Dial D for Distraction: The Making and Breaking of Cell Phone Policies in the College Classroom

Abstract

Cell phones are nearly ubiquitous in the college classroom. This study asks two primary questions regarding the making and breaking of in-class cell phone policies. In what manner are students using their phones and how can faculty members minimize the potential for phone-related distractions? To answer these questions we analyze original survey data from nearly 400 college students across multiple public and private universities to better understand the students' impulse to use their phones during class. Results from the survey demonstrate that more than 80% of students use their phone at least once per class and that students generally believe this to be an acceptable practice. These student data are supplemented with survey data from close to 100 college faculty to evaluate a range of policy options for dealing with this issue. From this analysis, it is clear that the policies most frequently implemented by instructors are typically perceived by students as the least effective.

“It must not disturb, it’s as simple as that”: Students’ voices on mobile phones in the infrastructure for learning in Swedish upper secondary school

“…This circular play-out of actions holds the potential to lead to a continuing situation of unstructured use and unstructured enforcement of individual policy, from which no one involved benefits. Since the mobile phone is present in classrooms, Berry and Westfall (2015) suggest that the main figure of the discussion should be integration rather than prohibition of the technology. We argue that such a discussion should also include parents.…”

“…Students share the understanding that faculty have expressed: that mobile phones can be distractive in a school context. However, the students do not to the same extent consider those distractions to affect their academic performance (Berry and Westfall 2015). Reaching beyond the actors directly present in the physical school environment, parents can also be involved in both potentially supportive and distractive uses.…”

“…However, teachers must be aware of risks with the enforcement of rules. In classrooms where there is a policy regulating the use of mobile phones, teachers must choose what is most disturbing during class: the confrontational enforcement of a prohibition, or the students' use of mobile phones (Berry and Westfall 2015). An undesirable consequence in classrooms where the mobile phone is strictly forbidden is that a student's use of the mobile phone can become an intentional subversive challenge of the teacher's authority (Kukulska-Hulme et al 2009).…”

A Naturalistic Investigation of Media Multitasking While Studying and the Effects on Exam Performance

“…A prominent concern in the pedagogical community is arguably the limited success in discouraging cell phone use in the classroom (Berry & Westfall, 2015). Although this concern is well justified, student learning and development continues outside of class as well.…”

“…Many students will not be deterred from texting during class by university or instructor policies, and some are not even inspired to put away their devices after being admonished by an instructor (Berry & Westfall, 2015). Certainly, no academic policy can effectively curb this behavior when students study outside the classroom.…”