Do Smartphones Have a Place in the Classroom?mrmcclanahan.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/5/0/10503784/... · To us, it seems that some kids can handle the multitasking that using phones in

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LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Walking the hallways between classes at Fern Creek HighSchool in Louisville, Kentucky, I dodge students whose heads are turned down toglowing screens. Earbuds and brightly colored headphones are everywhere. Andwhen I peer into classrooms, I see students tuning out their peers and teachers andfocusing instead on YouTube and social media.

Do Smartphones Have a Place in the Classroom?

10/4/2017 Do Smartphones Help or Hurt Students' Academic Achievement? - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/do-smartphones-have-a-place-in-the-classroom/480231/ 2/10

These are issues I deal with as an English teacher at Fern Creek. I have guidelinesfor cellphone and smartphone use, but it’s a constant struggle to keep kids engagedin lessons and off their phones. Even when I know I’ve created a well-structuredand well-paced lesson plan, it seems as if no topic, debate, or activity will evertrump the allure of the phone.

Many teachers at Fern Creek are stumped about how to deal with student cellphoneand smartphone use.

On the one hand, we know that most students bring a mini-supercomputer toschool every day, a device with vast potential for learning. On the other hand, justhow and even if smartphones might help students learn remains a troublingquestion. It’s especially vexing with regard to students who already have lowachievement levels or learning problems.

According to our principal, roughly 75 percent of Fern Creek students areconsidered “gap” kids under Kentucky’s definition—students who belong to groupsthat, on average, have historically performed below achievement goals. Thesesometimes overlapping groups include students receiving free or reduced-pricedlunch, African American students, English Language Learners, and special-education students. More than half of our gap students scored at the novice (lowest)level on last year’s 10th-grade reading exam. I frequently talk with colleagues about

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the possibility and challenge of using phones to help gap students from allbackgrounds learn.

To us, it seems that some kids can handle the multitasking that using phones inschool would require; for others, the smartphone is almost always a distraction.Even the visible presence of a phone pulls students—and many adults—away fromtheir focus. Some kids can “switch” attention between the phone as anentertainment device and as a learning tool; for others, the phone’s academicpotential is routinely ignored.

“The variance in student ability to focus and engage in the actual task at hand isdisconcerting,” said Rob Redies, a Fern Creek chemistry teacher, via email.“Because although technology and the wealth of information that it can provide hasthe potential to shrink achievement gaps, I am actually seeing the opposite takeplace within my classroom.”

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The phone could be a great equalizer, in terms of giving children from all sorts ofsocioeconomic backgrounds the same device, with the same advantages. But usingphones for learning requires students to synthesize information and stay focused ona lesson or a discussion. For students with low literacy skills and the frequent urgeto multitask on social media or entertainment, incorporating purposefulsmartphone use into classroom activity can be especially challenging. The potentialadvantage of the tool often goes to waste.

“It’s like giving kids equal access to cigarettes and candy ...

teens are not as adept at understanding risk and cause and

effect.”

And I know smartphones do have wonderful learning potential, having hadoccasional success with them in my own classroom. I’ve had students engage inpeer-editing using cloud-based word processing on their phones, for example. I’vealso heard and read about other educators using phones for exciting applications:connecting students to content experts via social media, recording practicepresentations, and creating “how-to” videos for science experiments.

We also know that other school districts across the country are in the midst of tryingto incorporate technology to enhance learning, and to close the so-called digitaldivide—to ensure all students have access to an Internet-enabled device. One wayto solve the access issue is to allow students to use smartphones in class. At FernCreek, where I’d estimate that at least 80 percent of students have smartphones,this would seem like a logical choice, given the relatively low numbers of tabletsand computers we have available for student use.

Because of my own frustration with school phone use, and spurred on byconversations with colleagues, I decided to delve into the research aboutsmartphones and education. Can and should smartphones be used to enhancelearning for all students? Or should we avoid using phones in class because of the

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distractibility factor, and because many kids seem resistant to using them forlearning?

Research supporting the idea that smartphones—specifically—can be used toenhance learning for all students, even underachievers, is hard to find. However,Stanford University’s 2014 study on at-risk students’ learning with technologyconcludes that providing “one-to-one access” to devices in school (students don’thave to share) provides the most benefit. The study does not, however, mentionsmartphones as a choice tool to achieve greater engagement and academic success.

I next contacted Richard Freed, a clinical psychologist and the author of WiredChild: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age, who works with a wide range ofchildren and families in the San Francisco Bay area.

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“High levels of smartphone use by teens often have a detrimental effect onachievement, because teen phone use is dominated by entertainment, not learning,applications,” he said.

I considered the Stanford study and my conversation with Freed as I observedstudents in my own classroom. Struggling students (from all backgrounds) seem tobe more susceptible than their higher-achieving peers to using their smartphonesfor noneducational purposes while in school. Also, the device does make adifference: When I design and schedule instruction allowing for one-to-onecomputer access, students get better results than when I try the same thing withone-to-one phone access.

Nonetheless, Redies and I and many of our colleagues attempt to use smartphonesproductively in class, but I don’t know of any Fern Creek teacher who allowsstudents open access to their devices at all times. This contrasts with the approachof Brianna Crowley, a colleague with whom I’ve worked through the Center forTeaching Quality.

Pennsylvania’s Hershey High School, where Crowley taught English for eight and ahalf years before recently leaving the classroom for a full-time consulting job withthe Center for Teaching Quality, is part of a high-achieving district with fewdisadvantaged students. For three years, the district has been implementing a“bring your own device” (BYOD) policy in an effort to maximize students’ learningopportunities.

Still, even Crowley has noticed the challenges for struggling students. “Manystudents who may perform poorly on academic measures seem to see their devicesas useful for a narrow range of tasks—most of which involve passive consuming ofentertainment or knowledge-level content,” she wrote in an email. If all studentsare to be successful using smartphones and other technology for learning, Crowleyadded, then it’s clear that different students may need different activities anddifferent types of support from teachers.

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Analyses of  academic metrics seem to support limiting

students’ smartphone access.

But at schools like Fern Creek, the fact that so many students have below grade-level reading skills, coupled with their tendency to use their phones forentertainment in school, means that teachers here are having a tougher timefiguring out how smartphones might support learning.

Fern Creek’s principal, Nathan Meyer, recently asked faculty members to provideinput on how to best address the challenges of integrating (or not) students’smartphones into the learning environment. “I see students using cellphones andearbuds as a way to disengage with their peers,” he said. “The isolation squandersopportunities for students to learn to engage and communicate with empathy.” Thecellphones and easy access to social media, according to Meyer, are also at the rootof much of the student disruption and conflict that happens on campus.

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The findings of a recent study on student phone access and the achievement gap byLouis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy for the London School of Economicsand Political Science echoed my concerns. “We find that mobile phone bans havevery different effects on different types of students,” the authors wrote. “Banningmobile phones improves outcomes for the low-achieving students … the most, andhas no significant impact on high achievers.”

The study focused on standardized-test data, however, and many educators, likeCrowley, question the usefulness of that measure; they would prefer to evaluatelearning based on more varied, deeper measures, such as student projects.

“We shouldn’t put these results on a pedestal,” Crowley said.

Yet analyses of other academic metrics seem to support limiting students’smartphone access, too. Researchers at Kent State University, for example, foundthat among college students, more daily cellphone use (including smartphones)correlated with lower overall GPAs. The research team surveyed more than 500students, controlling for demographics and high-school GPA, among other factors.If college students are affected by excessive phone use, then surely youngerstudents with too much access to their phones and too little self-control andguidance would be just as affected academically if not more.

Some school districts with large percentages of struggling students have forgedahead to increase student access to their phones. Last year, New York City’s public-school system lifted its ban.

“It’s like giving kids equal access to cigarettes and candy,” Freed said. “There is areason that adults have tried to limit and regulate young people’s behavior, giventhat teens are not as adept at understanding risk and cause and effect.”

However, Crowley believes teachers must adapt classroom instruction to themodern world. “If educators do not find ways to leverage mobile technology in alllearning environments, for all students, then we are failing our kids by notadequately preparing them to make the connection between their world outside ofschool and their world inside school,” she said.

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So, is the best learning environment one that’s free from digital distractions forstruggling learners—a refuge from the constant barrage of information? Or shouldschools adapt to the realities of a hyper-connected world in which the vast majorityof students carry access to almost-infinite information in their pockets? Or is there amiddle ground?

For myself, Redies, Meyer and the staff at Fern Creek—and at many other schoolsserving large numbers of disadvantaged learners—there is no simple answer.

10/4/2017 When smartphones go to school | Science News for Students

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BY KATHIANN KOWALSKI MAR 3,  2016 — 7:15 AM EST

BRAIN COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS PSYCHOLOGY

When smartphones go to schoolWork and grades tend to suffer when there is off-task use in the classroom

Some 73 percent of  teens use smartphones, many  times even at  school. Studies  find some use of  smartphonescan help  class performance — others merely hurt  it.Goodluz/  iStockphoto

If you’re  like most kids these days, you use a smartphone, and you use  it often. You may evenuse that phone to text,  tweet or go online during class.

In the United States, 73 percent of  teens own or have access to a smartphone. A mere 12 percenthave no cell phone. Those numbers come from a 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center  inWashington, D.C.

Some 90 percent of  teens with cell phones send texts. The typical number  is 30 texts per day.That’s  the median  number  from the Pew data. Additionally,  the Pew report shows, 92 percent ofteens go online daily. Almost one  in  four claims to be online “almost constantly.”

You need to be techsavvy, both  in and outside of school. But  too much tech time at school  forthings other  than classwork can cost you, new studies show. Unfortunately, kicking the habit ofusing cellphones and other mobile devices  in class can be a hard.

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The typical U.S.  teen uses a smartphone tosend texts or browse the Internet, even atschool. Sometimes that can help probe aclass topic  in greater depth.Tomwang112/  iStockphoto

Read on to see what scientists say about  the use of smartphones and other mobile devices  in classand what  it could mean for  today’s  teens.

How mobile devices can help in class

Smartphones,  tablets and other devices can be very handy at school. Curious about something theteacher said? A quick Internet search can turn up more  facts. Want to prepare charts and presenttopnotch class reports? As the saying goes,  there’s an app for  that.

Mobile devices make  it easy to type and organizenotes. Calculator apps can help with mathproblems. Devices can even replace heavy, papertextbooks.

And that’s not all.  “If we have these devices, wecan do a  lot of  things around student  interestsand projects,” says Vincent Cho at Boston Collegein Massachusetts. For example, mobile devicesoften are cheaper and  less bulky than regularcomputers. But,  like regular computers,  theyallow Internet access. With that, students canshare  ideas and opinions within — or beyond —the classroom. Devices can connect  interestedstudents with groups and experts  in  that  field aswell.   

Cho and Joshua LittenbergTobias, also at BostonCollege, recently surveyed teachers at a highschool  that urges all students to use mobiledevices.  In general,  teachers  felt  these devices could  improve  learning,  the Boston College teamreported  last April at a meeting of  the American Educational Research Association. But  teachers atthat high school also were worried about  their students becoming distracted.

The downside of mobile devices

Distraction by mobile devices  is  indeed something to worry about. Jeffrey Kuznekoff studiescommunications at Miami University Middletown  in Ohio. For one recent project, he  let collegestudents take notes during a video  lecture. Afterward the students took a test on the material.During the video, one group of students could text or  tweet about anything. Another group couldtext and tweet only  if  the messages related to the  lecture. A control  group couldn’t  text or  tweetat all.

“Texting on things that are unrelated to class can hurt student  learning,” Kuznekoff  found. Overall,the control and classrelatedmessage groups did 70 percent better on the test  than did studentsthat could text and tweet about anything. That control and relevantmessage groups also scored50 percent higher on notetaking.

“You’re putting yourself at a disadvantage when you are actively engaged with your mobile devicein class and not engaged  in what’s going on,” warns Kuznekoff. His  team shared  its  findings  in  theJuly 2015  issue of Communication Education.

Those  findings mesh with what college students themselves report. Another new study  found thatthe more time students said that  they typically  text, use social media or read online during class,the  lower their grades are.

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In a recent study by Jeffrey Kuznekoff atMiami University, college students whowatched a videotaped  lecture scored  lower ona test afterward  if  they texted aboutunrelated matters during the class.Kathiann M. Kowalski

Some 24 percent of  traffic accidents  involvedrivers who were talking or  texting on theroad. Here’s one time when a phone’sdistraction could turn deadly.encrier/  iStockphoto

“A  lot of students tend to think that  they aregood at multitasking,” or doing more than onething at a  time, says Saraswathi Bellur. She’s acommunications researcher at  the University ofConnecticut (UConn)  in Storrs.  In  fact, she and

her colleagues  found, multitasking  in class “is

likely  to harm their academic performance.”

“We also have data that show that people whomultitask during class or while doing homeworkhave to spend more time studying,” notes UConncoauthor Kristine Nowak. In other words, sheargues, students who use mobile devices  forsomething other  than research or notetakingduring class “are not efficient, and  it  is costingthem time.”

Concludes Nowak, “People believe they are betterat multitasking than they are and this  is  leadingthem to bad study habits.” Her group shared  itsfindings  in  the December 2015  issue ofComputers  in Human Behavior.

Drawn to distraction?

The classroom isn’t  the only place where students use mobile devices when they should befocusing on something else. Talking and texting on cell phones play a role  in more than one offour U.S. motor vehicle crashes. The National Safety Council  in Itasca, Ill., made that estimate  lastMay after reviewing 2013 data on road accidents.

In another recent study, many college studentsadmitted that  they often text, even when theyknow they shouldn’t. Examples  included textingduring prayer services or  in romantic situations.   

College students “seem to have almost acompulsion” to use their cellphones, says MarissaHarrison. “They can’t  resist checking theircellphones  for  texts.” Harrison  is a psychologistat Pennsylvania State University  in Harrisburgwho worked on this collegestudent study. SocialScience Journal  published her  team’s  findings  inJune 2015.

In extreme cases, using mobile devices and socialmedia too much can turn  into an addiction. Bythat, scientists mean people develop a compellingneed to engage  in some behavior, even whenthey know the consequences can be bad.

One August 2014 study showed that collegeagecellphone users can show some of  the same symptoms that drug addicts do. For example, somestudents  felt anxious  when their phone was not available. Students showing signs of addiction also

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Twentyfour percent of  teens say they’reonline “almost constantly,” reports  the PewResearch Center.  In some cases,  they’re soanxious to  lose a mobile connection that  theirhabit  takes on addictionlike qualities.Vox Efx on Wikimedia

spent more and more time using their phones. Many admitted their phone use was excessive. Asecond study that same month concluded that students can become addicted to Facebook(although better ways to measure that addiction are needed). The Journal of Behavioral Addictionspublished both studies  (https://student.societyforscience.org/article/watchoutcellphonescanbeaddictive)  .

Even where phone use  isn’t quite addictive,  thehabit of using mobile  technology can pull at ourattention, notes Jesper Aagaard. He’s a graduatestudent  in psychology at Aarhus University  inDenmark. He recently  interviewed 16 to 20yearold businessschool students about  their “offtask” use of phones and tablet computers  inclass. “Off  task” means that  their use didn’t dealwith the subjects being discussed  in class. Thisscientist also spent six months observingstudents  in class. 

His conclusion: The habit of using mobile devicescan pull students towards tasks “that  tend toconflict with school use.”

For example, you might  type your PIN, orpersonal  identification number, without  thinkingwhenever you pull out  the phone. “The PIN,  inother words, became embodied  in your handthrough practice,” says Aagaard. In the sameway, you might unthinkingly open the textingscreen, email or some app.

That process becomes even easier with shortcuts,such as typing “F,” “A,” and “enter”  to open Facebook. So whenever they  let  their guard down,

students quickly — and without  thinking —  log onto Facebook to check their notifications, Aagaard

says. “In other words,  they are drawn to distraction.” His study appears  in  the September 2015

issue of Computers & Education.

What should you do?

“Try to avoid splitting your attention” between what’s going on  in class and whatever you mightfeel a need to do with your mobile device, advises Kuznekoff at Miami University. Otherwise, hesays, “there’s a danger you’re spreading your attention too thin.”

“In order  to pay more attention  in class — or even outside of school — I recommend trying toobstruct your habits,” says Aagaard. For example,  turn your cellphone or  tablet off, or at  least putit  in airplane mode. Then you won’t wind up checking texts or using socialmedia sites withoutthinking.

Closing your  laptop or  tablet and putting your phone away more often could be good advice evenoutside the classroom. Stresses Harrison: “You’re going to miss out on a whole new and excitingworld  if you can’t get your head out of your phone screen.”

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APRIL 20, 2010

Teens and Mobile PhonesText messaging rises sharply among teens and is now their

most frequent form of communication with friends

72% of those ages 12-17 now are texters and the average young text user exchanges 1,500 texts per month

Cell phones are mixed blessing to American families, bringing safety and connection  along with disruption and irritation

WASHINGTON DC – Daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months from 38% of teenstexting friends daily in February of 2008, to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009.

In fact, text messaging has become the most frequent way that teens reach their friends, surpassing face-to-facemeetings, email, instant messaging and voice calling as a daily communications tool. However, cell phone calling is stillthe preferred mode that teens use to connect with their parents.

A new survey and report document that teens are sending enormous quantities of text messages each day. The typicalAmerican teen sends and receives 50 or more messages per day, or 1,500 per month.(http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx) And there are a sizeable number who do muchmore than that:  

31% of teens send and receive more than 100 messages per day or more than 3,000 messages a month.

15% of teens who are texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.

Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day.

Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls typically sending 100 or more mes sages a day ormore than 3,000 texts a month.

While many teens are avid texters, a notable minority are not. One-fifth of teen texters (22%) send and receivejust 1-10 texts a day or 30-300 a month.

These results come from a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted with800 youth ages 12-17 and their parents between June 26-September 24, 2009. The margin of error on the full sample isfour percentage points. The Project teamed with scholars from the University of Michigan to conduct the study and thesurvey results are buttressed by findings from focus groups from four cities.

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“The widespread availability of unlimited texting plans has transformed communication patterns of American teens,many of whom now conduct substantial portions of their daily conversations with their friends via texting,” saidAmanda Lenhart (http://www.pewinternet.org/Experts/Amanda-Lenhart.aspx) , Senior Researcher at the Pew ResearchCenter’s Internet & American Life Project and a co-author on the report. “But what’s important to remember here isthat this is a shift in the location and style of teens’ communication with friends, not necessarily a radical change orexpansion of it.”

The survey found that 75% of those ages 12-17 now have cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. These cell users place callson their phones much less often than dashing off texts. Teens typically make about five calls per day on the cells. Butthey still prefer to deal with their parents by calling them, rather than texting them.

The Pew Internet Project report also documents that many teens use their cells for an array of activities beyond textingand talking. Of the 75% of teens who have cell phones:

83% use their phones to take pictures.

64% share pictures with others.

60% play music on their phones.

46% play games on their phones.

32% exchange videos on their phones.

31% exchange instant messages on their phones.

27% go online for general purposes on their phones.

23% access social networking sites on their phones.

21% use email on their phones.

11% purchase things via their phones.

The 27% of cell-using teens who access the internet on their handhelds are particularly interesting because theirinterest in going online is changing the digital divide:

21% of teens who do not otherwise go online say they access the internet on their cell phone.

41% of teens from households earning less than $30,000 annually say they go online with their cell phone. Only70% of teens in this income category have a computer in the home, compared with 92% of families fromhouseholds that earn more.

44% of black teens and 35% of Hispanic teens use their cell phones to go online, compared with 21% of whiteteens.

“As we’ve seen with adults, cell phones are showing real promise as a way to bridge the digital divide for disadvantagedteens with limited or no other means of internet access,” said Scott Campbell, Assistant Professor at the University ofMichigan and a co-author of the report. “This finding embodies a real paradox, as many teens in our focus groups toldus that they did not use their cell phones to go online because of the expense, and yet these teens who are often theleast able to afford data charges are the ones most likely to use it.”

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For families, the cell phone is a mixed blessing, bringing a greater sense of safety and connection to each other but alsointerruptions, distraction and harassment. Moreover, parents and schools attempt to manage and contain teens’ use ofphones, but with limited success.

65% of cell-owning teens at schools that completely ban phones bring their phones to school every day. Yet, 58%of cell-owning teens at schools that ban phones have sent a text message during class. And 43% of all teens whotake their phones to school say they text in class at least once a day or more.

64% of parents look at the contents of their child’s cell phone and 62% of parents have taken away their child’sphone as punishment.

52% of parents limit the times of day they may use the phone and 46% limit the number of minutes their childrenmay talk

48% of parents use the phone to monitor their child’s location.

“These findings show that in a very short time cell phones have moved from being a fancy toy in a few teens’ lives tofavored communications hubs for most teens that are vitally important to nourishing their ties to friends andcoordinating complicated family lives,” said Rich Ling, co-author of the report and a professor at the IT University ofCopenhagen and affiliated with the University of Michigan. “The changes in communications patterns are not smooth,though, because teens’ use of cell phones disrupt traditional social relations and social expectations.”

About the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that make up the Pew ResearchCenter, a nonpartisan, nonprofit “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, at titudes and trends shapingAmerica and the world. The Project produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on families, communities,work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. The Project aims to be an authoritativesource on the evolution of the internet through surveys that examine how Americans use the internet and how theiractivities affect their lives. The Pew Internet Project takes no positions on policy issues related to the internet or othercommunications technologies. It does not endorse technologies, industry sectors, companies, nonprofit organizations,or individuals.

About University of Michigan

This project was undertaken in collaboration with researchers in the Department of Communication Studies at theUniversity of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The project was partially funded by an endowment from alumni Constance F. andArnold C. Pohs to support research and teaching on the social consequenc es of information and communicationtechnology. The mission of the University is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence increating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders andcitizens who will challenge the pres ent and enrich the future.