The New Times (Rwanda):
Are phones a blessing or curse for students?
13 July 2016
A new study on students' test performance and smartphones found kids who attend schools with smartphone bans did better on tests - even more so if they were struggling academically before the ban was instituted. Researchers at the London School of Economics gathered test scores from thousands of 16-year-old between 2000 to 2012, studying the effects of cell phone bans on schools. They found that the bans boosted test scores by six per cent. If a child was previously academically under-performing, their scores improved up to 14 per cent. Dr Richard Murphy, the assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas and co-author of the study, said, ''Our conclusion is that unstructured use of phones in schools has a negative impact, mainly for kids at the bottom half of the class. Schools should consider having a policy restricting phone use''.
This article was published by The New Times (Rwanda) on July 13, 2016
Link to article here
Related Publications
In brief ... Phone home: should mobiles be banned in schools?, Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy, CentrePiece Volume 20, Issue 1, Summer 2015
Ill Communication: Technology, Distraction and 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