ERIC Number: EJ1355942
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Dec
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2211-1662
EISSN: EISSN-2211-1670
Mobile Phones in Schools: With or without You? Comparison of Students' Anxiety Level and Class Engagement after Regular and Mobile-Free School Days
Gajdics, Janka; Jagodics, Balázs
Technology, Knowledge and Learning, v27 n4 p1095-1113 Dec 2022
Mobile phones are important for people, especially for young adults and adolescents. As people tend to form attachments to not only social partners, but inanimate targets as well, mobile devices can become important objects that provide safety and security. This could lead to separation anxiety, also known as "nomophobia". Constant need for mobile use may result in problematic behaviors in schools, cause distraction in class, it is important to explore the students' relationship to devices. Our study compares state anxiety level of high school students on a regular school day and on an experimental "mobile-free day", when participants do not carry their mobile phones during classes. We hypothesized that separation from the mobiles would increase anxiety and decrease class engagement, especially in students with higher mobile attachment scores. The sample consisted of 235 secondary school students. Results of Repeated Measures ANCOVA showed that anxiety levels increased on the mobile-free school day, but class engagement was not affected by the experiment. Linear regression analysis revealed 'Safe Haven' mobile attachment to be a significant predictor of state anxiety on the mobile free school day. Moreover, correlation analysis revealed that mobile use habits linked to social media and instant message services were associated with higher anxiety scores on the mobile-free school day. Our results provide more insights on both use of mobile phones in learning environment and regarding school regulations of students' device use.
Descriptors: Handheld Devices, Separation Anxiety, Learner Engagement, Habit Formation, Social Media, Synchronous Communication, Foreign Countries, Secondary School Students, Attention
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hungary
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A