Smartphones in the Classroom and Students' Misperceptions : Faculty Development

Students at a mid-sized public university in New England (N=129) were surveyed to determine their use of smartphones and their perceptions of their peers' use of smartphones during class time for personal use. The results showed that students inaccurately perceived that their peers used their smartphones more often than they did. These misperceptions may lead students to believe that (a) texting, (b) surfing the Web, and (c) visiting social sites represent the campus norms.The main finding from this study that students inaccurately perceive that their peers use their smartphones more than they do themselves for personal use during class time is an important finding because the use of smartphones phones during class time for personal use distracts students from the leaning process.The results of this research shaped the model: Smartphones in the Classroom: Guidelines for Clarifying Students' Misperceptions. Educators incorporating this model in their classrooms will reduce students' use of smartphones for personal use during class time and improve the learning environment by reducing distractions. The implementation of the Model requires additional work by instructors. This may prove to be problematic due to time constraints. If so, informing students that misperceptions exist may clarify students' misperceptions enough to lessen their use of smartphones during class time for personal use