Industry: Smartphones pay off in class

SAN FRANCISCO — The cellphone industry has a suggestion for improving the math skills of U.S. students: Spend more time on cellphones in the classroom.

At a conference this week, CTIA, a wireless-industry trade group, plans to push the educational value of cellphones. It will present research — paid for by Qualcomm, a maker of chips for cellphones — that shows so-called smartphones can make students smarter.

Some critics are denouncing the effort as self-serving. But proponents say they are simply making the same kind of pitch the computer industry has been making since the 1980s.

The only difference between smartphones and laptops, they say, is that cellphones are smaller, cheaper and more coveted.

"This is a device kids have, it's a device they are familiar with and want to take advantage of," said Shawn Gross, director of Digital Millennial Consulting, which received a $1 million grant from Qualcomm for the study.

His group also is talking to districts in Chicago, San Diego and Florida about buying specially equipped phones for the classroom.

On Tuesday, Digital Millennial will release findings from its study of four North Carolina schools in low-income neighborhoods, where ninth- and 10th-grade math students were given high-end cellphones running software and programs to help with algebra studies.

The study found students with the phones performed 25 percent better on the end-of-the-year algebra exam than did students without the devices in similar classes.

Critics say access to such communications usually detracts from the overall time students spent thinking about studies. That is why at least 10 states, and many other school districts, have outright bans on cellphones on school premises.

"Texting, ringing, vibrating," said Janet Bass, a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Teachers. "Cellphones, so far, haven't been an educational tool. They've been a distraction."