TikTok, a video-sharing social media app, is popular among teens and young adults. (Maddie Knight/Emerald)
While in my classes this term, I’ve been noticing an increase in phone usage and a decrease in engagement during lectures. I even noticed plenty of students sitting in front seats and not even attempting to hide their phone usage.
Most of the classes I’m taking are filled with upperclassmen — ones I would have assumed to take their education much more seriously and block out distractions.
However, the ease of mobility in technology has made it easier for Gen-Z to remain occupied and undoubtedly distracted.
I even find it irritating myself when phones go off with sounds, indicating even more of a lack of attention being minded during long lectures.
Journalism and Communications Professor Tom Bivins discussed his experience teaching in-person lectures and his policies with technology.
“When I taught large lecture classes in person, I didn’t allow phones to be open in the class. No laptops, except for taking notes, and only in the first two rows so I could see their screens as I walked up the aisle. If I saw someone using a phone, I called them out,” Bivins said.
Different professors have different mandates based on their own experiences.
Ken Pendleton is an assistant teaching professor of marketing and teaches sports law and business at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. He discussed with me the trouble of enforcing technological regulations, especially with his impairment of being legally blind.
“My problem in particular, because of my vision, is enforceability. Even if I took away the ability to use your phone, how would I know if they’re using a laptop to watch a sports game? I should probably say something, but it’s so unenforceable,” Dr. Pendleton said.
According to Arianna Prothero from edweek.org, survey results from 20,000 public school teachers across the United States show that stricter school phone policies lead to more focused classroom environments.
Technology has increasingly made it easier for society to constantly get distracted. Whether it’s having social gatherings or even going for a walk alone, the easy habit of taking out phones has become the norm.
With the rise of technology, I question whether the push to utilize these devices has created many more opportunities for academic environments.
“The more general challenge is that many students use their tablets or laptops to take notes, and I even upload the class decks to Canvas. Given that, I just don’t see how I can distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate uses of technology,” Pendleton said. “The best solution is to create activities that keep students engaged.”
The pairing of long lectures and shrinking attention spans among Gen-Z has made it difficult for teachers to collectively maintain their students’ engagement.
“I was dedicated to sharing my knowledge during that time period, and, out of courtesy, I expected them to at least pay attention or, at the very least, not to seem blatantly distracted. A classroom should create an environment built on mutual respect. That’s the bottom line,” Bivins said.
The more I observe fellow students ignoring the valuable lessons being taught by professors, the more I wonder if they’re wasting more of their time and money or the time that professors have willingly taken to advance our education.
