[Company name]
ENG2601
Assignment 3
2024 - DUE 5
August 2024
QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED ANSWERS
, ENG2601 Assignment 3 2024 - DUE 5 August 2024
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 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
low-achieving students, and we found no impact on high achieving students. 4
Our results suggest low-performing students 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
ENG2601
Assignment 3
2024 - DUE 5
August 2024
QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED ANSWERS
, ENG2601 Assignment 3 2024 - DUE 5 August 2024
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 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
low-achieving students, and we found no impact on high achieving students. 4
Our results suggest low-performing students 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
