Do Cell Phones Promote An Increase of Anxiety and Disrupt Student Learning?

Introduction

Students are constantly plugged into their phones whether in the classroom or outside of the classroom. Nomophobia is a fear of being without a cell phone, or simply put a separation anxiety many people face when forced to separate from their phones. In a classroom it is expected students should be on task and paying attention, however with cellphones being common this has becomes more challenging. Whether or not cell phones are allowed in a classroom they are still present. Cell phones command student’s attention and take away ability to focus. In youth anxiety and depression are becoming more and more common. Could this be linked to the popularity of cell phones and modern technology? Could this technology be used in a positive way in the classroom?

I propose an inquiry project that attempts to reduce cell phone use in the classroom and see how it benefits or disadvantages learning. Students anxiety and attachment maybe high at first but eventually I believe without their constant need to check their phones students will retain more information/skills, produce better quality work and generally achieve higher. On an episode of “This is High School” produced by the CBC a teacher made students put their phones in sealed sacks for class. Once the class had adjusted to learning without their phones most students were more immersed in learning, had focus and their productivity increased.

Inquiry Questions

  • How do cellphones promote anxiety in students?
  • How can cell phone use positively or negatively affect mental health and academic performance in the classroom?
  • What ways can teachers implement cellphones use to positively impact learning and reduce anxiety?
  • How could classroom productivity increase if students were asked to “unplug” from their devices?

Inquiry Purpose

 Understanding nomophobia in youth at a deeper level and trying to positively spin the effect of cellphone use in classrooms is challenging as a teacher. Today’s current youth are the first to grow up in an environment where being plugged into a mobile device is common or normal. Many students develop such an attachment to their phones that when asked to put their phones away and pay attention to the lecture they can’t focus without checking their phones. According to Kimberly Young, “anecdotal reports indicated that some online users were becoming addicted to the Internet in much the same way that others became addicted to drugs or alcohol, which resulted in academic, social, and occupational impairment” (Young, 2009).

Despite socioeconomic status most students have cell phones in today’s classroom. Motivating students to separate from their phones and do anything can be challenging, as a teacher. In many classrooms they are banned but students still find time to send SnapChats, check Facebook/Twitter/ Instagram and play video games. Instructing students to put their phones away and focus can be incredibly challenging. If students are separated from their devices they generally get anxious and worry; thus their attention is still lost.

As a teacher it’s important to try to get information into students to create knowledge. Fighting to get students attention from their devices can be challenging. I think it would be interesting to experiment with different strategies to separate students’ focus from their phones to the classroom. Students will hopefully benefit by retaining more knowledge. It would also be interesting to observe what would happen to the students’ behaviors if you were to take their phones away completely. Some students may get anxious; some may focus and work better.

Another consideration would be how can cell phone use benefit learning? Students have access to any information they need clarity on while in the classroom if they have their phones on them. Could this benefit outweigh the con’s of the distracting nature of phones in class? As a teacher would it benefit your classroom to use more interactive content like Kahoot to gauge students learning retention? Or would keeping phones out of the way be better? Cell phones are distractions so how to go about making them useful distractions could be interesting from a teaching perspective.

Critical Concepts

  • Examining if anxiety is increased in youth due to mobile phone attachment
  • Considering cellphone use and how it benefits or disadvantages growth and development
  • Determining if mobile phones disrupt learning and focus
  • Exploring how cellphones can benefit the classroom instead of detracting from learning.

Ethical Considerations

Would it be ethical to incorporate cell phone use into sharing development in the classroom? What if not all students can afford cell phones and not all phones have equal access to the same technology? Is it a fair assumption that all students have access to technology? Would it be unethical to take phones from students during class time and return them after class?

More Food For Thought