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Nowadays, more and more college students have no problem walking into a classroom and opening their laptops. Others may spend an entire study period with a smartphone in hand. Some people argue that the increasing use of technology can have many helpful effects on society. But a recent research suggests that using technology during class time may harm college students' ability to remember and process the subject material.

Arnold Glass, a professor in Rutgers University in New Jersey4, and a student researcher investigated the issue of divided student attention. The study involved 118 Rutgers students who were taking the same level college class. The students were permitted to use any electronic device during half of their daily class periods. During the other half, no one was allowed to use any technology.

The researchers found that the average daily quiz results showed no evidence of harmful effects from the use of technology. However, the average results of the larger tests and final exam showed that all the students performed poorly when they were permitted to use technology in the classroom. Glass argues that it shows the use of electronic devices in the classroom prevents students from processing information. When the students hear what the professor is saying, they might be buying things online or reading unrelated emails at the same time. And that, Glass says, makes it harder for the information to enter their long term memory. Even though the students know what the professor said at that time, they no longer remember it a week later because they missed the opportunity.

However, Lauren Margulieux, an assistant professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta argues that there are times when classroom use of technology is unavoidable. So, he says, educators need to consider that something other than technology is distracting students.

In fact, a special software program has been created. Students can use the program, which engages students more with the class material on their personal devices during a given class. It can also be used to observe student activity and prevent them from opening unrelated pages and programs.