Rudy Gerson, Cornell sophomore, planned this initiative because he wanted to foster more face-to-face interaction between students on campus. However, prior to and throughout this social experiment, Gerson found that students are not very engaged during classroom lessons.
“So many people around me were just locked into their phones,” he said. “I know a lot of students say ‘I’m using my cell phone to go on Wikipedia and learn more about what the professor has to say’ about a given topic but that consists of about 20 percent of what they’re actually doing. Students aren’t using cell phones to facilitate learning in class.”
According to a study conducted by Nielson, a company that studies consumer trends, young adults from ages 18 to 24 exchange 1,630 texts per month.
Paul Dimmick, head projectionist for Cornell Cinema, also believes that cell phones are a major distraction. When asked about his tolerance level for cell phones in the classroom, he replied, “zero.”
“Why do you need a cell phone in class?” Dimmick asked. “A cell phone should be used as a tool not a constant accessory. It’s interruptive. You’re not paying attention in class. You’re paying a thousand a week to be here and you’re goofing around on a phone.”
Results from a 2011, September study conducted by College Student Journal shows that increased text messaging was negatively correlated with grade point average and academic level. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found in April of 2010 that 65 percent of students who attend schools that ban cell phones still bring them every day and 43 percent of students reported that they text message in class at least once per day.
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Though it has been indicated that cell phone usage is not beneficial in the classroom, Dr. Deborah Streeter, professor of Management at Cornell University and the workshop leader of Flip the Switch (a set of workshops designed to help professors learn how to propel learning through technology), believes Flip the Switch can help professors to embrace technology in class settings. Streeter has found that cell phones can be useful for class discussions — if used appropriately.
“It’s called Flip the Switch because I’m trying to encourage a flipping of the mentality people have about the dread of cell phones in the classroom,” she said.
Streeter said that she notices a different response from students when they are permitted to use cellphones in class.
“In my class, students take out their phones and answer questions through texting. It’s a lot more inclusive than starting a discussion and seeing who raises their hand first,” Streeter said. “All of us have experienced that one student that always raises his or her hand first, who’s always called on. Pretty soon the group starts depending on whoever it is to raise his or her hand. Whatever minority view inside the classroom is going to fade. If you ask people to text, now I’ve got everybody’s point of view. Now I know that ten out of the 50 students has an opinion that doesn’t agree with others.”
Streeter said it is rare for someone to “go an hour without looking or touching” his or her phone.
“I have noticed that for a just spare moment, I’ll whip [the cell phone] out and look through old texts or I’ll find someone to text. Just because there’s a down moment with nothing to do,” said Cornell University senior Walker Dibolt.
By Friday, April 12, the third and last day of the CU [Dis]Connect, Dibolt said he had no problem not touching his phone in class.
Gerson also felt relief from the constant influx of hourly emails and staying in touch with people.
“I felt a lot more content with just myself,” he said. “I’m sitting in class and I have no way to connect to the technological Internet cloud. And I was just like, ‘OK, so I’ll sit here and be with my thoughts and be with whatever the professor’s saying and be with whatever the people around me are doing’… I felt so great.”
