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Students who use their mobiles while studying get lower test results

Handheld devices Whole-school issues
Students who use their mobile phones to text and tweet while they are studying are more likely to score lower test results than those who give their full attention in class.

New research by academics from Miami University, Illinois State University and Nebraska University has found that sending and receiving messages that are unrelated to class content has a negative impact on students’ learning.

The research study, entitled Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examining the Effects of Texting, Twitter and Message Content on Student Learning, discovered that when students did not use their mobiles they were able to recall information better.

The academics, Jeffrey Kuznekoff, Stevie Munz and Scott Titsworth, chose 145 US undergraduates at random and asked them to take notes while watching a 12-minute video lecture. 

During the lecture the students faced a series of distractions on their mobile phones. Half received and sent messages relevant to the lecture while the other half replied to messages that were completed unrelated. A control group did not use their mobile phones at all.

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