“Do Apps Help You or Just Waste Your Time?” reads the New York Times headline for their recent article on how teenagers might be taking technology out of hand and taking advantage of what it has to offer. It is common now for students as young as six or seven all the way up to seniors in college to use a tablet or cellphone to do their work. A lot of these kids and young adults will oftentimes find little sneaky ways to get around doing the work that they are supposed to be doing in class, and instead play internet games. People who are saying they are using their phones for schoolwork are really avoiding school overall and using social media instead.
Sometimes, we will see a new useful app pop up in the internet world, like how in Google Play you can download an app called MyHomework, an app solely dedicated to making it easier for students to record homework on their devices and write if they are done or not.
Seeing these types of things gives hope, but playing Devil’s advocate, the reality of it is that most of the students who say that they are using their devices to help them with their schoolwork are actually using them to play games and do other stuff that is more entertaining to them.
Schools such as ours: IACS, have BYOD, now encouraging students to have their own devices and bring them to school everyday. With permission from the librarian, Heather Landis, you can even take a computer out and use it at school and home. The real question is, is this a good thing or not? Sometimes, students have been seen getting migraines from using computers for so long that they lose track of time. Students have also been seen getting headaches from looking at the light of the computers for too long.
These devices can be used for good, by using them to record homework and type up documents quickly. On the other hand, students could be tricking the general authoritative community by making them believe they are doing schoolwork, but in reality, playing games and using social media. Teachers need to make a point to watch what their students are doing on their devices rather than assuming they are doing their schoolwork.
