Yet Another Justification For My Classroom's Being a "No Phone Zone"

I don't allow phone use in my classroom.  Period.

The question of whether or not to allow students to use smartphones, laptops and other technology in the classroom has been long-debated, and at times, heated.

And just as a new school year is set to begin, a new study raises fresh concerns about potential downsides of multitasking during class.

The study, published in the journal Educational Psychology, found that when students divide attention between electronic devices and a classroom lecture, they still followed the lecture in the moment, but that long-term retention was reduced, resulting in lower grades on unit and final exams.

Arnold Glass, a researcher and professor at Rutgers University’s psychology department, ran the study with graduate student Mengxue Kang. He tells EdSurge that it’s fine for a student to use a digital device to take notes. The problem arises when the student starts dividing his attention between taking notes and other tasks, such as texting or watching a video. He adds that many students think using digital devices doesn’t have an effect on them, because their immediate comprehension doesn’t suffer.

“If you ask the a question right then, they’ll get it right,” he says. “Therefore, they’ll feel comfortable that they’re getting it all. However, a week later, they don’t remember it because that’s the effect of dividing attention.”

A study at my Alma Mater showed that laptops inhibit learning--and I assume phones are worse!