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hair acting as a shield, another student will be texting their friend in the classroom down the hall,hiding their phone in their pocket or purse, constantly looking up at the teacher, and another might be trying to play his portable game system behind his textbook. Are these students really paying attention or does this show them how to be amazing multi-taskers? How can we keepthese students engaged in learning and how do we solve this problem of digital distraction?The overuse of technology in today's society poses problems engaging secondary andcollege level students. According to English professor at Minnesota State University, GwenGriffin, “I now have a new statement on my syllabus that says please shut off all electronicdevices, because students have pagers that go off in class, cell phones, they come with PDAs and play games. It's very distractive in class because everything comes to a halt while everyone triesto figure out whose phone it is” (Murray, 2004)The excessive use of cell phones and computers in the classroom, causes distractions, hasnegative effects on students’ abilities to process thoughts and retain information, and frustrateseducators in engaging these tech-savvy students to achieve academic success.
John Nworie,Director of the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at Fayetteville State Universityand Noela A. Haughton, Assistant Professor of Education and NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) Assessment Coordinator for the Judith Herb College of Education at the University of Toledo suggest, “With the adoption and implementation of theInternet and other digital innovations in the classroom came new genres of challenges in copingwith the disruptions they create in learning environments. The problems and disruptions includetechnology supported cheating opportunities; communications related distractions from emails,instant messaging, computer games, web surfing, and other "personal projects"; lack of engagement with the instructional setting caused by the sub- situation of classroom experienceswith pre-re- corded and downloadable class materials from various sources including course
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