Research and draft writing by MSOT student, Michelle Fitzula 20 19 in partial fulfillment of Spring 2019 Graduate Assistantship.
Using Mobile Devices in the Classroom
Research evidence describes mobile device use in higher education to be both helpful for student learning and harmful
in causing distraction for the user and other students in the classroom.
The main ways mobile device use promotes learning is through active engagement, digital access to information, instant
feedback (summative and formative), focus on discussion, and learning experiences that are convenient and more
engaging with the use of apps and digital resources (Himmelsbach, 2019; Ortiz & Green, 2019; Synnott, 2012). Students
are motivated by technology use to support learning, recognize resources are beneficial in explaining content, and
expect professors to utilize technology (Fernandez, 2018; Ortiz & Green).
Mobile device use in the classroom may be distracting and harmful based on students’ urge to text or check notifications
as they pop up on the screen, technological difficulties, off task behaviors or academic dishonesty, and overuse of
technology is correlated with decreased cognitive thinking skills, social interaction and a decrease in attention span
(Himmelsbach, 2019; Morgan, n.d.; Tindell & Bohlander, 2012; The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2019;
Tossell et al., 2015). There is a lack of evidence supporting the use of mobile devices for increasing grades or enhancing
student academic goals; however, there is a correlation between mobile device use in the classroom and poorer grades
(Tossell et al.; Whitford, 2018).
There is evidence indicating students will continue to use mobile devices in class even if there are policy bans in place,
requiring faculty efforts to transform classrooms based on student perspective and preference (Lieberman, 2019;
Morgan, n.d.). From the literature, a common theme emerged that students and faculty must collaborate to create a
structured policy and plan ways mobile devices will be directly used in the classroom in order to achieve better on task
behaviors and optimize the benefits mobile devices can provide to student learning (Himmelsbach, 2019; The President
and Fellows of Harvard College, 2019; Tossell et al., 2015). Mobile device technology is supported as an adjunct to the
teacher to create a flexible, collaborative learning environment for students in higher education.
How do current college students use mobile devices (phones, tablets and laptops) in the classroom?
o Active learning
o Planning for learning
o Teachers are using mobile devices for online polling, online engagement systems to regularly check in with
students for feedback, data analytics to analyze where students are having difficulties, pre/post lecture
quizzes (not to be graded) to determine student retention or understanding of content
o Participating in classroom “gamification”- competitive scenarios, points and rewards to support course
learning objectives
o Online syllabus
o Sending reminders
o Complete school related tasks (i.e. access course schedule, class announcements, academic calendar)
(Tossell et al., 2015)
o Use of cameras to take pictures of information on board/screen allows students to pay more attention
rather than trying to take notes (Synnott, 2018)
o Look up terminology, vocabulary acquisition
o Create discussions, crowd source questions using social media
o Take collaborative notes in an open document
o Listen to recorded lectures
