PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Study: Students text, a lot, during class

More than 90 percent admit they play with their digital devices in class

2013-10-24
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Bernard McCoy
bmccoy2@unl.edu
402-472-3047
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Study: Students text, a lot, during class More than 90 percent admit they play with their digital devices in class

The typical college student plays with his or her digital device an average of 11 times a day while in class, according to a new study by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln associate professor.

More than 80 percent admit that their use of smart phones, tablets and laptops can interfere with their learning. More than a fourth say their grades suffer as a result.

Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting, embarked upon his study after launching his teaching career seven years ago and noticing the instructional challenges presented by students' digital devices.

From the front of his classroom on multimedia, he often saw the smart phones creeping out.

The view from the back of a classroom while a colleague taught Mass Media Principles was equally telling.

"They've got their laptops open, but they're not always taking notes," McCoy said. "Some might have two screens open -- Facebook and their notes."

Rather than rely on anecdotal evidence, McCoy decided to try to quantify how often college students tune out their instructors in favor of tweets and texts. During fall 2012, he surveyed 777 students at six universities in five states about their classroom use of digital devices for non-instructional purposes. He also asked the students how often they are distracted by others using digital devices and for their perspective on how digital devices should be policed.

"I don't think students necessarily think it's problematic," McCoy said. "They think it's part of their lives."

The students, from UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Nebraska, Morningside College in Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi, were recruited for the computer survey by classroom instructors via email and personal contact. Respondents were not asked to reveal their name or institution, though colleges were identified through Internet Protocol addresses associated with the survey responses.

Here's how often respondents said they used their digital devices for non-classroom purposes during a typical day (percentages equal more than 100 percent because of rounding):



1 to 3 times per day: 35 percent 4 to 10 times per day: 27 percent 11 to 30 times per day: 16 percent More than 30 times per day: 15 percent Never: less than 8 percent.

Nearly 86 percent said they were texting, 68 percent reported they were checking email, 66 percent said they using social networks, 38 percent said they were surfing the Web and 8 percent said they were playing a game.

McCoy said he was surprised by one response: 79 percent of the students said they used their digital device to check the time.

"That's a generational thing to me -- a lot of young people don't wear watches," he said.

The top advantages of using digital devices for non-class purposes, according to students, are staying connected (70 percent), fighting boredom (55 percent) and doing related classwork (49 percent). The most commonly cited disadvantages were that they don't pay attention (90 percent), miss instruction (80 percent), or get called out by their instructor (32 percent). More than a fourth said they lose grade points because of their digital habits.

However, students downplayed the distraction caused by digital devices. Fewer than 5 percent considered it a "big" or "very big" distraction when classmates used digital devices and fewer than 5 percent considered their own use of a digital device to be a "big" or "very big" distraction. However, more than half the students said they were "a little" distracted when other students pulled out their devices and nearly 46 percent said they were "a little" distracted by their own use of digital devices.

Less than 17 percent said the use of digital devices was not a distraction.

Students do not want to leave their smartphones at home, however. More than 91 percent said they opposed a classroom ban on digital devices. Their preferred policy (72 percent) for dealing with digital distraction is for the instructor to speak to the offender. They also preferred a first-offense warning, followed by penalties (65 percent) for those caught using devices for non-classroom purposes.

McCoy said digital distraction is a challenge with which instructors will continue to wrestle. A 2012 study showed that two-thirds of students age 18-29 own a smartphone, which gives them mobile access to the Internet as well as texting and email capabilities. A 2013 study by Experian Marketing Services showed that 18- to 24-year-olds send and receive an average of 3,853 text messages per month.

"It's become automatic behavior on the part of so many people -- they do it without even thinking about it," McCoy said.

He said he asks students to be aware that using their devices can distract others and to step outside the room if it's a true emergency and they need to be connected. He said he limits the length of his lectures and gives students periodic breaks so they can update Facebook or send a tweet. He said he also tries to get them to use their phones as part of their classroom activities -- asking them to look up information, for example.

"I can guarantee you even when I do those things, it's still not going to keep students from having a text conversation," he said. "They'll multi-task while they're doing it."



INFORMATION:

McCoy's study was published online last week in the Journal of Media Education and is available at http://go.unl.edu/fbov.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Cancer wasting due in part to tumor factors that block muscle repair, study shows

2013-10-24
Cancer wasting due in part to tumor factors that block muscle repair, study shows COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study reveals that tumors release factors into the bloodstream that inhibit the repair of damaged muscle fibers, and that this contributes ...

Team uses forest waste to develop cheaper, greener supercapacitors

2013-10-24
Team uses forest waste to develop cheaper, greener supercapacitors CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that wood-biochar supercapacitors can produce as much power as today's activated-carbon supercapacitors at a fraction of the cost – and with environmentally ...

UNC child neurologist finds potential route to better treatments for Fragile X, autism

2013-10-24
UNC child neurologist finds potential route to better treatments for Fragile X, autism CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – When you experience something, neurons in the brain send chemical signals called neurotransmitters across synapses to receptors on ...

Coral chemicals protect against warming oceans

2013-10-24
Coral chemicals protect against warming oceans Nature paper reveals coral animals produce the 'smell of the ocean' -- influencing cloud formation and protecting themselves against rising seawater temperatures Australian marine scientists have found the first evidence ...

Children's National researcher co-authors study on transitioning cystic fibrosis care

2013-10-24
Children's National researcher co-authors study on transitioning cystic fibrosis care Washington, DC— Children's National pediatrician and researcher, Lisa Tuchman, MD, MPH, co-authored a new study on cystic fibrosis (CF) care that found ...

Diabetes drug metformin with chemo and radiation may improve outcomes in lung cancer patients

2013-10-24
Diabetes drug metformin with chemo and radiation may improve outcomes in lung cancer patients Metformin could serve as a radiosensitizer to treat patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Treating aggressive ...

Penn docs find successful strategy to expand patient participation in hard-to-enroll clinical trials

2013-10-24
Penn docs find successful strategy to expand patient participation in hard-to-enroll clinical trials SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA— Clinical trials are key to finding new cancer treatments, but with patient participation hovering around 5 percent, ...

USC researcher learns how to break a sweat

2013-10-24
USC researcher learns how to break a sweat Without sweat, we would overheat and die. In a recent paper in the journal PLOS ONE, USC faculty member Krzysztof Kobielak and a team of researchers explored the ultimate origin of this sticky, stinky ...

New device stores electricity on silicon chips

2013-10-23
New device stores electricity on silicon chips Solar cells that produce electricity 24/7, not just when the sun is shining. Mobile phones with built-in power cells that recharge in seconds and work for weeks between charges. These are just two ...

Mount Sinai finds value and limitations of patient assistance programs for women with breast cancer

2013-10-23
Mount Sinai finds value and limitations of patient assistance programs for women with breast cancer Nearly 80 percent of women who contacted a patient assistance program had some or all of their needs met, compared with ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

McGill discovery sheds new light on autism, intellectual disabilities

Cellular changes occur even below the hexavalent chromium limit

Study suggests a new way to curb social media’s body image toll

Plant doctor: An AI system that watches over urban trees without touching a leaf

Study tracks chromium chemistry in irradiated molten salts

Scientists: the beautiful game is a silver bullet for global health

Being physically active, even just a couple of days a week, may be key to better health

High-fat diet promote breast cancer metastasis in animal models

A router for photons

Nurses and AI collaborate to save lives, reduce hospital stays

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

[Press-News.org] Study: Students text, a lot, during class
More than 90 percent admit they play with their digital devices in class