Why Even Self-Regulated Students Still Reach for Their Phones in Class

Digital distraction in college classrooms is not just a local concern. It is a global one. In a recent study led by Abe Flanigan and published in The Internet and Higher Education, we examined how students from the United States, South Korea, and Turkey use (and misuse) mobile devices during class. Our findings challenge long-standing assumptions about self-regulation, motivation, and attention in learning environments.

What We Wanted to Know

We asked a fundamental but underexplored question: Do students’ cultural contexts shape how they manage digital distraction?

More specifically, we examined how three factors relate to in-class device misuse:

  • Students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) tendencies
  • Satisfaction of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness)
  • Perceptions of the utility value of coursework

We also explored whether these relationships differ by country.

Key Findings

  1. Self-regulation does not prevent distraction
    Students who report strong SRL tendencies still report significant off-task device use during class. On average, participants across all three countries said they were distracted for about one-third of a typical class period.
  2. Motivation makes a difference
    Students who felt that their coursework was useful and who experienced autonomy and competence in class reported less digital distraction. These effects were consistent across all cultural contexts.
  3. Culture matters less than expected
    Despite differences in national educational systems and cultural values, we found no major differences across the United States, South Korea, and Turkey in how SRL and motivational factors predicted device misuse.

What This Means for Educators

Our findings suggest that simply encouraging students to self-regulate their learning is not enough. The performance phase of learning, which occurs during class time, is highly susceptible to digital interruptions, even among highly motivated and self-directed students.

Instead of relying on students to manage their distractions alone, instructors should focus on building motivationally supportive classroom environments. Specifically:

  • Help students build competence by providing scaffolded tasks and encouraging feedback.
  • Promote autonomy by offering meaningful choices and explaining classroom policies.
  • Support relatedness by fostering respectful and inclusive classroom communities.
  • Enhance utility value by making clear connections between coursework and students’ future goals.

Moving Forward

The presence of mobile devices in college classrooms is nearly universal, and their potential to disrupt learning appears to be universal as well. But so are the benefits of a supportive, motivating learning environment. By focusing on student motivation, instructors across cultures can reduce digital distraction and help students stay focused on learning.

Read the full article:
The Internet and Higher Education (2025)
Free download until July 24, 2025 via this link:
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1lCwW3vNrZ0zM6

Post July 24 (requires subscription for full-text)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2025.101023