Digital Distraction: How Phones Are Taking Over The Classroom

You probably won’t finish reading this post without opening a new tab or checking your phone. Especially if you’re a college student, a recent study shows.

Students spend nearly 21% of class time using a digital device for an unrelated activity like email or social media, according to preliminary research conducted by Barney McCoy, associate professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They also check a digital device 10.5 times per class day on average.

Their reasons for tuning out vary. Out of the hundreds of survey respondents at 29 institutions nationwide, around 63% said they used technology in class because they wanted to relieve boredom and stay connected. Around 47% said they wanted to be entertained, and 46% said they wanted to complete related schoolwork.

Yet respondents recognized the consequences of this behavior. Around 89% of students surveyed said devices made them not pay attention, about 80% said devices made them miss instruction and about 38% said they bothered peers.

“As students become tech-savvy, they’re just more distracted inside the classroom,” says McCoy, who published a similar study in 2013 and hopes to publish these findings within the year.

“This isn’t exclusive to students,” McCoy says. “If our phone beeps or buzzes, many of us instinctively reach for it. We don’t even think about it anymore.”

The problem of classroom distraction is sparking a conversation among educators. Some professors feel they need to create engaging presentations to compete with technology for students’ attention.

Marilyn Santiesteban, professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, was tired of seeing her hundreds of students look down at their screens in class. So next semester, she will require students to leave their phones in boxes at the doors to the auditorium. If students still get distracted on their computers, she may also ask them to put down their laptop lids at designated times.

“I might become the most hated person on campus,” Santiesteban says. “But I want this to be positive, not punitive. And I think we can all give up our phones for an hour without anything horrible happening.”

Riley Soward, a rising sophomore at Boston College, said he would support the policy at his school. “You have to exert a certain amount of willpower to stay focused, since the options of email and texting are so tempting,” he says.

But laptops rather than phones are the real culprit, Soward says, especially since students can now use iMessage to text on their Macbooks.

The issue of digital distraction has also driven entrepreneurs. While at the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology, Steve Lambert designed the web appSelfControl, which blocks access to email and certain websites for a designated time period. The block cannot be undone, even by deleting the app or restarting the computer.

“We all want to check our emails – it’s really hard to change those habits,” Lambert says. “People write me that SelfControl helped them get their master’s or finish their law school exams. It’s nice to know that novels are written and degrees are completed.”

Ironically, the issue of digital distraction has even inspired a new smartphone app. The app Pocket Pointsrewards students for keeping their phones locked during class by offering them discounts at local businesses, including restaurants, clothing stores and tanning salons.

Mitch Garener and Rob Richardson took a leave of absence from California State University, Chico last year to develop Pocket Points. In the first couple weeks after the app launched, 30% of Chico State students had downloaded it and around 25 local businesses had agreed to participate, Richardson says.

Since then, Pocket Points has spread to five other campuses, including Pennsylvania State University and the University of Michigan. This summer, company representatives are preparing to launch the app on around 100 additional campuses.

“A lot of the stores we focused on involved food,” Richardson says, noting that the local Subway and Brooklyn Bagel stores signed on. “We know that’s something students have a hard time saving for, and it’s one of their biggest costs.”

 “We’re not saying we’re solving this problem of being distracted in class,” Garener says. “But I do think we’re mitigating the problem by offering a reward and positive reinforcement.”

Alissa Iannacchino, a rising junior at Penn State, said she appreciates the intent behind the app. Some professors at Penn State use clickers to monitor attendance, and many students show up just to record their attendance and then get distracted on their computers, she says.

“There’s one class with 600 kids where if you sit in the back, you literally see everyone’s screen,” she says. “Some people are literally watching Netflix NFLX +0.44% the whole class. It’s like why did you even come?”