Teaching teens: 3 ways to embrace mobile phones in class

app Languages
Two young people looking over phone together in a room with large wooden cabinets

Teaching teenagers can be a rewarding yet challenging experience.

When planning classes, we need to consider the environment in which the students are growing up. Most of our teenage students do not know a life without the internet, instant messaging or Google.

Commonly referred to as (or Gen Z), they are the most tech-savvy generation to date; this should be reflected in how we teach them.

However, not all of us have access to computer labs, interactive whiteboards or class tablets. But there is something that many of our teens bring to class in their pockets and bags every day.

You’ve guessed it - a phone.

By bringing students’ phones into your classes, you can bridge the technology gap between the learners and the curriculum, keep them engaged for longer and make them feel more empowered at the same time.

Here are four low-tech activities that use phones in class.

1. Review target language with your very own quizzes

Activity requirements: one phone per student (or group of students) and a pre-made quiz.

is an app designed to help you create quizzes online, which can be a fun, engaging way to challenge your learners in the classroom.

Quizzes are an ideal activity to use at the start of a class to recycle previous vocabulary or to pre-teach new language.

For example, you could choose 10 British English phrases or idioms. Write a series of four possible definitions for each word, phrase, or idiom (with only one correct answer).

In class, ask your students to take out their phones, find the app, and link to the quiz.

Tell the students that they must vote for the definition they think is correct. They can keep track of their scores directly on the app while competing with their friends.

Not only will it immediately engage your learners and help them interact with what’s being learned, but they’ll also have a lot of fun.

2. Become expert translators using Google Translate

Activity requirements: a phone with the Google Translate app installed and a pen and paper per pair.

Did you know Google Translate has a feature where you can ? This is a perfect tool for text that you might find on a poster, in a book or uses an alphabet which you are unfamiliar with.

Bring in samples of different languages to class – the more complex, the better. If you don’t have anything suitable at home, find something online and print it out.

Get one student to take a photo of the text using the app and with their finger, select the section of the text they’d like to translate from the original language to English. (Note: if you download the Google Translate language file to your phone, it will translate everything automatically).

Then, have them dictate what it says to their partner, who has to write it down.

Finally, they work together to improve the English translation. After all, everyone knows Google’s English isn’t perfect (not yet, anyway).

3. Take photos outside the classroom to use in class

Activity requirements: a mobile phone with a camera per student.

Do your students love taking photos? Tap into their love of photography and make activities more exciting by incorporating the photos on their phones into your classes.

Adapt speaking activities from common exams such as the B2 Cambridge First. Instead of using the pictures in the book, put the students in pairs and get them each to choose a more relevant photo from their phones. You may find they have more to say and will communicate naturally while still practicing the necessary language and skills required in the exam.

Another idea is to get students to take photos of things they encounter in English in the street. This could be on a sign outside a restaurant or in their favorite clothing shop. Use these photos to start the next class with a discussion about where they saw it, what it means and if the English is correct.

You could also nominate one student each week to bring a photo they took that weekend. Share it with the class and get everyone to write Instagram captions. You wouldn’t believe how many already do this in English, so why not help them?

Keeping your teens on task with mobile tech

If you are worried about the misuse of mobile devices in your class – don’t be! Here are our top three strategies to help avoid students getting distracted:

  • Create a class contract. At the start of the course speak to them about when it is acceptable (e.g. during one of the activities above or to check the meaning of a new word on ) or not (e.g. during an exam or when you are explaining something) to use their phones. Then have someone write down everything you’ve talked about, get the whole class to sign it and stick it to the wall where everyone can see.
  • Give them a tech break. Halfway through the class, allow students 60 seconds to check their notifications to relieve their anxiety.
  • Reward good use. If you see they’ve been using their phones appropriately, reward them by playing their favorite game. The more you punish or tell them not to do something, the more they’ll want to do it.

More blogs from app

  • A young woman sat in a library with headphones around her neck reading a book

    Does progress in English slow as you get more advanced?

    By Ian Wood
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Why does progression seem to slow down as an English learner moves from beginner to more advanced skills?

    The journey of learning English

    When presenting at ELT conferences, I often ask the audience – typically teachers and school administrators – “When you left home today, to start your journey here, did you know where you were going?” The audience invariably responds with a laugh and says yes, of course. I then ask, “Did you know roughly when you would arrive at your destination?” Again the answer is, of course, yes. “But what about your students on their English learning journey? Can they say the same?” At this point, the laughter stops.

    All too often English learners find themselves without a clear picture of the journey they are embarking on and the steps they will need to take to achieve their goals. We all share a fundamental need for orientation, and in a world of mobile phone GPS we take it for granted. Questions such as: Where am I? Where am I going? When will I get there? are answered instantly at the touch of a screen. If you’re driving along a motorway, you get a mileage sign every three miles.

    When they stop appearing regularly we soon feel uneasy. How often do English language learners see mileage signs counting down to their learning goal? Do they even have a specific goal?

    Am I there yet?

    The key thing about GPS is that it’s very precise. You can see your start point, where you are heading and tell, to the mile or kilometer, how long your journey will be. You can also get an estimated time of arrival to the minute. As Mike Mayor mentioned in his post about what it means to be fluent, the same can’t be said for understanding and measuring English proficiency. For several decades, the ELL industry got by with the terms ‘beginner’, ‘elementary’, ‘pre-intermediate’ and ‘advanced’ – even though there was no definition of what they meant, where they started and where they ended.

    The CEFR has become widely accepted as a measure of English proficiency, bringing an element of shared understanding of what it means to be at a particular level in English. However, the wide bands that make up the CEFR can result in a situation where learners start a course of study as B1 and, when they end the course, they are still within the B1 band. That doesn’t necessarily mean that their English skills haven’t improved – they might have developed substantially – but it’s just that the measurement system isn’t granular enough to pick up these improvements in proficiency.

    So here’s the first weakness in our English language GPS and one that’s well on the way to being remedied with the Global Scale of English (GSE). Because the GSE measures proficiency on a 10-90 scale across each of the four skills, students using assessment tools reporting on the GSE are able to see incremental progress in their skills even within a CEFR level. So we have the map for an English language GPS to be able to track location and plot the journey to the end goal.

    ‘The intermediate plateau’

    When it comes to pinpointing how long it’s going to take to reach that goal, we need to factor in the fact that the amount of effort it takes to improve your English increases as you become more proficient. Although the bands in the CEFR are approximately the same width, the law of diminishing returns means that the better your English is to begin with, the harder it is to make further progress – and the harder it is to feel that progress is being made.

    That’s why many an English language-learning journey gets abandoned on the intermediate plateau. With no sense of progression or a tangible, achievable goal on the horizon, the learner can become disoriented and demoralised.

    To draw another travel analogy, when you climb 100 meters up a mountain at 5,000 meters above sea level the effort required is greater than when you climb 100 meters of gentle slope down in the foothills. It’s exactly the same 100 meter distance, it’s just that those hundred 100 meters require progressively more effort the higher up you are, and the steeper the slope. So, how do we keep learners motivated as they pass through the intermediate plateau?

    Education, effort and motivation

    We have a number of tools available to keep learners on track as they start to experience the law of diminishing returns. We can show every bit of progress they are making using tools that capture incremental improvements in ability. We can also provide new content that challenges the learner in a way that’s realistic.

    Setting unrealistic expectations and promising outcomes that aren’t deliverable is hugely demotivating for the learner. It also has a negative impact on teachers – it’s hard to feel job satisfaction when your students are feeling increasingly frustrated by their apparent lack of progress.

    Big data is providing a growing bank of information. In the long term this will deliver a much more precise estimate of effort required to reach higher levels of proficiency, even down to a recommendation of the hours required to go from A to B and how those hours are best invested. That way, learners and teachers alike would be able to see where they are now, where they want to be and a path to get there. It’s a fully functioning English language learning GPS system, if you like.

  • A woman on her laptop smiling and working

    The science behind Smart Lesson Generator: Making teaching easier with AI

    By Thomas Gardner
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    It's 6 AM on a Monday morning. Ms. Lopez wakes up early to prepare for the day ahead. She spends the morning reviewing lesson plans, making sure everything is ready for her students. By lunchtime, she is preparing for the afternoon, grabbing a quick bite between classes... but it doesn’t stop there. The school day finishes but Ms. Lopez stays late marking assignments. Finally, on Sunday night, she sits at her kitchen table, surrounded by papers, course books and lesson plans.

    Does this sound familiar? You are not alone.

    The challenge teachers face

    In 2024, app research found that76% of teachers spend at least one hour of their personal time on lesson planning each week, with 43% spending more than three hours. This is a lot of time that could be spent on other important tasks. Teachers need a solution that helps them plan lessons fast, is connected to their course books and is built by learning experts.

  • Children sat at desks in a classroom, one is smiling and looking to the front of the class

    English: the best second language for your child to learn

    By Steffanie Zazulak
    Reading time: 2 minutes

    As adult learners, our very motivation for learning English can sometimes hinder our progress because we are focusing too much on the end result. The informal way in which children learn English – through music, games and fun activities – offers an environment where they can learn and practise without worrying about the importance of it all. This relaxed attitude, in turn, gives them confidence in learning English and sets them up for more opportunities in their academic pursuits and future career options.

    the positive impact bilingualism has on a child’s cognitive development. Catherine Ford, head teacher of Moreton First Prep School, says that children : “Before children become self-conscious they can try out their newly acquired languages without fear of embarrassment”.

    Starting the English learning process at a young age will provide the head start that most parents are keen to give their children in life, education and career. More than 77% of parents who were interviewed as part of said they would consider sending their child to study at a university abroad, which involves studying in English.

    Educational benefits

    The number of students pursuing postgraduate studies overseas continues to rise, reflecting the global nature of education. According to the seeking diverse academic experiences and cultural immersion. One crucial factor in this journey is having the right level of English skills, especially when applying to universities in popular destinations such as the US, UK, and Australia.

    Learning English from a young age provides a solid foundation, enabling students to tackle more complex language skills tailored to their academic goals. Traditional English teaching often emphasizes reading, writing, and grammar, but studying abroad offers a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in an English-speaking culture, enhancing speaking and listening skills.

    Future career benefits

    Mastering English at an early age can be a transformative asset for future career success. English is the lingua franca of business, opening doors to global opportunities and enabling individuals to pursue diverse career paths across borders. As the most widely used language in business worldwide, proficiency in English is a powerful motivator for students aspiring to join global companies.

    Bilingualism is becoming increasingly advantageous in the job market, improving employability and making candidates more appealing to employers. , underscoring the competitive edge that language skills provide.

    Empowering the next generation

    The benefits your children are given by learning English at a young age are invaluable and as they go through life, the possibilities for advancement in their academic and business careers will be wide open. Children are fortunate to have intuitive language learning capabilities from a young age and this is certainly something to capitalize on.