Smartphones in the Classroom

I’m certainly not anti-technology. My laptop, which has outlasted two different best friends, is one of my most stalwart companions and has, therefore, secured its place as one of my most beloved possessions. I hate writing by hand, always preferring to type, and I pity the poor saps who had to write entire novels in such a plebeian fashion. Playing video games is one of my favorite pastimes, and someday, I hope that AI technology becomes advanced enough for me to have a robot dog and a robot butler, who — if we’re talking about sentience level advancement — I pledge to pay a fair wage. At this point, some might question the purpose of a robot butler, to which I would respond, “You just don’t get it. It’s a robot butler. It’s the best thing ever.”

Moving on. 

Given my personal preferences, it might seem strange that I can’t stand smartphones, but it’s true. They’re the worst. Sure, I use my laptop every day and feel somewhat hobbled when Apple’s terrible power cord gives out once a year, but you don’t see me plunking it down on the dinner table or pulling it out of my backpack to browse Instagram while in line for coffee. (Also, I don’t get Instagram, but that’s off topic.) The fact is, I don’t enjoy being sucked into the smartphone’s seductive vortex of constant connection, 24/7 entertainment, and instant gratification. Laptops, computers, and cellphones all have limitations for when or how you can use them, but smartphones, as the name suggests, are highly sophisticated devices that have the ability to perform most, if not all, of the previous devices’ capabilities —anytime, anywhere. For one thing, this feeling of being constantly reachable is exhausting. (Please leave me alone.) Furthermore, studies performed by Ward, Duke, Gneezy, and Bos (2017) have found that the mere presence of an individual’s smartphone has a negative impact on their cognitive capacity, impacting the “the attentional resources that reside at the core of both working memory capacity and fluid intelligence” (p. 150). This effect is positively correlated with smartphone dependence, indicating that the negative impact of smartphone usage continues even when we abstain from checking our messages or scrolling through social media (Ward et al., 2017).

There used to be one place where you were, relatively, safe from your pocket overlords — the classroom. That, sadly, is no longer the case. My sister is currently in high school, and she, like the rest of my family, does not have a smartphone. Unfortunately, more and more of her teachers seem to be relying on them in the classroom, a fact which is sometimes problematic for her. To be fair, the teachers always come up with an alternative solution, but they are not always very elegant and usually entail making her share with another student. (I had to share computers with another student for the first half of my Computers/Careers class in high school, and I still only type with four fingers.) Instead of using graphing calculators, they use an app called Desmos. Instead of normal test prep activities, they use their phones to access a website called Cahoots, which is just an electronic quiz game. In what I think is the weirdest example, her history teacher had them make Tik Tok videos as an assignment and then made fun of her when she said she didn’t have a smartphone. None of these activities or tasks are drastically improved by the involvement of smartphones and only serves to further increase smartphone dependence and penalize students whose parents are making a stand against it. 

Furst, Evans, and Roderick (2018) found that, on average, students who checked their phones more than 39 times per day were significantly more likely to state that they interfered with their ability to complete their homework. Similar to Ward et al.’s (2017) findings, those who were more dependent on their phones found them to be a greater distraction (Furst et al., 2018). While the intentions behind smartphone use in the classroom are, undoubtedly, good, it still habituates students to smartphone use, and that’s if you assume that every single student is using their phone exactly as they’ve been instructed. (I’ll give you a hint, they’re not.) 

As my sister can attest to, students often use their smartphones to text, watch YouTube videos, and, somehow, get away with playing Fortnite in class. When I was in high school, texting in class was a cardinal sin. Today, more and more teachers have embraced the use of smartphones, and this, unfortunately, has the side effect of increasing the number of distractions that go unchecked in the classroom. As Grinols and Rajesh (2014) point out “students alternating their attention between the reading material and their texting [are] likely [to] impede their comprehension of the material” (p. 94). One obvious solution to these distractions is to not allow students to use smartphones in class and to avoid relying on them for things that can be easily achieved through normal means. Ultimately, technology is not something that I wish to demonize. I do think there are ways that technology can assist learning in the classroom, but at this time, smartphones are not the answer.

References

Furst, R. T., Evans, D. N., & Roderick, N. M. (2018). Frequency of college student smartphone use: Impact on classroom homework assignments. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 3(2), 49-57. doi:10.1007/s41347-017-0034-2

Grinols, A. B., & Rajesh, R. (2014). Multitasking with smartphones in the college classroom. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 77(1), 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490613515300

Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces availability in cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research,2(2), 140-154. doi:10.1086/691462

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3 comments

  1. Hi!

    Wow! I loved your post. I also was really interested in your beginning and how quick your story and post shifted. I really liked your view on things. I do admit that I am one of those people that if the line is too long at Starbucks or Dunkin I am on my phone. I do also agree that smartphones have taken over peoples lives which to me is very scary. I remember growing up the phones we had were nothing compared to the ones we have today. As far as smartphones in the classroom I think its very important that they be banned from being used in the classrooms. I know where I work the elementary schools the kids are not allowed to have them on at all. I am not sure about middle school though. Growing up they were semi strict but I was always sneaking in my phone when I was able to. Now, at the High School level, I have a cousin that is always on her phone during school hours and I believe it needs to change. No child should be on their phone in school. I say this because they are here to earn an education and a phone should not cause a distraction for the students. Overall I really enjoyed your post!

  2. I have to say, I absolutely loved your post!

    You made excellent points about smartphones being a distraction in the classroom. I’m almost certain that they’re not always being used as intended. As you pointed out, the mere presence of a phone is enough to cause a decline in cognitive function of an individual. When I am working on my computer for work or school, I put my phone is a different room to charge (by the way I am on my fourth Apple charging cord!) because it is tempting to switch from this to my phone and check my e-mails and Facebook.

    When I was in middle and high school, electronics were a big “no-no”. If they caught you with a phone, it was quickly confiscated, no ifs or buts about it. I recently went to drop of lunch for my son, who is in fifth grade, and I noticed another parent left a lunch box with a note on it, it said “Love you. Be careful, your phone is inside”. I couldn’t believe it. Why does a child that young even need a phone in school? But, that’s none of my business.

    Not only are they distracting, but they can as a result hurt student grades. Bjorsen and Archer (2015) noted that cell phone use in the classroom was negatively associated with test scores. Furthermore, in study they cited that individuals usually spent about 6 minutes studying before task switching-getting on their phone to check Facebook, or text (Rosen et al. 2013; as cited in Bjorsen & Archer 2015).

    I know I appreciate this advance in technology. I like being able to talk to anyone, anywhere, or even check my bank account to make sure I have enough for my morning coffee, but it has definitely had detrimental effects. Smartphone use should not be allowed, if the intended use (assist with classwork, or other related class activity) cannot be ascertained.

    References

    Bjorsen, C.A. & Archer, K.J. (2015). Relations between college students’ cell phone us during class and grades. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 1(4), 326-336. DOI:10.1037/stl0000045

  3. Michaelyn Marie Morgan

    Thought-provoking post!
    I can completely understand the drawbacks of smartphones in the classroom, and it upsets me that your sister was ostracized for not having a smartphone!
    However, I feel the need to be the devil’s advocate for smartphones in the classroom. Personally, when I was in high school five years ago, my school did a good job at enforcing a “no cellphone” policy, unless our teachers allowed it for a specific reason. According to a recent case study from Pamela Oliveira (2019), allowing students to use their smartphones for educational purposes, schools can save money on technological equipment for their students. In her case study, Oliveira (2019) observed both teachers and students in a smartphone guided lesson, and her results concluded that the use of smartphones in the lesson made the students feel more connected and resulted in significant learning during and after the lesson. (Unfortunately I was not able to get access to the complete article without requesting an interlibrary loan, but I was able to get a preview of the article from the abstract to get a quick summary of the background and results).
    Obviously the use of smartphones in the classroom can result in distractions, so I think it is important for teachers to keep their students on task and monitor exactly what they are doing on their phones. This being said, only a teacher who is willing to put in this extra effort should take advantage of smartphones in the classroom.

    Michaelyn

    Reference:
    Oliveira, P. J. (2019). Teacher and student perceptions of the effect of smartphones on student engagement: A case study (Order No. AAI13418722). Available from PsycINFO. (2185900921; 2019-00350-151). Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2185900921?accountid=13158

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