In their new education blog, Grade Point, the Washington Post reports on a study showing My smartphone is making me dumb. Actually, that headline is probably making their readers dumber.
Researchers gave college students their first smartphone and asked them “whether they thought the devices would help them learn”. Of course a large majority said yes.
But a year later, when they were asked the same questions in the past tense, the results were entirely different – the college students felt the phones had distracted them and hadn’t been helpful, after all.
So, of course, we blame the technology, instead of any number of other factors (start with this being their first smartphone) that don’t necessarily translate into provocative headlines.
Finally, tacked onto the end of the post, the writer did manage arrive at the far more accurate conclusion of research like this.
Just providing access to mobile technology wasn’t enough, they concluded; educators would need to offer more structure or guidance if they wanted phones to enhance students’ academic experience.
Teachers must learn how incorporate mobile devices into their practice before students can understand how to use them for their learning.
Not exactly link bait.