Once viewed by educators as the ultimate classroom distraction, smartphones can significantly enhance learning outcomes when used intelligently as dedicated educational aids, according to research co-authored by the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School Dean Paul A. Pavlou.
Relying on randomized controlled trials conducted at a vocational school in China, the study found that guided smartphone use in classrooms improved student performance by 26 percent. Co-authors include Pavlou's former Ph.D. students, Zhe Deng, an assistant professor of decision and system sciences at St. Joseph's University; and Aaron Cheng, an assistant professor of information systems and innovation at the London School of Economics; in addition to Pedro Ferreira, a professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
"The central conclusion will probably surprise many faculty who may even see our main finding as counterintuitive," Pavlou said. "I'm not shocked by this development because today's cellphones are increasingly supported by artificial intelligence capabilities that can augment student learning when used effectively.
"Over time, I believe the supervised use of smartphones in classrooms will become fairly commonplace, as AI and its applications continue to evolve," Pavlou added. "Instructors will likely come to regard smartphones as educational tools on par with laptops and iPads. This is supported by the fact that 91 percent of U.S. citizens owned cellphones in 2024, compared with just 35 percent in 2011."
Titled "From Smart Phones to Smart Students: Learning versus Distraction Using Smartphones in the Classroom," the study was published in Information Systems Research, a peer-reviewed top academic journal covering information systems and technology.
The research examined student performance under four different classroom scenarios:
- No smartphones allowed
- Smartphones available for unrestricted use
- Smartphones present but used only for guided learning
- Smartphones banned, but paper-based educational aids provided
Students with unrestricted access to their phones experienced a 32 percent drop in performance compared to those in classrooms where smartphones were banned. However, when used solely for learning, the devices helped bridge educational gaps between male and female students, as well as between low- and high-performing students.
