An Empirical Study of the Factors that Influence In-Class Digital Distraction among University Students

Abstract

Classroom access to computers, smart phones, and the Internet may be indispensable for teaching and learning both for the student and instructor, yet these technologies can also be an impediment to learning as students tend to use them to engage in activities unrelated to the classwork. Using survey data collected from 187 US and 204 Namibian university students, this paper examines the factors that influence students' in-class digital distraction from a cross-cultural perspective. The findings suggest that Internet addiction, learning style preference, contextual and individual student factors significantly influence the intensity of student in-class digital distraction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical and classroom management implications of the findings and provides recommendations for researchers as well as educators.