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The Hechinger Report:
Will giving greater student access to smartphones improve learning?

27 April 2016

Although empirical evidence about the effects of phone access on learning seems to be scarce, the findings of a recent study on student phone access and the achievement gap by Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy for the London School of Economics and Political Science echoed our concerns. ''We find that mobile phone bans have very different effects on different types of students,'' the authors wrote. ''Banning mobile phones improves outcomes for the low-achieving students ... the most, and has no significant impact on high achievers.''

This article was published online by the Hechinger Report on April 27, 2016
Link to article here

Related publications
In brief... Phone home: should mobiles be banned in schools?, Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy. Article in CentrePiece Volume 20, Issue 1, Summer 2015
Ill Communication: Technology, Distraction & Student Performance, Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1350, May 2015

Related links
Richard Murphy webpage
Education and Skills Programme webpage

Read more... The Hechinger Report