ENG2601 Assignment 4 OCTOBER NOVEMBER
PORTFOLIO (COMPLETE ANSWERS) 2024 - DUE 9
October
schools have a mobile phone ban in place since for all or some of 2020.
New South Wales also banned mobile phones in public primary schools,
with secondary schools having the option to opt in, since the start of 2020.
Education departments have introduced the bans for various reasons
including to improve academic outcomes and decrease bullying. Several
recent papers point to positive impact of banning mobile phones at school
on student performance and other outcomes. Understanding the evidence
is crucial for best policy. In a 2015 paper, we used a method — called a
difference-in-difference strategy — as well as student data from England to
investigate the effect of banning mobile phones on student performance. In
this method, we compared schools that have had phones removed to
similar schools with no phone bans. This allowed us to isolate the effect of
mobiles phones on student performance from other factors that could affect
performance. We found banning mobile phones at school leads to an
increase in student performance. Our results suggest that after schools
banned mobile phones, test scores of students aged 16 increased by 6.4%
of a standard deviation. This is equivalent to adding five days to the school
year or an additional hour a week. The effects were twice as large for
lowachieving students, and we found no impact on high achieving students.
4 Our results suggest low-performing stu
Banning mobile phones in schools can improve students’ academic
performance. This is how we know. Author: Louis-Philippe Beland
Published: March 21, 2021, 8.49pm SAST The effects of mobiles phones
and other technology at school is a hotly debated topic in many countries.
Some advocate for a complete ban to limit distractions, while others
suggest using technology as a teaching tool. Kids in public South
Australian primary schools started the school year without being allowed to
bring their mobile phones to class, unless they are needed for class
, activity. All students in public Western Australian Victorian, and Tasmanian
dents are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones,
while high performing students can focus with or without mobile phones.
The results of our paper suggest banning mobile phones has considerable
benefits including a reduction in the gap between high- and low- achieving
students. This is substantial improvement for a low-cost education policy.
Other studies show similar results. Recent studies from Spain and Norway,
using a similar empirical strategy to ours, also show compelling evidence
on the benefit of banning mobile phones on student performance, with
similar effect size. In Spain, banning mobile phones has been shown to
increase students’ scores in maths and science. Researchers also
documented a decrease in incidences of bullying. In Norway, banning
phones significantly increased middle school students’ grade point
average. It also increased students’ likelihood of attending an academic
high school rather than choosing a vocational school. And it decreased
incidents of bullying. Evidence from Belgium suggests banning mobile
phones can be beneficial for college student performance. This context
might be different, but still informative as students are of similar age to
those in high school. Research from Sweden, however, suggests little
effect of banning mobile phones in high school on student performance. It
is worth noting, however, the study did not find any detrimental effect of
banning mobile phones. A similar conclusion can be drawn from the
literature on the effect of computers used at school. Evidence from the US
suggests using laptops in class is detrimental to learning, and the effects
are large and more damaging for low-performing students. Potential
psychological mechanisms involved. The psychological literature might
shed lights on the potential mechanisms as to why mobile phones and
PORTFOLIO (COMPLETE ANSWERS) 2024 - DUE 9
October
schools have a mobile phone ban in place since for all or some of 2020.
New South Wales also banned mobile phones in public primary schools,
with secondary schools having the option to opt in, since the start of 2020.
Education departments have introduced the bans for various reasons
including to improve academic outcomes and decrease bullying. Several
recent papers point to positive impact of banning mobile phones at school
on student performance and other outcomes. Understanding the evidence
is crucial for best policy. In a 2015 paper, we used a method — called a
difference-in-difference strategy — as well as student data from England to
investigate the effect of banning mobile phones on student performance. In
this method, we compared schools that have had phones removed to
similar schools with no phone bans. This allowed us to isolate the effect of
mobiles phones on student performance from other factors that could affect
performance. We found banning mobile phones at school leads to an
increase in student performance. Our results suggest that after schools
banned mobile phones, test scores of students aged 16 increased by 6.4%
of a standard deviation. This is equivalent to adding five days to the school
year or an additional hour a week. The effects were twice as large for
lowachieving students, and we found no impact on high achieving students.
4 Our results suggest low-performing stu
Banning mobile phones in schools can improve students’ academic
performance. This is how we know. Author: Louis-Philippe Beland
Published: March 21, 2021, 8.49pm SAST The effects of mobiles phones
and other technology at school is a hotly debated topic in many countries.
Some advocate for a complete ban to limit distractions, while others
suggest using technology as a teaching tool. Kids in public South
Australian primary schools started the school year without being allowed to
bring their mobile phones to class, unless they are needed for class
, activity. All students in public Western Australian Victorian, and Tasmanian
dents are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones,
while high performing students can focus with or without mobile phones.
The results of our paper suggest banning mobile phones has considerable
benefits including a reduction in the gap between high- and low- achieving
students. This is substantial improvement for a low-cost education policy.
Other studies show similar results. Recent studies from Spain and Norway,
using a similar empirical strategy to ours, also show compelling evidence
on the benefit of banning mobile phones on student performance, with
similar effect size. In Spain, banning mobile phones has been shown to
increase students’ scores in maths and science. Researchers also
documented a decrease in incidences of bullying. In Norway, banning
phones significantly increased middle school students’ grade point
average. It also increased students’ likelihood of attending an academic
high school rather than choosing a vocational school. And it decreased
incidents of bullying. Evidence from Belgium suggests banning mobile
phones can be beneficial for college student performance. This context
might be different, but still informative as students are of similar age to
those in high school. Research from Sweden, however, suggests little
effect of banning mobile phones in high school on student performance. It
is worth noting, however, the study did not find any detrimental effect of
banning mobile phones. A similar conclusion can be drawn from the
literature on the effect of computers used at school. Evidence from the US
suggests using laptops in class is detrimental to learning, and the effects
are large and more damaging for low-performing students. Potential
psychological mechanisms involved. The psychological literature might
shed lights on the potential mechanisms as to why mobile phones and
