Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, Vol 9(1), Mar 2023, 14-37; doi:10.1037/stl0000214
Online surveys examined college instructors’ and students’ attitudes about in-class use of personal mobile devices (e.g., phones, laptops). Instructors (Study 1; N = 125, 64.2% graduate students) who were more sensitive to traditional disruptions (e.g., arriving late) were more sensitive to technology-related disruptions (e.g., texting). Attitudes toward personal devices in relation to learning were negatively associated with perceived disruptiveness. Policies to restrict devices were related to perceived frequency, but not disruptiveness, of technology-related disruptions. Students (Study 2; N = 174) reported that classroom disruptions from personal devices were infrequent and considered it more important for instructors to set policies for traditional disruptions than for use of personal devices. In Study 3, students (N = 187) reported attitudes about academic use of personal devices at the beginning of an introductory course and distraction from devices at the end of the course. Distractibility was associated with lower quiz scores but was unrelated to attitudes about devices. Nontraditional students (≥24 years) reported less media multitasking and had higher quiz scores than traditional students but did not differ in attitudes about devices. Given their divergent views, instructors and students should communicate more about the potential for personal devices to disrupt the learning process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)