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CARBONDALE, Ill. — The war on classroom phone use has a new strategy: surrender, but only for a minute. A recent study reveals that allowing students brief, scheduled periods to use their phones during lectures may actually reduce overall usage and even lead to higher grades.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous, educators face a growing challenge: how to keep students engaged in the classroom when digital distractions are just a tap away. The recent study published in Frontiers in Education offers a potential solution that doesn’t involve confiscating phones or imposing strict bans. Instead, it suggests giving students periodic “technology breaks” to check their devices during class.
The most surprising finding? Shorter breaks of just one minute proved most effective in reducing overall phone use and improving test performance.
Led by Professor Ryan Redner at Southern Illinois University, researchers implemented this strategy in an undergraduate critical thinking course over 22 class periods. They compared the effects of technology breaks to “question breaks,” where students could ask the professor questions about the lecture material instead of using their phones.
“We show that technology breaks may be helpful for reducing cell phone use in the college classroom,” Redner explains in a statement. “To our knowledge, this is the first evaluation of technology breaks in a college classroom.”
During technology break sessions, the professor would announce at the beginning of class that students would have a brief period – either 1, 2, or 4 minutes – to use their phones freely during the lecture. The breaks were scheduled about 15 minutes into the 45-minute lecture. In contrast, during question break sessions, students were told they would have a similar break to ask questions, but phone use was discouraged.
The results were promising, albeit with some caveats. On average, when technology breaks were implemented, students used their phones less frequently throughout the class compared to days with question breaks. The rate of cell phone use during technology break days was 0.35 times per minute, while on question break days, it was 0.53 times per minute.
Interestingly, the one-minute technology breaks seemed to be the most effective. Not only did they result in the lowest levels of cell phone use, but they also correlated with significantly higher quiz scores compared to other break durations or question breaks.
“Our hope is that it means students were less distracted during lecture, which leads to better performance,” Redner says.
So, why are shorter breaks more effective?
“One possibility is that one minute is enough to read and send a smaller number of messages. If they have more time to send many messages, they may be more likely to receive messages and respond again during class,” Redner hypothesizes.
However, the study wasn’t without its quirks. The researchers noticed high variability in phone use among sessions, making it difficult to draw definite conclusions. They also observed that while phone use decreased in some experimental settings, it was not eliminated entirely.
The implications of this study are fascinating for educators grappling with the digital age. Instead of fighting against the tide of technology, this approach suggests working with it. By acknowledging students’ desire to stay connected and providing structured times to do so, educators might be able to reclaim more focused attention during lecture times.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers used a method called a multi-element design to compare different durations of technology breaks and question breaks. They observed students across 22 class periods, with an average attendance of 21 students. During each class, observers counted how many students were using cell phones every 10 seconds, moving row by row. This data was then converted into a rate of cell phone use per minute. The researchers also collected quiz scores to see if the different break types affected academic performance.
Key Results
The main finding was that technology breaks led to less overall cell phone use during class compared to question breaks. The 1-minute technology breaks were particularly effective, resulting in both the lowest cell phone use and the highest quiz scores. Higher average test scores (over 80%) were consistently observed during sessions with 1-minute breaks. However, there was high variability in the data, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
Study Limitations
There was high variability in the data, with some unexpected spikes and dips in cell phone use that couldn’t be easily explained. The researchers also didn’t distinguish between academic and non-academic phone use. Additionally, the study didn’t account for other devices like laptops or smartwatches. Lastly, the sample size was relatively small and limited to one course at one university, so the results might not apply to all college classrooms.
Discussion & Takeaways
The researchers suggest that technology breaks, particularly short ones, could be a promising, non-punitive way to reduce cell phone distractions in class. They acknowledge that more research is needed to confirm these effects and understand why they occur.
“We are trying to find ways to reduce cell phone use and doing so without penalties. We hope our findings inspire researchers and teachers to try approaches to reducing cell phone use that are reinforcement-based,” concludes Redner.
The study raises interesting questions about how to balance technology use with focused learning in modern classrooms.
Funding & Disclosures
The authors declared that they received no financial support for this research. They also stated that there were no conflicts of interest related to the study.
