What does banning phones in class look like?
In November 2021 I wrote a Vortex article with the same title “Digital Distractions”. In this article I spoke about how fast technology has evolved, how swiftly young children having a phone has become the norm, and how apps on phones are designed to be addictive like pokie machines.
Fast forward to February 2023, our College has updated our phone policy to combat this digital distraction and addictive behaviour. Whilst I can’t speak for every teacher in the College, if their experiences are just like my classes, this policy has had such a positive impact on lessons. What I have noticed in my classes is the distraction of phones has disappeared. I had gone from having to talk to students every lesson about putting phones away to not having to do it. This has meant that students are actively choosing to put their phone away and not let it be a distraction.
A 2018 Udemy survey found 36% of millennials and Gen Z employees spend more than two hours checking their smartphones for personal activities during the workday. What this means is that for students who follow a similar pattern, a ~30 hours of class a week would turn into ~20 hours, missing about a third of learning for the week being distracted by their phones. A 2015 study of schools in England measured the effect of banning mobile phones on student performance. They compared schools that have had phones removed to similar schools with no phone bans to isolate the effect of mobiles phones on student performance from other factors that could affect performance. What they found was that after schools banned mobile phones, test scores of students aged 16 increased by 6.4% of a standard deviation and the effects were twice as large for low-achieving students.
In the article I wrote in 2021, I outlined how people using certain apps on their phones caused their brains to release certain chemicals in a similar way to people addicted to gambling. What’s worrying is the effect this could have on the developing brains of students. What I’ve noticed from the effect of our updated phone policy is that students are getting a significant break between using their phones and therefore giving their brains a rest from these chemicals. Without this ‘need’ to use their phones, students in my classes are conversing with each other more, they are helping each other out overcoming challenging problems instead of not trying, I’ve noticed them completing more work, and their attention doesn’t seem to be as divided. Their brains are having more opportunity to develop creative, social, emotional, and academic skills instead of needing a quick entertainment fix.
If you wanted to learn more about the impact of phones on young students or tips to assist them as they are growing up with technology, Dr Andrew Fuller and Dr Kristy Goodwin are great names to google. Dr Fuller has written a number of books on helping children reach their potential, and Dr Kristy Goodwin writes a number of blog articles on children and the digital world.
Zach Holmes
Assessment and Data Coordinator