I’m going to take a wild guess and say that some of your students have trouble staying focused on class work because of their phones. This study showed that checking phones can affect students’ learning, even if they’re not the one checking the phone!

The study found that having a device didn’t lower students’ scores in comprehension tests within lectures, but it did lower scores in the end-of-term exam by at least 5%, or half a grade…

The attached article about the study might be used in classes at the beginning of the semester to start a conversation about phones. What was the experiment design? What evidence did they collect? What conclusions did the researchers make? And now that we know this research, what should we do with this information?

In addition, when the use of electronic devices was allowed in class, performance was also poorer for students who did not use devices as well as for those who did.

If you use the article, let us know. If you have discussion questions or additional resources, please share in the comments below.