Teachers’ Views on the Use of Mobile Phones in Schools

Mobile phones are the most popular and widely used mobile devices in the world. Besides providing users with different communication facilities (SMS messages, voice or video calls, social media etc.), they can also be used as a powerful tool for teaching and learning. Despite this popularity and widespread, the use of mobile phones in schools is the most controversial issue in Turkey, as well as all over the world. This study was aimed to determine the views of ICT teachers on students’ use of mobile phone in schools. The survey research was used in this study. Data were collected from 424 teachers working at secondary schools, high schools and vocational/technical high schools in Turkey. The results of the research revealed that mobile phones have become an indispensable tool for teachers to both access information and communicate in their professional and personal lives. On the other hand, it was determined that ICT teachers lean towards bans or restrictions on the use of mobile phones by students at school due to pedagogical concerns. We also found that teachers have different views about whether mobile phones are a need for students or not, although mobile phones are an important means for communication and gaining information in their lives. The results of the research showed that education and guidance activities for effective use of mobile phones are not carried out in most of the schools. Received: 22 March 2021 Accepted: 1 June 2021


Introduction
The use of mobile technologies in education environments by students of different age groups has been on the rise (Sundgren, 2017;Walker, 2013). With the transition to mobile economy, recently launched policies at schools such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), and 1:1 Tablets have become more and more popular as part of a new transformation in education. In the report prepared by European Schoolnet, BYOD (or BYOT) denotes allowing the employees (school administrators, teachers, etc.) or students to bring their personal mobile devices to their workplace or education centers and use these devices to access institutional (or other) information, applications, and services 579 can be employed in high schools with students over 15 was left to schools themselves (Smith, 2018). In Victoria, one of the six states of Australia, mobile phone use of primary and secondary school students during school hours beginning with the first semester of 2020 will be banned ("Mobile phones", 2019). Similarly, the Western Australian government decided to ban students' use of mobile phones in all state schools. The law, which came into force in 2020, limits students use of mobile phones, smart watches, tablets, and headphones unless it is by the instruction of a school personnel ("Mobile phones to be banned", 2019). In Japan, primary and secondary school students were banned from bringing mobile devices to school, and high school students' use was restricted. However, this ban was lifted in 2018 both due to the widespread use of phones and due to security concerns, such as being able to reach a student during an earthquake. According to the new regulations, each school sets its own rules and informs its students about mobile phone use at school (''Tokyo to allow", 2019). In Turkey, on the other hand, essentials concerning the use of mobile phones and other IT tools in Ministry of National Education (MoNE) schools were indicated in the regulations of both Primary Education and Secondary Education Institutions.

Regulations Regarding the Use of Mobile Phones in Schools in Turkey
"Using IT tools for personal, social, and educational benefits" is among the expected behaviors from students in MoNE's Regulation on Pre-School and Primary Education Institutions (Ministry of National Education [MoNE], 2014), and "keeping one's mobile phone turned on" is cited among the behaviors necessitating admonition. IT tools are defined within Regulation on Secondary Education Institutions. According to this, "mobile phones and cameras with audio and video recording capacities; computers, data storage devices, pagers, and similar devices used for gathering, storing, designing, processing, transferring, and reproducing information" are defined as IT tools. The regulation requires students to use IT tools and social media for personal, social, and educational benefits.  "It is essential that students do not enter education environments with IT tools. However, using IT tools as course material and equipment based on the characteristics of the curriculum, the allowance of possessing and using them in education environments, keeping in mind such circumstances as dormitories and students' special needs, and during class breaks and lunch breaks with the explicit permission of the school administration and with the knowledge and control of the teacher during class hours, possessing and using IT tool in education environments and letting them to be used as well as the rules and procedures concerning these are determined and decreed by the board of teachers, and these decisions are announced to the students and parents (Item, 52/t)." The item "To behave in a way what will harm or disrupt education processes" in the Regulation can be related to IT tools. In addition, the following behaviors are also listed in the Regulation as actions that would necessitate reprimand:  Using IT tools disregarding the rules and procedures decreed by the board of teachers.
 Disrupting the flow of the lesson by keeping IT tools on without the knowledge and control of the teacher.
 Possessing IT tools and using them in education environments; possessing and using them during breaks and lunch breaks without the permission of the school administration.
There are different rules and procedures concerning the use of mobile phones in the regulations for primary and secondary education institutions in Turkey. At the secondary education level, permissions, rules, and procedures for students' use of mobile phones are determined and implemented by the board of teachers. At the primary education level, on the other hand, it is underlined that students can use mobile phones without disrupting education processes as long as it is for personal, social, or educational benefit. As can be seen, there are different ways of exercising the use of mobile phones in Turkey as well as in other countries both due to education levels and countries' systems of government. Some countries may opt to ban use while others may elect to limit it. However, the dominant opinion is that the decisions to be made on students' use of mobile phones in schools should be left to schools themselves considering the education levels just like in Turkey.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Phones in Schools
Considering the use of mobile phones in classes, research on the pedagogical advantages and disadvantages of these devices is still fairly new and there is no clear consensus on the issue (Baker, Lusk, & Neuhauser, 2012). There are a number of studies underlining the benefits of using mobile phones in classes as a means of effective learning and teaching (Looi, Sun, & Xie, 2015;Purcell, Heaps, Buchanan, & Friedrich, 2013;Smith-Stoner, 2012;Steel, 2012;Thomas, O'Bannon, & Bolton, 2013;Yıldırım, Yaşar, & Duru, 2016;Walker, 2013). On the other hand, discussions laying bare the possible disadvantages of their use highlight these phones being distractive negatively affecting the teaching process (Baker, Lusk, & Neuhauser, 2012;Campbell, 2007;Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell, 2010;McCoy, 2013;Shelton, Elliot, Eaves, & Exner, 2009;Thomas, O'Bannon, & Bolton, 2013;Yıldırım, Yaşar, & Duru, 2016). In addition to all these, whether mobile phone use has an impact on academic success is another area of contention. In this respect, the meta-analysis study by Kates, Wu and Corny (2018) which aims to put forth to what extent the use of mobile phones affects students' academic success is significant in revealing generalizable finding for secondary school, high school, and university levels. At the end of this study, it was determined that the use of mobile phones has a small negative effect on educational outcomes (r=-0.16). However, the researchers also warn against jumping to hasty conclusions based on these findings; they maintain that the summary effect size has a relatively small value even in the educational field.

Purpose of the Study
The advantages and disadvantages of using mobile phones in classes are still a subject of debate in literature. While some schools point blank ban the use of mobile phones others implement school policies such as BYOD along with certain restrictions. In many developed and developing countries, students were distributed millions of tablets or laptops keeping in line with "One Laptop Per Child" (Doğan, Çınar, & Seferoğlu, 2016 Thomas, 2015). Within the framework of these policies, the primary source that would decide how to manage teaching processes in accordance with students' needs is the teachers, who are in direct contact with their students in their classrooms. Moreover, there is a gap in literature on teachers' views on the use of mobile phones in schools. For these reasons, it was decided to focus on teachers instead of school administrators, parents, or students. Within the scope of this study, the views of "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Teachers" on the use of mobile phones was examined. These teachers pioneer the development of a technology culture in the schools at which they work and thus assume a leading role. ICT teachers have assumed an important responsibility in students' developing an awareness for lifelong learning when they guide them in using information technologies appropriately and effectively and in acquiring digital literacy (MoNE, 2018). In addition, ICT teachers assume several roles outside of the responsibilities defined by the Ministry of Education; they help other branch teachers, besides students, in different matters (Topu & Göktaş, 2012). In this respect, research questions guiding this study are as follows:

Study Group
A total of 424 ICT teachers from three different grade levels participated in this study by responding to the survey. Within the scope of this study, the views of teachers working in secondary school, high school and vocational/technical high school levels were examined.
These groups were preferred because they are at the center of discussions on mobile phone use at K12 level due to the age of the students. Among them, 389 (91.75%) of the participants work in a public school and 35 (8.25%) in a private school. Out of 424 teachers, 291 (68.63%) of them stated that they were working in secondary school, 78 (18.40%) in high school, and 55 (12.97%) in vocational/technical high school. All participants are actively engaged in the teaching profession.

Data Collection Tools
Research data were collected with an instrument specifically designed for this study.
This data collection tool was developed by the researchers. We followed the conventional procedure of questionnaire development (Büyüköztürk, 2005). The questionnaire item pool was based on the current and up-to-date literature review associated with mobile phone use in schools. Content and face validity for questionnaire was reviewed by using experts (n=3) in the field of educational technology. We conducted a pilot study with three ICT teachers who have at least 10 years of work experience. They marked information whether it is suitable or not. The questionnaire consists of three parts. In the first part, the participants were asked to rank the means they preferred in accessing information according to their priority. The second part includes questions to determine whether teachers use mobile phones for communication with colleagues, parents and students. With the questions in the first two sections, there is an effort to determine the mobile phone usage habits of the participants. Participants in the study group consist of teachers actively working at public or private schools. In this context, the third part includes questions reflecting teachers' professional knowledge and experiences, and determining the impacts of mobile phone bans or restrictions on educational outcomes in schools. In this section, teachers were also asked whether mobile phones are a need for students and whether education and guidance activities have been carried out in their schools regarding the effective use of mobile phones.
While analyzing the questions in the third part, the views of the participants were examined

Data Collection and Analysis
The quantitative data of the study were collected from ICT teachers through an online survey. We utilized the communication channels (Instant messaging apps and social media accounts) of a non-governmental organization which operates in the field of information technologies in Turkey to collect data. LimeSurvey was used to design and implement the survey. An invitation message was sent to participants along with a cover letter to participate in the survey via communication channels. Teachers volunteered to participate in this study. To promote the completion of the survey and increase response rate, we renewed our invitations three times in one-week interval. The approximate time for completion was 10 minutes. The results of the normality test showed that the data was not normally distributed. Therefore, chi-square test, which is a nonparametric statistical test, was employed to analyze the categorical variables. Besides that, descriptive statistics which show the frequency and percentage were also carried out. The data was analyzed using the GNU PSPP 0.8.4 statistical package program.

Preferred Means of ICT Teachers to Access Information
In this study, participants were asked to rank the means they preferred to access information according to their priority status. Primary means preferred by teachers in order to access information according to the school type and grade level are presented in Table 1. teachers also indicated that they use mobile phones as a primary means of accessing information.

ICT Teachers' Use of Mobile Phones for Communication
Findings on the use of mobile phones for communication with colleagues, parents and students were presented in the Table 2. In the following, the findings regarding the school type and grade level were also given.

Views about the Impacts of Mobile Phone Bans or Restrictions on Educational Outcomes
Of the 424 teachers participating in the study, 266 stated that there were bans or restrictions on the use of mobile phones by students at their school, and 158 of them stated that there were no bans or restrictions. Another issue that is curious within the scope of this research is the impacts of mobile phone bans or restrictions on the educational outcomes. For this purpose, participants' opinions in two separate groups (G1= Ban or restrictions; G2= No ban or restrictions) were analyzed and reported in Table 3. restrictions on mobile phone use in schools prevent behaviors such as cyberbullying and push students to break the rules. In both groups, it is seen that the total rate of those who disagree with their views that they prevented behaviors such as cyberbullying and pushed students to violate the rules or stated that they were indecisive was higher than the rate of participants agreeing to these statements.

Views Regarding Whether the Mobile Phone is a Need for Students
Countries around the world exhibit different practices regarding the use of mobile phones by students in schools. It also happens that decisions taken depending on the terms and conditions change over time. For example, Japanese government first banned the use of mobile phones by students at schools in 2009. However, this ban was lifted in 2018. Two factors stand out in making this decision in Japan. These are the widespread use of mobile phones among students today and the cases of accessing students via mobile phones in emergencies due to security concerns such as natural disasters. Deloitte (2019) also stated that mobile phones have reached the status of indispensable products for individuals. As can be seen, it is understood that whether the mobile phone is a need or not is considered as an important criterion in the decisions to be taken whether the mobile phone should be used in whether the opinions of the teachers differ according to the grade level are given in Table 5. Among the participants in the G1 group, the rate of those who expressed a positive opinion at the "Secondary School" level was 26.37%, while this rate was 53.49% for "High School" and 72.73% for "Vocational/Technical High School". The rate of those who expressed a positive opinion in the G2 group was 36.67% in the "Secondary School" level, 60.00% in the "High School" level, and 42.42% in the "Vocational/Technical High School".

Views on Education and Guidance Activities on Mobile Phone Use in Schools
When we look at the practices about banning mobile phones in schools, it is seen that countries have taken different approaches based on grade level. However, there is a common similarity between all these different practices. Schools draw up guidelines and inform students about rules. In this context, we examined whether education and guidance activities regarding the effective use of mobile phones are carried out in schools. We also analyzed differences between grade levels. As can be seen in Table 6, it was found that the difference observed in teachers' opinions about whether education and guidance activities on mobile phone use were carried out at school was not significant (2=3.99, sd=2, p>.05). Most participants expressed that there was no education and guidance activities on effective use of mobile phones at the schools they work (G1=73.68%, G2=74.05%). Among the participants in the G1 group, the rate of those who stated that there were education and guidance activities was 17.29%, while this rate was 12.03% for G2 group.
The results of the chi-square test regarding whether the views of the participants differ according to the grade level are given in Table 7. Since the expected value for the G2 group is less than 5, the number of pores exceeds 20% and it is not possible to join or increase the number of participants, the frequency and percentage values for this group are given in the following table. group, the rate of those who expressed a positive opinion at the "Secondary School" level that education and guidance activities are carried out in their school is 12.94%, while this rate is 34.88% for "High School" and 22.73% for "Vocational/Technical High School". In the G2 group, the rate of those who expressed a positive opinion regarding the effective use of mobile phones in their school is 14.44% at the "Secondary School" level, 11.43% at the "High School" level, and 6.06% in the "Vocational/Technical High School".

Discussion
In this study, ICT teachers' views on their students' use of mobile phones at schools, which has been a hotly debated issue both in Turkey and the world, were tried to be determined. In addition to guiding their students in improving their technology literacy, ICT teachers support their colleagues in developing their techno-pedagogical skills. In this respect, the target group of the study was thought to provide a rich insight to the students' use of mobile phones at schools. To this end, participants' preferred means to access information and their use of mobile phones to communicate so that ICT teachers' personal and professional mobile phone use habits could be determined. Then, through the main global headlines, ICT teachers' views on the reflections for education of bans or restrictions on mobile phone use at schools were examined based on their professional knowledge, field proficiency, and experience.
Findings of the study showed that the majority of teachers at both state and private schools at all education levels prefer mobile phones and computers more frequently than other means to access any information they might need. Moreover, almost all of the participants indicated that they use mobile phones to communicate with their colleagues.
Similarly, most of the teachers said that they use mobile phones to communicate with the parents. It was also determined that teachers' views are similar whether they work at a state or a private school. However, it was seen that there are different views when it comes to mobile phone use to communicate with students. It is notable that teachers are almost divided into two in terms of using mobile phones to communicate with their students. Based on school type, when the undecided ones are added to the number of participants who gave a negative answer, most of the participants said they do not use their mobile phones to communicate with students. All these findings point at the fact that mobile phones have become indispensable tools for teachers which they use in their personal and professional lives both for accessing information and for communication.
Another question for which an answer was sought in this study was the impacts of mobile phone bans on educational outcomes. In this respect, participants' views were examined in two groups where there are no bans or restrictions in one and certain bans and restrictions in the other. Findings of the study showed that the views of teachers in both these groups vary significantly for the expressions providing class discipline, helping students concentrate on the lesson, contributing positively to students' academic success.
Looking at the percentage ratio, the number of people who gave a positive response especially to the expressions of class discipline and lesson concentration is notably high in both groups. This point at the fact that teachers at whose schools there are no bans or restrictions also lean towards bringing bans or restrictions to students' mobile phone use at schools in order to eliminate or minimize factors that disrupt the teaching process and prevent distraction. Similarly, Gao, Yan, Zhao, Pan, and Mo (2014)  Findings of the study show that low-achieving students are affected more by the presence of their phones and get distracted more easily; high-achieving students can concentrate in class whether they have their phones with them or not. Researchers underline that mobile phone use in classes should not be disregarded (Beland & Murphy, 2016). In a similar study by  Kessel, Hardardottir, and Tyrefors (2020) in Sweden, it was determined that banning mobile phones have no effect on student performance.
Within the scope of the study, participants' views on whether mobile phone bans or restrictions at schools would prevent students from using the Internet at class hours for irrelevant matters (cyberloafing) and whether they would prevent inappropriate and undesired behavior coming into existence through IT tools (cyberbullying) were examined. It was found out that the views of participants in both groups varied significantly. Most of the teachers in groups G1 and G2 indicated that bans or restrictions would prevent cyberloafing.
It is evident that the main motivation at the center of the teachers' views, just like in ensuring discipline in class and helping students concentrate, is the desire to minimize cyberloafing.
On the other hand, there was no consensus and participants had different opinions when it comes to expressions about cyberbullying and disobeying the rules.
As mentioned before, findings of this study put forth that mobile phones have become an indispensable tool for teachers which they use in their personal and professional lives both for accessing information and for communication. Nevertheless, one of the rather surprising findings of this study is that teachers' views on the merits of mobile phones usage for students are strikingly different even though they use mobile phones as an integral part of their own lives. However, one of the reasons effective on the decision-making processes in Japan in the abolishing of bans in 2018, which were implemented in 2009, is the students' widespread mobile phone use. According to the 2020 data of "Survey on Household Use of Information Technologies," mobile phone use percentage of 16-24-year-old individuals is 92.4% (TurkStat, 2020). There is no consensus among parents in Turkey as to when is the best time for their kids to own a mobile phone. However, in a study conducted by Dinleyici, Carman, Ozturk, and Sahin-Dagli (2016), 59.8% of parents indicated that 12-17 is the most appropriate time to buy a mobile phone for their kids, while 19.5% said that 6-11 is the most appropriate time to do so. In a study conducted with the participation of children between the aged 9-16 in seven countries in Europe, it was determined that 46% of the children own a mobile phone (Mascheroni & Ólafsson, 2015). Evidently, it is not a distant prediction to claim that mobile phones will be indispensable for children just as they are for adults. Indeed, it can even be presumed that they will become a necessity rather than a need with the more widespread use of new technologies such as web 2.0 tools, online exams, virtual schools, blended learning, and BYOD policies which promotes greater participation.
The most striking finding of this study is the lack of education and guidance activities for the effective use of mobile phones in many of the schools, independent of the existence of bans or restrictions. However, in many countries, rules and regulations about mobile phone use are left to schools' discretions, and schools are asked to inform their students on the issue. This study puts forth an important conclusion that schools in Turkey should focus their attention to education and guidance activities.
It is evident that countries all over the world have given up on taking blanket decisions about mobile phone use; rather they leave it to schools to make the necessary decisions. Regulation on Secondary Education published on September 5, 2019, is the most comprehensive and current text in Turkey on the use of mobile phones. According to the Regulation, like the global tendency on the issue, rules and regulations on mobile phone use at schools are left to the decision of the board of teachers. The board includes the principal of the institution as the chair, the vice principals, teachers, experts, and education personnel; it shoulders an important responsibility. It would be appropriate for the board to follow a data-based decision-making process on the use of mobile phones at schools, which is an issue that interests not only the school or the teachers but also the students, parents, and other stakeholders. Mobile phones have become indispensable tools for not only the adults but also for children in today's world in which digital technologies are inseparably interconnected with the teaching processes. It should be kept in mind that education is a dynamic process, and the most important pillar is the students. Just like the Japanese example, all countries should continuously monitor and evaluate their students' needs, interests, and expectations based on the ever-changing conditions. In a research realized in Australia, which is considered the first national public opinion study on digital education, it was indicated that the issue of limiting mobile phone use at schools should be tackled carefully. It was reported that there is no consistent public support for completely banning mobile phone use at schools; the public leans more towards limitation than banning.
Emphasizing that it should be dealt with individually at school level, the report suggested that easy-to-understand and clear advice policies concerning the use of mobile phones should be developed (Selwyn, 2019).

Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research
While this study presents a large perspective on ICT teachers' views on the bans or restrictions of mobile phone use in school, it has some limitations. Firstly, participants of the study involved ICT teachers from secondary school, high school and vocational/technical high school levels. There are considerably fewer high school and vocational/technical high school teachers than secondary school teachers, which limits the generalizability of the study. It is quite possible that the views of a larger population of ICT teachers from different grade levels would differ. Additionally, studies to be conducted with the participation of other stakeholders (school administrators, branch teachers, parents, etc.) in the future would provide richer data for such a significant matter. Secondly, this study relied on self-report survey data. It is also possible to design mixed method studies with large sample sizes.
Moreover, considering regional developmental differences in Turkey, future researches at schools that have or do not have bans/restrictions are needed. Thus, the pedagogical consequences and effects of bans and restrictions can be much better understood; understanding what kind of procedures and principles are determined and implemented on a school basis will also help improve school policy standards.