, teachers can ask students to look up a topic and prepare their results for discussions in class.

For people who oppose the introduction of cell phones in classrooms, the negative impact they would have on students and the classroom environment can be addressed and the benefits optimized which will lead to better academic results for students. Many teachers opposing the use of cell phones by students rightfully do so because they have seen the students distracted and their performances dropped. This may be because there are no structures to govern the use of these devices. It is clear that these gadgets will not go as people; especially young people are very attached to their cell phones for various reasons. It behooves the educators to turn this challenge into an opportunity and improve students’ classroom interactions through the use of many possibilities offered by mobile phones like social media, educational software and internet for research.

In conclusion, cell phones should be used in classrooms because of the several benefits it has on the academic and social development of students. This however must be done within an appropriate structure that is devoid of the negative effects of cell phones that have raised concerns among teachers and the education sector. As discussed in the essay, there are many ways cell phones can be used beneficially for students but there are foundations that need to be in place for this to happen. Since technology, especially the one for cell phones is inevitable and will not go away soon, it is wise to repurpose them for educational use in classrooms to prevent their misuse. The concerns raised by those opposing cell phones in classrooms are valid and the proposals by those supporting their use in classrooms can be used to address these concerns.

 Works Cited

Brenner, Tamara. "The Use Of Mobile Devices In The College Classroom". Bokcenter.harvard.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 June 2016.

Gershon, Livia. "Should Cell Phones Be Used In The Classroom? | JSTOR Daily". JSTOR Daily. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 June 2016.

Kiema, Kinjo. "As Schools Lift Bans On Cell Phones, Educators Weigh Pros And Cons - NEA Today". NEA Today. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 June 2016.

Matchan, Linda. "Cellphones In School: A Teaching Tool Or Distraction? - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 June 2016.

Ormiston, Meg. "How To Use Cell Phones As Learning Tools". TeachHUB. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 June 2016.

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[apocalypselyo]

To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality, because reality is opposed to the spiritual. (Piet Mondrian)