MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to learn more:

• It’s not just the pay - student violence and abuse against teachers is on the rise, causing many to leave the profession.

• Home schooling has never been this popular - but what’s causing the recent popularity?

• Video games are actually good for their mental health? Here’s how a unique event led scientists to discovering this surprise.

TECH TALK

My students can’t stay off their phones

Smartphones are both a blessing and a curse. While they offer useful learning tools and access to more information than we’ve ever had, students often get distracted by social media, games, and constant notifications. 

It can seem like a constant battle to keep students off their phones, which interrupts our lessons and reduces overall student success.

The Solution: Forest

Forest is a mobile app that helps students focus by gamifying the process of staying off their phones. It encourages users to grow a virtual forest by focusing on their work instead of scrolling through apps. 

Students (or their teachers) can set specific focus times (e.g., 30 minutes) during which they plant virtual trees. If they leave the app, their tree unfortunately dies. This simple but effective visual feedback motivates students to stay off their phones and build a habit of concentration.

How About YOUR Classroom?

Phones aren’t going anywhere, and banning them entirely might not be the best long term answer either.

Instead, channeling students' tech use into a productive tool like Forest could help them develop better concentration and accountability skills - both of which will greatly benefit them in the future.

Strategies:

• Set up a class-wide challenge: Introduce Forest as a tool for focus sessions in class. You can set collective goals where students earn rewards for maintaining focus for a set amount of time, turning it into a friendly competition.

• Use Forest during independent work: Whether it’s reading time, writing, or solving problems, get students to “plant a tree” at the beginning of the task. Set a specific focus duration (15-30 minutes), and students can watch their trees grow as they complete their work without interruptions.

• Combine with group projects: Forest can also help during group work. Encourage students to plant a tree as a team, and work collectively towards the goal of not getting distracted by their phones.

By combining the benefits of technology with the need for focus, Forest could be the solution your classroom needs to encourage productive habits while reducing screen time. The free version should be enough for most, but there is a paid version available too.

And if you find yourself a little too addicted to your phone these days, don’t hesitate to use it for yourself either!

BRAINY BITS

Planned phone breaks - the hidden answer

We’ve all seen it—the subtle (or not so subtle) glance at a phone during class. Technology distractions are one of the biggest challenges in today’s classrooms. But can short, structured breaks designed specifically for phone use reduce this behavior?

This week, we dive into a 2024 study that investigates whether giving students planned time to check their phones can actually decrease the temptation to sneak a glance during class.

The Study: Evaluating technology breaks on cell phone use

This week’s experiment looked at 22 different classes of students. Every 10 seconds, an observer would record how many students were on their phone.

3 different controls were implemented. The first group was allowed a 1 minute planned technology break per class, the second group was allowed a 2 minute break, and finally the last group received a 4 minute break. 

These groups were told they were allowed to use their phones during these planned breaks, while a separate control group received the same amount of breaks, but were told to use that time to ask their teacher questions instead. 

In every case, no student received punishment for using their phone within and outside of these conditions. The average amount of phone use in each group was then compared, as were academic scores.

The Results:

There are two results to compare here - average phone use and academic results. 

The average rate of a student using their phone in the no technology breaks control group was about 0.53 times per minute. In the classes where a planned technology break was implemented, this dropped by nearly 75%!

Academic results were less exciting, as average scores were only within about 1.5% of each other. However, the highest scores were technically achieved when planned phone breaks were reduced to 1 minute only.

The 1 minute-only group also appeared to reduce total phone time by the end of the day compared to the other groups. The study found that past the 1 minute mark, students became too distracted by their devices, whereas the 1 minute group was able to get back on task quicker. 

In Your Classroom:

Giving students structured moments to indulge in technology may actually help them focus better when it's time to learn.

This study also shows us that it’s not just about academic results; planned phone breaks don’t eliminate the distraction - rather, they give us back some control.

Strategies

• Scheduled tech breaks: Plan short, 1 minute technology-friendly pauses during lessons to allow students to quickly check their devices without interrupting the learning flow; keep these spread apart (i.e. 1-2 per lesson or activity).

• Clear expectations: Make it clear when it’s okay to use phones and when they need to be put away to minimize disruptions.

While cell phones might be here to stay, with thoughtful management, they don’t have to be a constant disruption. 

This isn’t just for our students either - teachers are increasingly becoming distracted by their devices as well, so don’t be afraid to include yourself in these planned breaks when appropriate!

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

Forest. (2024). Stay focused, be present. Retrieved from: https://www.forestapp.cc/

Brainy Bits:

Redner R, Hurtado-Parrado C, Cifuentes J, Shawler LA and Jacobs EA (2024) Evaluating technology breaks on cell phone use in a college classroom. Front. Educ. 9:1393070. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1393070