Texting in class has become so common, most professors seem to have given up telling students to put away their phones. And we’ve stopped trying to hide the fact that we are partially paying attention.
But a new app might change all of this distracted, obsessive behavior. Pocket Points was designed in 2014 by two students at California State University at Chico to encourage students to put away their phones and pay attention to professors instead.
Though I’ve been wary of other apps like the Companion app designed to help get students home safely that I wrote about two weeks ago, Pocket Points might have a positive effect in the classroom.
The app works like this: students open the app in class and receive points when they do not use their phone during lecture. These points, once added up, can lead to discounts and food deals, like free chips and guacamole at nearby restaurants.
Pocket Points is brilliant. It aims to eliminate distractions in the classroom by exploiting a college student’s love — or sheer desperation — for cheap food.
Though this app seems to create positive results, like full attention from students, it’s a pitiful reflection of how much technology has invaded the classroom, and not always in a positive way.
I watch fellow classmates on their laptops in lecture, scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, writing essays for other classes, messaging friends and checking emails — all at the same time.
Any information they might hope to retain is minimal.
Admittedly, I am sometimes one of these people. I read the New York Times, Snapchat my friends, make to-do lists and frequently wonder what the professor just said was important for the exam.
I panic when the Wi-Fi isn’t working and obsessively charge my phone so we will never have to be apart. Yes, I admit I have a problem.
If an app has to bribe students to fully pay attention in class so they can get 30 percent off a burrito later, then so be it.
But professors should become stricter with their technology policies in the classroom — if they’ve implemented one at all. Most of my professors allow laptops and cell phones in the classroom, both of which I always keep within reach.
I can recall only one professor I had with a strict “No Screen Policy.” I didn’t mind since it was my favorite class, so I would’ve kept my phone in my bag regardless. But it made me realize how truly engaged I was versus other classes in which I’d sit with Facebook and the latest memes to fight for my attention.
We can argue all day whether laptops are necessary in the classroom, but cell phones offer only a lovely distraction.
Whether students at IU download Pocket Points solely to be rewarded with food discounts, at least they are paying more attention in the classroom. Maybe it will slowly condition us to put our phones away in class or when studying with no bribery necessary.
nrowthor@indiana.edu
@nrowthornIU
