How many of your students are physically present through classes and lectures yet are mentally miles away lost inside multiple worlds of non-course material on their mobile phones? Smart phones are great because students can text, check and interact on social networking sites, check emails, play games, listen to music, watch TV and take selfies. They can also use them to talk on and accept calls, the once primary purpose of a phone!
Except, some students do this whilst you are busting a gut to make a difference. They are massively distracting to you and to those self-regulating students who choose to abstain and be physically and mentally present.
Do you remember what happened at Wensleydale School and Sixth Form College? Head Julia Polley got so sick of students’ fixation with their smart phones that she told parents she would be blocking 4G internet at the school. Her plans were thwarted when she was told by North Yorkshire County Council’s IT support team and Ofcom that this was a criminal offence. What does this tell us? This says that a school leader had had enough of learning being disrupted and she recognised that students deserved disruption-free learning every lesson, every time. Mobiles are a pervasive part of our lives and an essential asset for students so the idea of banning their use is a pipe dream. Isn’t it?
Should we just accept that students are going to use mobile phones in a lecture and so just get on with it? Yes, if you don’t want students to learn as much. In order to learn anything then you have to focus on it and distractions don’t help.
There’s plenty of evidence to show that mobile phones get in the way of learning.
A US study showed that students aren’t very good at multi-tasking. Kuznekoff et al (2015) found that students sending/receiving messages unrelated to class content negatively impacted learning and note-taking. Unsurprisingly, those who didn’t use mobiles were better able to recall information. In a nutshell, multitasking impairs performance.
A London School of Economics study found low-achieving pupils were most likely to be distracted by mobile phones and banning phones was academically beneficial. Beland and Murphy (2015) looked at schools in four English cities where mobile phones had been banned and found test scores increased by more than 6%. They say that banning mobile phones in schools would have the same benefit as extending the school year by five days.
Recently, the French government announced a ban on students using mobile phones in schools, described by the French education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, as a “public health message to families”.
Is there an answer?
Not an easy one but many institutions have a clear enough acceptable use policy with guidance that expects students to realise the difference between using and abusing a phone. Some schools and colleges allow students to bring their phones in but limit their use to wean them off their addiction with the help of Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Cluedo. At Brighton College students must “subscribe to three ‘detox’ days a week where they hand it in, with year elevens having one ‘detox’ day.”
Some don’t allow access at all and impose detentions, such as at Shiplake College and similarly, at her school, Head Helen Jeys says, “They hand them in at 8.30am and they collect them at 3.45pm; no questions asked.”
In most College Charters the student code of conduct will say if it isn’t needed in a lesson for a specific on-task purpose then the expectation is that mobile phones should be switched off and out of sight. Responsible use means if you enter a teaching or study area then switch off you mobile to switch on your learning.
Rather than an outright ban, research suggests that educators should teach students about the dangers of multitasking and the benefits of having ‘technology breaks’ as well as seeking to integrate them in lessons and lectures.
If the lesson content is enhanced by a smartphone as a piece of assistive technology then yes, why not use it for searching information, using apps, time management and multi-communicating with others in class. Stephens and Pantoja (2016) argue that those students who are intrinsically motivated and actively participating in class often use their phones “for potentially positive communicative classroom behaviours.”
It is illegal to use a hand held mobile phone while driving and some would be quite glad if this were extended to “while learning”.
Many teachers and lecturers have never been comfortable with smartphones being used by students to shoot video and take pictures without consent for immediate download into YouTube and social media. This is an invasion of privacy and inappropriate use but it happens. Staff are not permitted to use private mobile phones during lessons or formal College time so why should students?
But mobiles are valuable when they support learning and banning is ineffective
Professor Thierry Karsenti of the University of Montreal says that students will always find a way to bring phones into the classroom regardless of the rules. His research in Canada shows that fighting the technological tide is pointless and so we should look at exploring ways to incorporate mobile phones not ban them.
Christodoulou (2015) argues that “the burden of proof ultimately rests on proponents of education technology – it is up them to show how such technology will enhance, not divert, concentration.”
And finally…
Although there is a lack of consensus regarding the impact of mobile phones and whether they should be permitted in lessons and lectures, there is overwhelming agreement that they should not be allowed in exams.
2,715 penalties were issued to students in 2017 for malpractice in GCSEs and AS and A level exams and having access to a mobile phone was the main reason why. This might only represent 0.015% of entries but nearly 3,000 students is not an insignificant number of people willing to cheat. In the same way, how many students do the same in lecture time in a packed and crowded room?
One thing is certain, students in the UK face “a confusing web of different approaches depending where they study” when it comes to using mobile phones.
About the author
John Dabell
John is an ex-primary school teacher and Ofsted inspector who has spent the last 20 years working in the education industry as a teacher, writer and editor. John’s specialist area is primary maths but he also loves teaching science and English. John has written a number of educational and children’s books, and contributed over 1,000 articles and features to various educational bodies. John is eTeach’s school leadership and Ofsted advice guru, sharing insights on best practice for motivating and enriching a school team, as well as sharing savvy career steps for headteachers and SLT.