Did you know?
Earth has 6.8 billion people. About 5 billion have cellphones and 365 million have computers!
Student Cell phone Stats
With boom of smartphones and social networking sites, these numbers are quickly rising!
Even elementary teachers are being affected by this cell phone love affair.
More than 1/3 of children own a cell phone by the time they are eight years old.
Observations
“It’s a popularity contest,” Abernathy said. “And it really increases the amount of gossip.”
Abernathy is among many teachers who are feeling the harmful affect that these cell phones have on the classroom environment.
The increasingly younger ages of cell phone users could also impact their social development, according to a recent study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University. Technology use leads to small but significant increases in loneliness and a decline in overall psychological wellbeing.
According to a Texting Study conducted at the University of New Hampshire...
According to the study, business students text in class more than other students and women are more likely than men to text during class.
Texting Experiment conducted by Mandy Gingerich, an assistant professor of psychology at Butler University:
- 1/2 of the class texts during a lecture vs 1/2 class does not text
- After the 10 minute lecture, students took a multiple-choice quiz.
Results (67 students over the past three semesters):
- Texting students average score = 60%
- Non-texting students average score = 79%
Conclusion:
Texting impairs comprehension of the material, which is consistent with the findings that people rely on inflexible memory systems while multitasking, which can impair learning, and that people lose time when switching from one task to another, especially when the tasks are complex or unfamiliar.
Student Laptop Stats
Professors are beginning to ban laptop use in classrooms. Laptop distraction has become so serious you can find videos online of instructors confiscating students' laptops to destroy them in front of the class!
Observations
Like cell phones, students are absorbed in their computers with the help of social networking sites, online videos, instant messaging, etc.
Laptops during class not only distracts those using them, but neighboring students as well with their glowing monitors, and tapping of keys.
Laptop study conducted by Winona State University
- students in two large lecture halls were observed
Results:
Students who used laptops during class had GPAs 5% lower than their classmates who did not
What to do
"Be where the students are" and incorporate laptops and cell phones into the class curriculum.
Coaches have been using cell phones for spreading the word about practices and/or cancellations.
Many teachers are taking advantage of the students having laptops and cell phones by keeping updated lists of assignments on the Internet, allowing students to check homework or test dates.
Prakash Nair, RA, REFP refers to computers in the classroom as "digital teaching assistants." One of the most important benefits of having these assistants alongside your teaching is it frees up the teacher to spend more time with particular students for help as needed, when needed, without concern that learning in the rest of the class will come to an abrupt halt.
Teachers may ask students to search for additional information that would only come through experience or knowledge they lack.
Another innovative way to use cell phones in the classroom is to create an online, interactive poll.
Reference:
Deady, B. (2011, April 6). Study shows students shouldn’t text in class. News. the butler COLLEGIAN. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://thebutlercollegian.com/2011/04/study-shows-students-shouldnt-text-class/
Guzik, S. (2007, Febuary 12). Study finds laptops distract students. STUDENT LIFE. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.studlife.com/archives/News/2007/02/12/Studyfindslaptopsdistractstudents/
Heller, P. (2010, October 27). Assuring Classroom Listening and Focus: The Need to Prohibit Electronics . High-level Administrative Issues and Policies. Paul Hel!er. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://paulrheller.com/2010/10/assuring-classroom-listening-and-focus-the-need-to-prohibit-electronics/
Kirst, S. (2010, September 8). 75 percent of U.S. teens have cell phones: What are they doing with them?. Post-Standard Columnist Sean Kirst's Blog. syracuse.com. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/09/75_percent_of_us_teens_have_ce.html
Lenhart, A. (2009). Teens and Mobile Phones Over the Past Five Years: Pew Internet Looks Back. Reports. Pew Research Center. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2009/PIP%20Teens%20and%20Mobile%20Phones%20Data%20Memo.pdf
Nair, P. (2001). The Student Laptop Computer in Classrooms: Not Just a Tool. Articles. Design Share. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.designshare.com/Research/Nair/Laptop_Classrooms.htm
Olsen, E. (2010, March 17). Cell phones disruptive in elementary classrooms. News. CHS Globe. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.chsglobe.com/community/2010/03/cell-phones-disruptive-in-elementary-classrooms/
Sovern, J. (2011, April 7). Law Student Laptop Use During Class for Non-Class Purposes: Temptation v. Incentives. St. John's Legal Studies Research Paper Series . Social Science Research Network.
Whitney, L. (2010, Febuary 16). Cell phone subscriptions to hit 5 billion globally. cnet Reviews. cnet. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-10454065-78.html
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