While the debate over smartphone usage in the classroom
rages, new research suggested that even having the device nearby can pose an
issue. Experiments conducted jointly by the schools of management at the
University of Texas, Austin; the University of California, San Diego; and
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, found students who had no access to
their phones outperformed those who had the phone on their desk or in their
pocket.
“It’s not that participants were distracted because they
were getting notifications on their phones,” said Adrian Ward, co-author of the report and assistant professor at UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business. “The mere
presence of their smartphone was enough to reduce their cognitive capacity.”
The study asked students to sit at a computer and take
tests that required concentration. The first experiment split students into
three groups that either left their phones outside the testing room, placed
their phones face-down on their desk, or kept the phones in a pocket or bag. Students
who didn’t have access to their phones outperformed both of the other groups on
the tests.
The second experiment divided students into the same
groups, but asked them to self-report their smartphone dependence when their
phones weren’t handy. Students who admitted to being dependent on their phones
did worse on the test, but only when the phones were on the desk or in their
pockets.
“As
educational institutions increasingly embrace ‘connected classrooms,’ the
presence of students’ mobile devices in educational environments may undermine
both learning and test performance—particularly when these devices are present
but not in use,” the final report said.
