| As the use of technology becomes increasingly widespread across the globe, the risks and rewards of obsessive use become uncertain. Specifically, the abundance of smart phones and the popularity of social media sites have led to multitasking and competing sources for students' attention. This study seeks to understand how personal media devices have impacted undergraduate college student engagement in the classroom. Scientific evidence is beginning to show that the brains of today's adolescents and young adults are wired differently than those of other generations who had less exposure to multitasking through digital media devices; they lack deep-thinking abilities, social skills, short-term memory filters, and even grey brain matter density. This study seeks to build on previous multitasking and engagement studies in order to better understand why students are multitasking with their digital media devices while receiving classroom instruction. Moreover, this study will explore what keeps students engaged in the classroom and why they become disengaged through their use of personal media devices. Additionally, the research will seek to understand how professors can eliminate personal media devices as a disengagement tool and how they can effectively use them as an engagement tool in order to increase student engagement. Suggestions for further research and implications for practice will be provided. |
