Episode 142: The Digital Distraction — How Wireless Devices Are Hijacking Student Learning

Digital devices have transformed our classrooms, but at what cost to our children's learning? This eye-opening exploration reveals how smartphones and tablets are quietly reshaping the cognitive landscape of K-12 education, creating generation-defining challenges that parents and educators can no longer ignore.

The numbers tell a troubling story. American teenagers consume approximately nine hours of entertainment media daily on their smartphones. National test scores began plummeting in 2013 after 25 years of growth, coinciding suspiciously with the rise of Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011), and Facebook's acquisition of Instagram (2012). Meanwhile, the average student can focus for less than six minutes before technology pulls their attention elsewhere. The cognitive implications are profound - chronic media multitaskers demonstrate diminished capabilities in exactly the types of thinking required for deep learning.

Perhaps most concerning is how this digital transformation is affecting our youngest learners. More than half of kindergarteners now have personal tablets, and one in four children possess smartphones by age eight. These children arrive in classrooms wired for instant gratification, struggling with the delayed rewards that genuine learning requires. Their reading rates are declining sharply, dropping from 63% reading daily in 2020 to just 52% in 2024. As I explain, "Technology has provided necessary upgrades in how education is presented, but traditional teaching elements still need to be maintained."

What can concerned parents do? This episode offers practical, actionable strategies to counterbalance technology's downsides while recognizing its benefits. From monitoring educational app usage to promoting imagination-driven play without screens, you'll discover concrete steps to strengthen your child's attention span and learning capacity. Subscribe now to join our community of parents and educators committed to giving children the advantages they need in an increasingly digital world.

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Chapters

• 1:40 Welcome to K-12 Education Untangled
• 3:28 Technology's Impact on Student Learning
• 5:59 Media Multitasking Myths Debunked
• 9:19 Technology's Toll on Critical Thinking
• 11:54 Cell Phones in Elementary Schools
• 14:35 Action Steps for Parents
• 17:08 Episode Takeaways and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:56

Welcome to another episode of K-12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr Kim J Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids, who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their education and progress. This battle-tested experience is what I provide as action steps for you to take. It's like enjoying a bowl of educational research with a sprinkling of mother wisdom on top. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in public education that could affect you and your children, and the action steps that you can take to give your children the advantages they need, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K-12 public education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. Give me 30 minutes and I'll untangle the latest trends, issues and topics pertaining to this constantly evolving K-12 public education environment. In this episode, I'll be discussing whether wireless devices in the classroom are causing learning issues and attention deficits for students. Did you know that declines in student learning are on the rise due to increased technology in the classrooms? Not only that, but the more overall time that children spend on screens each day, regardless of the quality, is linked to lower language development. While technology has advanced some of the learning in classrooms across the country, it has also led to increased learning deficits and attention span deficits. I discussed the downsides of the increased use of technology by today's children and what this means for their thinking, learning and social processes. In this episode, let's untangle this. Processes in this episode. Let's untangle this.

Speaker 1: 3:54

On any given day, the average American teenager consumes about nine hours of entertainment media on their cell phones, according to Common Sense Media's recent census. If they spend this much time every day on their smartphones much time every day on their smartphones this raises a question when can learning fit in? The short answer is it can't. This leads to the rise of media multitasking habits, such as watching television, texting or using social media while doing homework Roughly two-thirds of teenagers who multitask said that they don't think that multitasking while doing their homework affects the quality of their work. This isn't true. Medium multitasking doesn't work. Chronic medium multitaskers are worse at most of the kinds of thinking. That's not only required of multitasking, but what's generally involved in deep thinking. In fact, according to a recent California State University Dominguez Hills study of 263 middle high school and university students, the average student studied for less than six minutes before switching tasks because they were often distracted by technology, including social media or texting. So I ask you, what kind of critical thinking can possibly exist within the span of six minutes? Even though teenagers are in the prime stage of life to learn, they simultaneously possess powerful habit-forming abilities that make them vulnerable to dependency and addiction vulnerable to dependency and addiction. It follows, then, that, as teenagers' attention spans continue to diminish because of unrestrained media consumption, this generation of students may be cognitively unprepared to think critically. The erosion of critical thinking skills is due to uninhibited media consumption and a six-minute attention span.

Speaker 1: 6:16

It's interesting to note that declines in student learning are on the rise due to increased technology in the classrooms. National test scores started dropping abruptly in 2013 after 25 years of growth, with no clear cause, however. Instagram came out in 2010, snapchat came out in 2011, and Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012. With this in mind, the national test score tumble seems to be correlated to increased smartphone and social media use. The more overall time that children spend on screens each day, regardless of the quality, is linked to lower language development. A majority of educators said students' learning challenges rose along with their increased screen time and that student behavior worsened with more screen time.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Without a doubt, the indirect effects of technology on the comprehension habits of young learners are a problem. In a broad sense, technology has transformed the way children view life. Unfortunately, the overall influence of rapidly advancing technology can also be an obstacle to K-12 classrooms. Most children arrive in kindergarten with an advanced idea of instant gratification. Due to readily available access to wireless devices. They know that any game, program or form of communication is available at the touch of a button. This easy access to everything influences the way children are programmed for learning, especially when moments of frustration arise. It's always been difficult to keep the attention of students, especially those in elementary school, but advancements like smartphones, electronic tablets and websites directed at young learners have complicated this truth even more. This is how technology takes its toll on K-12 classrooms across the country.

Speaker 1: 8:35

Look at it this way when we read for pleasure, most of us are looking for some type of escape. We feel a special interest in a particular topic, excitement, a chance to escape reality. People who love to read have an interactive relationship with the material. It's that cracking open of a fresh book. That's an experience unlike any other. That's an experience unlike any other. On the other hand, children who are introduced to literature in the same way that they learn math problems or have video calls with grandparents or play non-educational games, don't have that same reference for reading, because it's nothing special to them. You may be wondering what's the answer, then? There is no clear, definitive answer for how elementary and secondary school students can be expected to learn the quote-unquote right way. Technology has provided the necessary upgrades in how education is presented, but traditional teaching elements still need to be maintained.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Educators in middle and high schools continue struggling to manage students' cell phone use during class. What may be surprising is that cell phones are poised to become a bigger problem for elementary schools, since a significant percentage of young children now have their own devices. In fact, more than half the children who enter kindergarten have their own personal tablets and one in four have their own smartphones by age eight. Further, of the children who are age 8 and younger that have cell phones, 79% have a smartphone that can go online and use apps, 19% have a smartphone that has limited access to the internet and apps, and 3% have a very basic phone that lacks features like touchscreens. In response to this, several states and school districts have created more restrictive cell phone policies in schools In response to their frustrations around managing cell phone use in the classroom. Classroom Overall, this means a lot of distracted students, a large percentage of whom may experience learning and attention deficits.

Speaker 1: 11:09

Children ages 5 to 8 are spending an average of three and a half hours on screens daily. Researchers continue to point out that young elementary students' technology use could affect their social life and emotional and academic learning. Additionally, 25% of parents with 5 to 8-year-olds said their children are watching or playing on mobile devices to fall asleep most nights. Research shows that screen time before bed negatively affects children's sleep, which can hurt not only their mental health but their ability to learn in school. Pediatricians recommend that children get off screens at least one hour before they go to bed, as the use of personal devices such as smartphones, have become more entrenched in young elementary children's daily routines. Reading among this group has declined. For example, in 2020, 63% of parents of children ages 5 to 8 reported that their children were reading or being read to daily. That percentage dropped to 52% in 2024.

Speaker 1: 12:32

To address the proliferation of cell phones in schools, many states and local school districts are considering or passing policies to restrict students' cell phone use in school. 42% of teachers and principals said that students aren't allowed to use cell phones at school at all, although they are allowed to bring them to the campus. Another 7% of teachers and principals say that cell phones aren't allowed on the campus at all. Schools are trying a variety of approaches to curb students' cell phone use, from all-out bands to more tailored restrictions that allow students to use their phones during certain times of the day or in designated areas. But it's one thing to have cell phone restrictions in place on the books and yet another thing altogether to enforcing them. More often than not, cell phone policies aren't enforced by administrators or teachers. Now let's move from listening to this discussion to applying it. So what can you do about cell phone use for your children? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic.

Speaker 1: 14:00

Without a doubt, the indirect effects of technology on the comprehension habits of young learners are a problem. The direct downside of increased use of mobile devices, whether at school or at home, decreases your child's attention span and learning engagement. Researchers have noted that parents who spend more time distracted by their cell phones when their children are very young, between the ages of 10 months and 2 years, have children who have underdeveloped language skills. These language skills deficits carry over, if not addressed, into kindergarten. You are the best monitor of your child's screen time. Here are some tips to manage screen time One, spend more time engaging with your children in real life by playing games, reading to them or participating in hands-on activities.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Two, or participating in hands-on activities. Two, monitor the types of educational apps that your child uses, not only in content or quality, but in duration. Three, help your child work on developing their creativity by writing out stories, using pencils or crayons to draw and illustrate those stories' ideas. And four, utilize audiobooks or children podcasts to enhance your child's listening skills. As I reflect on what tools were used when I was growing up, which was way before wireless devices, we used reel-to-reel tape recorders, board games and, most of all, we used our imaginations, you might be surprised at the things you can create when you're outside and only have old pods or pants, cups, rope and sticks to play with. The possibilities are endless. Give your children the gift of using their imagination by letting them play outside without devices. Go for it.

Speaker 1: 16:24

Here are this episode's takeaways. On any given day, the average American teenager consumes about nine hours of entertainment media on their cell phones. If they spend this much time every day on their smartphones, this raises a question when can learning fit in? The short answer is it can't. It's interesting to note that declines in student learning are on the rise due to increased technology in the classrooms. National test scores started dropping abruptly in 2013 after 25 years of growth, with no clear cause. However, instagram came out in 2010, snapchat came out in 2011, and Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012. With these things in mind, the national test score TUMBLE seems to be correlated to increased smartphone and social media use. The more overall time that children spend on screens each day, regardless of the quality, is linked to lower language development. A majority of educators said students' learning challenges rose along with their increased screen time and that student behavior worsened with more screen time.

Speaker 1: 17:53

In a broad sense, technology has transformed the way children view life. Unfortunately, the overall influence of rapidly advancing technology can also be an obstacle to K-12 classrooms. Most children arrive in kindergarten with an advanced idea of instant gratification due to readily available access to wireless devices. It's always been difficult to keep the attention of students, especially those in elementary school, but advancements like smartphones, electronic tablets and websites directed at young learners have complicated this truth even more. This is how technology takes its toll on K-12 classrooms across the country.

Speaker 1: 18:56

What are your thoughts about the use of wireless devices and the decrease in attention and learning for your children? What are your thoughts? What do you think about that? Leave me what you're thinking about that in a comment on my podcast website, k12educationuntangledbuzzsprout. If you enjoyed this episode, why not listen to another episode from our library? It can take as little as 10 minutes of your day and remember. New episodes come out every Tuesday. Thanks for listening today. Be sure to come back for more Game 12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. Until next time, aim to learn something new every day.