Introduction

It is rare that a day will go by in school that someone's cell phone does not go off. Catchy and irritating ring tones are a disruption to professors and students. Lectures and learning inevitably come to a halt as a student shuffles in their bag to turn their cell phone on silent. However, with the increasing capability of cell phones is there a way they can productively be used in the classroom? Are they a necessity or a menace? You may see them and hear them everywhere in years to come. According to Karen Henke it's because "technologies that are flexible, small and affordable are going to be dominant in the classroom in the future"(Electronic Education Report, 2005, p. 1). With more and more students having access to cell phones and younger and younger children (St. Gerard, 2006, p. 44) the question inevitably arises, do they have a place in the classroom?