Mobile device affect on students

A national survey of educators and interviews with school principals reveal big concerns about how the proliferation of digital devices is affecting K-12 education. Two-thirds of students use smartphones in schools, 90% of high schoolers use them on campus. While such devices facilitate communication and remediation through relevant apps, it also facilitates distractions, misbehavior, and cheating, Nevertheless, usage will probably increase. 

Smartphones and other devices in schools. (2020). Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/media/tc2020%20survey%20report%206.5.20.pdf

Mobile devices

Even in 1:1 laptop programs, mobile devices are still controversial in some school sites. While mobile phones offer affordances of access and personalized learning, their ultimate impact within school environments is less certain. The following studies reflect current thinking and experiences relative to mobile phone use in K-12 schools (findings for post-secondary settings are more positive). The resultant picture may surprise you; the issues raised should be seriously considered when creating school policies. The time might not be right yet for their effective use.

Allen, L. (2015). Sexual assemblages: Mobile phones/young people/school. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(1), 120-132.

Mobile phones at school give students agency to increase sexuality interactions.

Amplify and IESD. (2014). National survey on mobile technology for K2-12 education.

http://go.amplify.com/2014-mobile-report

Eighty-two percent of districts are "highly interested" in launching or expanding a 1:1 technology initiative within the next two years, according to a new report. The number of districts reporting that at least one-quarter of their schools had deployed mobile devices had risen to 71 percent, up from 60 percent in 2013. Forty-four percent of districts surveyed said that approximately 75 percent of their schools had deployed mobile technology. "The most commonly expected and sought after benefits from adopting mobile technology for student instruction included their potential to increase student achievement, be engaging for students, and support personalization of instruction to meet the needs of different students."

Chen, Q. & Yan, Z. (2015). Who multi-tasks and why? Multi-tasking ability, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 34-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.047

Findings showed that mobile phone multitasking is prevalent among learners, multitasking with mobile phone distracts learning via different ways and mechanisms, and that the effect of multitasking varies on different mobile phone uses, learning tasks, and learners.

Crompton, H., Burke, D., & Gregory, K. H. (2017). The use of mobile learning in PK-12 education: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 110, 51-63.

Their meta-analysis reveals that students are not using the full potential of mobile devices, especially in terms of collaborating and creating knowledge. More research is needed to find ways to incorporate these devices in more constructivist ways.

Kuznekoff, J. H., Munz, S., & Titsworth, S. (2015). Mobile phones in the classroom: Examining the effects of texting, Twitter, and message content on student learning. Communication Education, 64(3), 344-365.

This study used an experimental design to study how message content (related or unrelated to class lecture) and message creation (responding to or creating a message) impact student learning. Sending/receiving messages unrelated to class content negatively impacted learning and note-taking, while related messages did not appear to have a significant negative impact.

Philip, T. M., & Garcia, A. (2015). Schooling mobile phones: Assumptions about proximal benefits, the challenges of shifting meanings, and the politics of teaching. Educational Policy, 29(4), 676-707. https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/38372696/Philip_EP.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1537836867&Signature=u1%2BM355WsUci60eSCK1OF%2BE3xEQ%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DSchooling_Mobile_Phones_Assumptions_Abou.pdf

Adults and youth have different assumptions about mobile devices. Students with school-issued mobile devices fear liability so interact differently with them than with their own phones; the restrains on phones (i.e., limited features and blocked areas) also dampened interest. Thirdly, school-issued phones stripped their social potential, which can be part of learning. School-issued phones as a one-size-fits-all also diverts valuable funds to telecommunication companies for connectivity time. If students bring their own devices, then inequities emerge, and mobile devices are more likely than textbooks to be stolen. The authors concluded that teachers need professional knowledge, judgment and time to incorporate any technologies in contextually meaningful ways.

Technology Use by Students

This Pearson survey examines:

-       Current usage, ownership and purchase intent of mobile devices by elementary, middle, and high school students.

-       How elementary, middle, and high school students currently use mobile devices for school work, and how they expect to use them for school work in the future.

-       Students’ attitudes towards tablets for learning.

Findings show that:

-       Elementary and secondary students are highly receptive towards tablets, and believe strongly that these devices can improve their education. Nine in ten agree that tablets will change the way students learn in the future, and that they make learning more fun.

-       A substantial portion of students currently use and own tablets. Four in ten students own a smartphone. Older students are more likely than younger students to own a smartphone.

-       Students across elementary, middle, and high school regularly use mobile devices for school work. One-third of students say they have used a tablet for school work in the 2012-2013 school year, and over four in ten have used a smartphone for school work.

-       Among those who use tablets for school work, the majority own the tablet themselves, or share them with their family. Only one in six say that their school provides the tablets.

-       Students use tablets for a variety of school-related activities. The most popular are researching and doing homework, followed by checking assignments.

Pearson (2013). Pearson student mobile device survey 2013 national report: Students in grades 4-12. London, U.K.: Pearson. https://www.pearsoned.com/wp-content/uploads/Pearson-Student-Mobile-Device-Survey-2013-National-Report-on-Grades-4-to-12-public-release.pdf

Youth Reading Habits in a Digital Age

Scholastic, in conjunction with Quinley Research and Harrison Group, conducted a survey to examine family attitudes and behaviors regarding reading books for fun in today’s digital age.

Key findings include:

-       Parents believe the use of electronic or digital devices negatively affects the time kids spend reading books (41%), doing physical activity (40%), and engaging with family (33%; PAGE 6).

-       From age 6 through age 17, the time kids spend reading declines while the time kids spend going online for fun and using a cell phone to text or talk increases (PAGE 7).

-       When asked about the one device parents would like their child to stop using for a one or two-week period, parents most often cite television, video game systems, and cell phones.

-       While only 25% of kids have read a book on a digital device (including computers), many more (57% of kids age 9-17) are interested in doing so.

-       It is clear that letting kids choose which books they want to read is key to raising a reader. Nine out of 10 children say they are more likely to finish books they choose themselves.

-       In addition to choice, parents use other tactics to encourage reading that appear to result in more frequent reading, including making sure there are interesting books at home (for kids age 9-11 and 15-17), putting limits on the amount of time spent using technology (for kids age 9-11), and suggesting books they might like.

Scholastic (2010). 2010 Kids & family reading report: Turning the page in the digital age. New York City, NY: Scholastic. http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/files/KFRR_2010.pdf