How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in ... - Prisa Digital

Do cell phones and other digital tools create a distraction in the classroom?
While many AP and NWP teachers are utilizing cell phones as part of the learning experience, there is
often public debate about “cell phone distraction” in the classroom and how best to manage the use of
cell phones and other tech devices in
71% of teachers say managing student use
of cell phones and other digital tools in class
is an issue
How much of an issue, if at all, is managing your students’ use of
cell phones and other technology in your classroom?
Not an
issue
11%
No
phones
in class
19%
Minor
issue
43%
Major
issue
28%
Source: Teacher data from the Pew Research Center's Internet &
American Life Project Online Survey of Teachers, March 7 to April
23, 2012, n=2,462 middle and high school teachers.
class. The AP and NWP teachers
surveyed were asked “How much of an
issue, if at all, is managing your
students’ use of cell phones and other
technology in your classroom?” While
19% of these teachers say students are
not allowed to have these devices in
their classrooms, 28% say this is a major
issue for them and another 43% say it is
a minor issue. The remaining 11%
describe the management of students’
use of cell phones and other tech
devices in class as “not an issue at all.”
The AP and NWP teachers most likely to
say that managing student cell phone
use is a “major issue” are those teaching
in urban areas (37%) when compared
with those in rural areas (18%), smaller
cities or suburbs (27%) and small towns
(26%). Teachers whose students come mainly from low income homes are also slightly more likely than
other teachers to describe managing student cell phone use as a “major issue” (31% say this vs. 24% of
those whose students are mainly from upper income households).
Teachers face additional challenges in incorporating digital tools into the
classroom
In addition to managing potential tech “distraction” among students, AP and NWP teachers
acknowledge a variety of additional challenges to incorporating digital tools more fully into their
classrooms. By a wide margin, the most significant challenge these teachers report facing is time
constraints; fully six in 10 of these teachers say time constraints are a “major challenge” for them
personally in incorporating more digital technologies and digital learning into their classrooms. Another
33% say this is a “minor challenge” for them.
Second only to time is the pressure to teach to assessments. More than four in 10 AP and NWP teachers
p e winter n e t .o r g 40