How Smartphones Create Distractions in the Classroom

If you suspect your child is distracted by a smartphone while at school, you might be right. Here's how this habit can take a toll on their academic experience.

Most high school and even middle school teachers constantly fight smartphones and other devices for attention in the classroom. Students find ways to text, surf the web, and post on social media while the teacher is instructing. They hide their devices in their laps, sweatshirt pockets, or even open pockets of their backpacks. The end result is that they are only half-present in the classroom for much of the time. The problem has become so bad, that some educators want phones banned from schools—even if parents aren't on board.

Aside from being an annoying distraction, do phones actually prevent students from learning? Read on to understand more about the culture of cell phones in class and how the habit may impact your child's ability to absorb information.

boys in a classroom using smartphones

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The Culture of Cell Phones in Class

A 2016 study found that college students spend more class time than ever using smartphones and other devices. The study found that, on average, students check their phones and other devices more than 11 times a day. And it is not just a glance to see if someone is trying to reach them. Instead, they spend up to 20% of their classroom time engaging in the following:

Kids clearly don't see a problem with these behaviors. In the same study, nearly 30% of the students said they could use their digital devices without distracting their learning, and more than a quarter said using a smartphone or other device during class should be their choice. 

Likewise, many students surveyed felt the benefits of using digital devices for non-class purposes outweighed any distractions they caused in the classroom. More than 11% of those surveyed felt they could not stop using their devices.

Smartphone Use and Lower Grades

While there is little argument that smartphones and other devices can be distracting for students in classrooms, research shows that using electronic devices in the classroom can even lower students' grades.

Devices' Impact on College Grades

In a study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology researchers found that of the 118 upper-level college students studied, the students with laptops and cell phones open for non-classroom purposes scored half a letter grade lower on exams.

This grade could be the difference between passing and failing for some students. Even students who were enrolled in the same class as the device users scored lower even though they did not use a device during class. The researchers speculate that this was likely due to the distractions from others using electronic devices. 

It's also important to note that while having a device did not lower comprehension scores within the lecture, it did lower the end-of-the-term exam by as much as 5% or half a grade. These findings demonstrate that the main effect of divided attention in the classroom is on long-term retention.

Why Distraction Impacts Learning

According to the book The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen, students become distracted when pursuing an academic-related goal, and something blocks their efforts to achieve it. This is what happens when technology is used in the classroom.

The student's attention is divided between two tasks—what the teacher is trying to teach and what the student is trying to do on the digital device. The result is that less information related to those two tasks can be recalled or retained. 

Another way to understand distraction is to look at the research conducted by neuroscientist Adam Aron of the University of California, San Diego, and postdoctoral scholar Jan Wessel. They found that the brain system involved in interrupting or stopping movement in our bodies also interrupts cognition.

This brain area is engaged when you abruptly stop while performing an action due to an unexpected event like a text message or a notification. It clears out your thoughts (or what the teacher was teaching). This brain function served an important role when humans faced danger and needed to focus on what was happening at that moment. However, with all the chirps and chimes of technology, this brain function can have a negative impact. 

Solutions to Distractions from Smartphones

Both teachers and students must change their practices. Here's how:

  • Students: Students must recognize that reaching for their smartphones during class will impact their learning. While they may still be able to pass tests that are given right away, when it comes time for final exams or standardized tests, they will not retain as much information as they would have if they had never turned on their smartphone in class.
  • Parents: If you have a student with smartphone addiction, you may want to discuss how cell phone use in the classroom could impact their grades and establish ground rules regarding technology use. By starting early, you can help instill good self-regulation skills in your teens so that when they're older, they will be less tempted to pull out their cell phones when work or a college lecture gets boring.
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Sources
Parents uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. PISA 2022 Results (Volume II): Learning During – and From – Disruption. PISA, OECD Publishing. 2022

  2. Digital distractions in the classroom phase ii: Student classroom use of digital devices for non-class related purposesJournal of Media Education. 2016.

  3. Dividing attention in the classroom reduces exam performanceEducational Psychology. 2019.

  4. The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 2016.

  5. Surprise disrupts cognition via a fronto-basal ganglia suppressive mechanismNature Communications. 2016.

  6. Dividing attention in the classroom reduces exam performance. Educational Psychology. 2018.

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