Smartphones, Distraction Narratives, and Flexible Pedagogies: Students' Mobile Technology Practices in Networked Writing Classrooms

This article reports on how a group of students describe their use of smartphones in writing classrooms. Based on 143 survey responses and 10 interviews, this study found that students often described their smartphone use as a reflection of their classroom environment. When motivated in class, these students used mobile devices as conduits for participation, accessing course materials, learning more about discussion topics, or writing notes. But when instructors failed to make course content relatable, understandable, or engaging, the students turned to their smartphones as sources of distraction. These findings encourage composition instructors to view smartphone use as, in part, a reflection of teaching methods and the course environments, rather than universal indications of students' distraction or disinterest. And while many researchers have advocated for new course designs or assignments that account for the proliferation of networked composing technologies in university students' lives (e.g., Yancey, 2009, Clark, 2010, Dryer et al., 2014), these findings call for further research to address how students' access to networked mobile devices may require composition instructors to shift teaching methods and models, rather than solely course content.