Their phones are perched on their tables, ready to connect them to their office, their homes, their game scores, and the latest tweets. The phones taunt them to pick them up and interact.
My phone is similarly perched in the front of the room. “Just in case.” My teenage son is home today (like he is every Friday). He might need something.
The amount of tools and technology poised to distract us increases daily. More apps, more productivity hacks, more notifications. More. More. More.
In a world of more it can be increasingly difficult to compete for attention when you have a group in a traditional classroom space. So how can you help make your classroom indistractable? I’m generously borrowing the term from Ner Eyal’s book Indistractable: How To Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.
Create An Engaging Environment
We tend to go to our phones as a way to avoid boredom. So, it seems, we need to fully engage our learners. What does that mean? It means making sure THEY are doing more than we are. Get them actively involved in learning. If you do need to lecture, keep it short and include retrieval practice, either intermittently dispersed within your lecture or immediately after.
Share The Data
Many trainers set ground rules around phone usage. I’ve never been that trainer. There are often legitimate life reasons for someone checking their phone or even receiving a phone call during class. I don’t like the idea of absolutes in phone guidelines. They just don’t seem like a realistic alternative in 2020.
Instead, consider suggesting how learners use their phone in class coupled with data about attention, and retention. Consider mentioning how one person’s use of their phone entices others to do the same.
Get Them Off The Table
We tend to use our phones when we are reminded of them. Begin by keeping them out of sight. Ask learners to keep them in their pockets, purses, or bags.
Simply, get them out of our sight.
Use Them In Class
There are numerous ways people can use their phones as part of class. Use them as answer keypads with applications like Kahoot or Socrative. They can even share their responses with polling applications like PollEverywhere or build timelines and brainstorm with my new favorite, Padlet. Purposeful use can help learners feel like they are using their phone in a much more productive manner while you are actively engaging each learner in the content.
Interact With Those Using Them
“I can see you are using your phone, is everything ok?”
Gently nudging without a direct confrontation is important for those who may be using their phones without even thinking about it. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
Provide Frequent Breaks
Manage nomophobia—the fear of being without access to one’s cellphone.
People will feel more comfortable if they know they will have time to use their phone. Let them know approximately when they can expect to take a break.
Model The Way
Get off your phone. Avoid using it in front of the room so that you don’t trigger their use. Yes, that may mean you need a different tool for timing exercises or that you wait until the break as well. But learners will model what they see. If you don’t want them using it, you need to avoid using it as well. Not easy. But important.
How are you creating an indistractible classroom? What methods are working for you? Share in the comments below.
Join me March 30, 2020 for It’s All About Retrieval with Sacramento Association of Talent Development. Register here. I’ll be previewing my presentation for the 2020 ATD International Conference and Exposition!
