Are students hurting their grades because of their use of Internet in class?

You are in the classroom. Your professor has been lecturing for half an hour by now. Your interest on the subject is fading away, and so is your mind. You think to yourself that you would rather do something else, but drawing suspicion is the last thing you need. You think of a solution – your laptop. You will seem like you are taking notes but what you will place your focus on is messaging and looking at funny clips.

However, apparently, you are also hurting your final grades.

The psychological study that argues against the use of internet in class

This is what the Michigan State University researchers concluded from their recent psychological study. They sought to understand whether Students' use of the internet in class was an indicator of low grades at the end of the semester. The students' motivations at the university as well as their aptitudes/intelligence were taken into consideration by conducting corresponding online surveys and ACT tests.

This psychological study was conducted throughout the semester with 127 students who agreed to participate from MSU's psychology class with Professor Kimberly Fenn.

These were one hour and a half sessions where a distinction was noted between those who logged into a certain proxy server when online and those who did not.

A strong correlation between the use of internet in class and low scores

The cover was raised. 83 out of the 127 students were logging into the server. In addition, they were attending other interests for approximately 37 minutes, and these were unrelated to the class material.

Results showed a strong correlation between the misuse of the Internet in class by these students and deficient scores at the end of the semester. There was no reason to use their laptops in most cases. Evidently, motivations were being misplaced behind anything but grasping the class topics and information that was intended to serve their scores ultimately.

Professors are beginning to notice such trends and select to not upload PowerPoint slides till a test approaches or simply forbid the use of such technology in their classrooms.

So, beware, students of the world. Daydreaming in class is becoming no easy task. .