Running head: CELL PHONE USAGE AND ITS EFFECTS 1

Cell Phone Usage and its Effects

on Learning in the Classroom

CELL PHONE USAGE AND ITS EFFECTS 2

Cell Phone Usage and its Effects on Learning in the Classroom

The younger generation has it said to them all of the time: “Those teenagers always

texting on their phones. Go out and live life.” This can prompt several eyerolls, but the message

is not wrong. People in general, not only teenagers, spend a major portion of their waking hours

on their phone, with many people’s screen times amounting to five hours a day and more. People

use their phones while walking, driving, and talking, as if society cannot go a minute without

using them. It’s addictive and dangerous. However, if texting is so disruptive, why do parents

even give their children phones in the first place? Does texting impact our learning? Although

the recent increase in texting has directly led to the creation of an oblivious generation, texting

can have beneficial uses as long as the time spent doing so is limited. In what way does texting

impact our learning? There are conflicting opinions. Some people argue that cell phones are a

new tool provided to us that can be used in the classroom. Others are adamant that they are a

creation that should not be tied in with education. Which side holds more truth?

Discussion

Cell phone usage in the classroom by students has become such a prevalent phenomenon

due to the increase in technology in general. Just in the last couple of decades, advances have

been made in mobile devices that are unparalleled. Computers the size of rooms started this

technology trend, evolving into phones that can be put in a pocket and carried around. Having

cell phones be so accessible at all times is a temptation that is too hard to resist. According to

Wood, et al. (2014), in 2009, the average teenager sent and received 82 texts a day. Phones and

their notifications are following students everywhere, including the classroom. Should phone
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usage by students be permitted during class instruction? Should it be banned? What measures

should be put into place to control phone usage, if any?

How do Phones Affect the Brain?

Prior to examining phone usage during school, it is necessary to first recognize how

phones impact thinking and the brain. Phones have become such an integral part of life that

many times it seems to be forgotten that they can have as much of an effect on us physically and

mentally as they do socially. The National Institute of Health found that children who use some

sort of interactive technology for more than seven hours a day have different brains than kids

who do not. This is due to the premature thinning of the cortex, a phenomenon associated with

maturing. It was also found that students who participate in more than two hours of screen time

score lower on language and thinking examinations. It is not known yet whether this correlation

is due to causation, but nevertheless, it is reason for further study and concern. If cell phone

usage is really affecting the youth this severely, is it a responsible idea to continue permitting

cell phone use in a place of learning and concentration?

The Positives. ​Many have embraced cell phone use as the way of the future and something that

should be let to run its own course. Restricting and controlling it could be a futile endeavor. Cell

phones capture our attention, and using that attention to guide study and instruction can lead to

positive results that stem from cell phone usage. Yang (2015) states that there were interaction

effects observed between concentration and presentation mode on learning achievement.

Presentation mode refers to the mode through which presentation is presented. In this case, cell

phones and technology are the presentation mode. This type of presentation mode is extremely

effective in capturing the attention of students, and increased attention leads to increased
CELL PHONE USAGE AND ITS EFFECTS 4

concentration and increased understanding of the topic being presented. When there is a greater

understanding, there is greater learning retention and academic success. This method has to be

restricted, as it can lose its control and effect quite easily. There needs to be set guidelines and

ways of implementing cell phone use in the classroom for it to be effective and beneficial. Gaer

(2011) calls this “cell phone etiquette”. Teachers must use this cell phone etiquette to implement

the technique in their classrooms. During her time in the classroom, she found that students can

be responsible around phones, contrary to popular belief, if they are prompted to use their phones

as tools to learning instead of as inhibitory distractions. She suggests engaging students through

technology by allowing them to use it to research and to use online materials as supplements to

classroom learning. This multifaceted approach allows students to gain knowledge from several

sources and reinforce that knowledge with the aid of technology that is in their pockets.

The Negatives. ​It must be noted that there are many studies that show the negative effect cell

phone usage in class has on academic performance. It can be a distraction, and as soon as

students stop paying attention to a lesson because they are distracted by their cell phones,

academic performance can have a sharp decline, Harrison (2019). Kuznekoff (2015) provides

some interesting and telling statistics on this topic. The article explores an experiment held on

students in which students watched a video lecture, completed notes, and took a test surrounding

the topic of the instruction. ​The control and group that was allowed to receive and respond to

only messages relevant to their instruction earned a 10–17% higher letter grade, scored 70%

higher on recalling information, and scored 50% higher on note-taking than students who

composed tweets or responded to irrelevant messages during the time when they were supposed

to be focused on learning. This provides evidence that there is a negative correlation between
CELL PHONE USAGE AND ITS EFFECTS 5

irrelevant texting and academic performance, while there is no consistent correlation between

relevant cell phone use and academic performance. A study showcased in an article by

Demirbilek, et al. (2018) showed similar results. There were two groups of students. One group

was allowed to use their phones as much as they wanted, and that group also took notes on the

lecture on technological devices. The other group was not allowed to use their phones, and only

took notes with paper and pen, instead of with technology. Students that were on their phones

texting and using social media during a lecture had a lower grade performance than students who

did not use their phones at all during the lecture, also showing a negative correlation between

cell phone usage and student grades.

Teacher Opinions. ​When evaluating the effects of cell phone usage on students, it is important

to take into consideration the opinions of the people who observe them and teach them and see

their results on a daily basis: the teachers. Some teachers, as seen previously, embrace the

technological revolution and make methods that are their own by using them. Others have seen a

lowering in academic performance and use phone pockets to help control the cell phone

infestation, Hamilton (2008). A study done by O’Bannon (2015) stated that ​almost half (45%) of

preservice teachers supported the use of mobile phones in the classroom while one-fourth (25%)

did not support their use and approximately one third (30%) reported uncertainty. However, all

of these teachers also reported positive uses to cell phones. These positive uses included a range

of things. These things included access to the Internet, which can be used for research purposes

when it comes to research reports, presentations, or just the acquisition of general information.

They also included the use of education apps, use of books on the phone, and use of a phone as

clicker as other benefits. They also stated that digital fluency is very important in the modern
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world, and that cell phones do help foster that skill. Do the benefits outweigh the negatives?

Teachers also reported many nuisances stemming from constant in class cell phone use.

Cheating, disruptions, cyberbullying, and accessing inappropriate content were seen as the top

offenders that developed from allowing mobile phone use in the classroom, and these offenders

are quite serious ones. Not only do cell phones provide a distraction in this case, but they can be

used to inhibit learning all together by giving students an avenue to take that does not require any

learning or any work. It can be hard to strike a balance between the positive and negatives, and

ultimately, each teacher has a different stance. O’Bannon (2015) also found in a different study

that older teachers over 50 tend to be less lenient towards smart phone use than teachers younger

than 50. The cell phone issue in the classroom is revealing a gap between generations which can

be hard to bridge.
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Conclusions and Future Study

There are two basic approaches to the issue of cell phones in the classroom. Teachers

either embrace it or ban it. Which approach is superior? Right now, it is inconclusive. There is

evidence to support both the positive and the negative aspects of the issue. There should be more

research done on this topic. It would be interesting to see the physical effects on the brain that

cell phones have when it comes to learning. This could include scans of the brain and scientist

opinions on the issue that are experts in distraction and learning. It would also be interesting to

see a study where one teacher teaches the same lesson in the same class would two completely

different styles of learning, holding all variables constant except for the one variable being

tested. From personal experience, not having cell phones in the classroom has been beneficial.

However, no one can deny their growing influence and necessity in daily society. Do the

positives outweigh the negatives? It might be a question each person has to answer for

themselves.
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References

Cell Phones in the Classroom: Are we Dialing up Disaster? (2011). TechTrends, 55(2), 39-45.

Demirbilek, M., & Talan, T. (2018). The effect of social media multitasking on classroom

performance. Active Learning in Higher Education, 19(2), 117-129.

Gaer, S. (2011). Cell Phones in the Classroom? Yes. Adult Basic Education and Literacy

Journal, 5(3), 176-180.

Hamilton, J. (2008). Electronic devices in schools (Issues that concern you Electronic devices in

schools).

Harrison, L. (2019). Should cell phones be allowed in classrooms? (Points of view (KidHaven

Publishing)).

Kuznekoff, J., Munz, S., & Titsworth, S. (2015). Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examining

the Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning.

Communication Education, 64(3), 344-365.

O'Bannon, B., & Thomas, K. (2015). Mobile phones in the classroom: Preservice teachers

answer the call. Computers & Education, 85(C), 110-122.

O'Bannon, B., & Thomas, K. (2014). Teacher perceptions of using mobile phones in the

classroom: Age matters. Computers & Education, 74, 15-25.

Wood, C., Kemp, N., & Plester, B. (2014). Text messaging and literacy : The evidence

(Routledge psychology in education).

Yang, X., Li, X., & Lu, T. (2015). Using mobile phones in college classroom settings: Effects of

presentation mode and interest on concentration and achievement. Computers &

Education, 88, 292-302.