Phones in Schools? What the Research Says with Abe Flanigan, PhD

Should phones be allowed in the classroom? On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry talks with Dr. Abraham Flanigan, an associate professor of educational psychology at Georgia Southern University about what phones actually do to attention, memory, and classroom climate. Drawing on his research on digital distraction, Dr. Flanigan sheds light on what teachers and students really think, what changes after phones go away, and perspectives on the utility and impacts of limiting device-use in the classroom. The discussion also addresses how some approaches are more effective than others in engaging students and maintaining rapport. 

In this episode, you will learn:

• What the latest research shows on how phones in the classroom affect focus, motivation, self-regulation, and grades.
• Why multitasking is cognitively impossible.
• How smartphone use leads to a "dopamine loop" in the brain that can interfere with motivation for other tasks.
• How students and educators feel about school smartphone bans.
• Why student smartphone access during school emergencies may actually make them less safe.

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au