Smartphones In Classrooms: Is It Damaging Or Improving Children’s Education?

Plenty of teachers and educators have banned smartphones from classrooms because they believe it would distract students from learning. New research, however, suggested that taking smartphones away from youngsters can damage their time in classrooms more.

A study by a research team in Singapore examined 87 undergraduates with ages between 18 and 29, The Telegraph reported. The research, which was published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour, found that young people's smartphone addiction reached the point that they become anxious or stressed out when they don't have access to them. This distracts them further away from their lessons at school.

Students whose smartphones were taken away scored 17 percent points lower on working memory than their peers who were permitted to have their phones with them during class. The study found that simply having their smartphones in their pockets is enough for these students.

Researchers advised teachers to issue periodic technology breaks at school that allow them to check messages and notifications on social networking sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. This way, they don't feel like they are missing out on things and they won't feel anxious anymore.

Andree Hartanto, the study's author from the Singapore Management University, said being separated from their smartphones for long periods can push students to use it more. They are also likely to experience poor cognitive functioning and emotional issues, which could affect their academic performance.

A recent study from the London School of Economics, on the other hand, claimed with smartphone bans have students scoring higher in their tests by an average of seven percent. GCSE test results in Ebbsfleet Academy in Kent, England also increased twofold after the school banned smartphones in 2013.

Some teachers believe that students get distracted with their smartphones instead of focusing on their lessons at school. But Ken Halla, a teacher at Hayfield Secondary in Alexandria, Virginia, argued using technology like smartphones in classrooms can be a positive tool for improving young people's education.

Halla believes smartphones can increase student learning as long as it stays academic, according to the National Education Association. Smartphones are convenient to carry, have easy internet access, and can contain multiple education-friendly apps -- factors that can assist in young people's studies.

Halla said there are educational apps that help students manage their schoolwork. Some of those are Remind101, which notifies pupils when an assignment is due, and polleverywhere.com, which allows students to test their knowledge of a lesson before an exam. There's the U.S. Constitution app as well, which gives students easy access to some of the most vital American documents.