Cell phones, teachers and students: challenges for the elaboration of another pedagogical contract

Abstract

In the so-called digital culture society, cell phones are so widespread that, on many occasions, they are identified by people as if they were part of their own body. Evidently, the school environment is identified as a space where such devices become omnipresent, to the point of prompting reflection on how they could be used pedagogically. In view of this, the objective of the authors of this article is to critically reflect on the role of the high school teacher in the face of the increasingly frequent use of cell phones inside and outside the classroom for supposedly pedagogical purposes. Relying on thinkers from the Critical Theory of Society, the methodology used was the analysis of 17 academic articles published in recent years, which examined the contribution of cell phones in high school classes. From this, it was possible to conclude that, if the cell phone can be used pedagogically, as well as engender practices of concentration dispersion and cyberbullying, it is essential to encourage the presence of pedagogical contracts between educational agents so that they can mutually agree on when and how to use such a device during activities carried out in classrooms.