Students over reliant on new technology?

Students using phones, tablets or other devices for non-academic purposes during lectures, perform worse in end-of-term exams, according to a new study from Rutgers University. The study, published in Educational Psychology, also found that students who don’t use electronic devices in class, but attend lectures where their use is permitted, also do worse in their exams. The lead researcher on the study was Arnold Glass, a professor of psychology at Rutgers–New Brunswick’s School of Arts and Sciences. Professor Glass, working with graduate student Mengxue Kang, led the experiment to test whether allowing students to divide their attention between electronic devices and the lecturer affected performance on tests taken during class as well as the end-of-term exam.  

Tags: teaching, training