In the APS Observer, Nathan DeWall provides a useful classroom activity to help students become aware of their smartphone use based on Dr. Kushlev’s latest research.
For Android devices: download the Digital Wellbeing app from the Google Play Store, which will bring you to a screen with visual representations of how much you have used your phone, how many times you’ve unlocked your phone and the number of notifications you have received, that day.
For iPhones: go to Settings > Screen Time. Tap “Turn On Screen Time.” Tap “Continue.” You can access your screen time information by adding it to your Widget Screen, which will make it accessible by swiping right from your home screen. Then, click on the widget to see your full stats.
Next: Ask half of the students to attempt to limit their smartphone use until the next class and ask the remaining students to use their smartphone normally.
Then: At the start of the next class, ask students to share how many hours each day they used their phones (DeWall).
“The numbers are striking,” said Kushlev, “so just showing those to students is a great class conversation starter.”
Read the full article by Nathan DeWall here!