Exploring Functions and Tenable Structures for Mobile Use as Support for School Tasks

The objective of this chapter is to explore the function that students’ mobile phone use can have, and how the use of mobile phones could be structured in a tenable way, related to school tasks. Hence, we have defined and examined the following research questions: (1) What functions related to school tasks do students and teachers express that mobile phone use can have? (2) How do they express that mobile phone use needs to be structured in school tasks? To explore these questions, we have adopted an activity theoretical perspective and used qualitative methods based on interviews. The results show that the use of mobile phones can offer both supporting functions and functions with considerable tensions related to school tasks. The expressed supportive functions have been categorized as supporting memory, communication, and understanding. Meanwhile, mobile use can be critical because of ethical issues, limited capacity, distraction risks, and cost for students. All teachers and students have agreed that mobile phone use at school must be structured to be used in supportive ways related to school assignments. However, they have expressed different strategies and disagreements about how rules could be applied in school practice.

"The results show that the use of mobile phones can offer both supporting functions and functions with considerable tensions related to school tasks. The expressed supportive functions have been categorized as supporting memory, communication, and understanding. Meanwhile, mobile use can be critical because of ethical issues, limited capacity, distraction risks, and cost for students. All teachers and students have agreed that mobile phone use at school must be structured to be used in supportive ways related to school assignments." (Authors, in Abstract)