Phones in the Classroom Hurt Everyone’s Grades

Students are using laptops and phones during class more and more often. Researchers suspect there can be a problem with that.

People like to think they can multitask. But the brain actually can focus attention on just one thing (6) __________ a time. When people switch between tasks, their brains can’t keep up with (7) __________. So, there will be a delay as their attention (8) __________ from one task to another. Someone who is listening to one person talk, for instance, can’t also listen to another. They can’t even listen and read at the same time.

So, what happens when students try to listen to a lecture while they check their email? Or participate in a classroom discussion while liking a (9) __________ photos? Glass and Kang, psychologists who (10) __________ at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., thought this kind of multitasking might make it harder for students to learn. Their new data now confirm that it does.