摘要：十多年来，我每年都为本科生、MBA学生、医学及护理专业学生讲授同一门课程。尽管我没有改变授课内容或教学风格，但去年学生的课程评价却比以往任何时候都要好：

The New York times｜Guest Essay

纽约时报｜客座评论

Here’s What Happened When I Made My College Students Put Away Their Phones

当我让大学生收起手机后发生了什么

By Ezekiel J. Emanuel

Dr. Emanuel is a physician and a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

伊曼纽尔博士是一名医生，同时担任宾夕法尼亚大学医学伦理与健康政策教授。

Christina Lee

十多年来，我每年都为本科生、MBA学生、医学及护理专业学生讲授同一门课程。尽管我没有改变授课内容或教学风格，但去年学生的课程评价却比以往任何时候都要好：

“这门课让我在宾大所学到的比任何一门课都多……”

“这是我上过最棒的课程。”

“超棒的课！！”

在所有的评价中，只有一条是负面的。但重点不在于自夸——我不认为这些评论反映了我和我的教学能力有什么变化。我的教学方式多年来基本上保持一致。

那么，改变的是什么？我在课堂上禁止了所有手机和电子设备记笔记，唯一例外是学生可以使用触控笔书写。起初，我的学生们即使没有完全反对，也持怀疑态度。但几周后，他们意识到这样做对他们更有益——能更好地吸收和记住信息，也更享受课堂时光。

我的规定要求手机关机，更重要的是，不能放在桌面上可见。但我确实允许那些期待紧急电话的学生——比如配偶即将分娩——在课堂上将手机放在随手可及的地方。

课堂内容会被录制，讲座文字稿在课后也会提供给需要学术便利或想复习的学生。

我40年的教学直觉告诉我，这一改变让学生更少分心、更投入。我认为这让他们更专注，并对学习更满意。

将无电子设备政策与高课程评价联系起来只是我的个人感受，但这与现有的关于电子设备记笔记对课堂内容记忆的影响，以及手机——即使关机——对人际互动质量和满意度的研究数据相符。

为了推行这一政策，我在课程的第一堂课上展示了一项研究：被迫手写笔记的学生比使用电脑的学生记住的信息要多得多。原因是使用电脑时，学生打字的速度可以跟上我说话的速度，并力求逐字记录，但几乎不对课堂内容进行心理处理。相反，几乎没有人能连续90分钟手写每分钟125个词。因此，手写笔记需要同时进行心理处理，以确定需要记录的重点。这种处理以不同的方式将材料编码在大脑中，有助于长期记忆。

关于手机分散注意力的影响——即使屏幕朝下且关机——的数据很有说服力。在一项研究中，研究人员招募了520名本科生，要求他们在上课时关闭手机铃声和振动功能。一组学生将手机屏幕朝下放在桌上，第二组学生将手机放在包或口袋里，第三组学生将手机存放在另一个房间。然后所有学生接受认知测试，以评估他们的精神集中和注意力。

一项测试评估了他们解决数学问题的能力，同时跟踪随机生成的字母序列。另一项测试涉及解决新颖问题，比如完成一个模式。当手机放在桌上时，学生在两项测试中表现最差；放在包或口袋里时次之；存放在另一个房间时表现最好。

有趣的是，当被问及时，学生们报告说无论手机放在哪里，他们对手机相关想法的感知没有差异。研究人员认为，“仅仅智能手机的存在就会降低可用的认知能力，即使它没有被使用。”换句话说：智能手机不会让我们更聪明。实际上，恰恰相反。

智能手机的存在还会损害面对面社交互动的质量。在另一项研究中，不列颠哥伦比亚省的研究人员要求人们与家人或朋友去餐厅吃饭。一些人被允许将手机放在餐桌上，另一些人则不行。那些把手机放在桌上的人更容易分心，更难与近在咫尺的用餐同伴建立联系，即使他们的手机没有被使用。将手机放在桌上的用餐者也表示更感到无聊，对用餐体验的享受更少。

这些都是禁止在学校——教室、食堂、课间以及在校其他时间——使用手机和笔记本电脑的有力论据。值得庆幸的是，这些数据已在全国催生了新政策。截至4月，已有11个州颁布了全州范围的禁令或限制，禁止或限制在公立K-12学校中使用或接触手机。其他州也有待立法禁止或限制学生在校使用或接触手机。

这一趋势在高校中尚未流行起来。我的搜索发现只有一所小型学院——怀俄明天主教学院——禁止在教室使用手机。尽管大多数大学生在法律上是成年人，但神经科学告诉我们，他们在生理上还不是成年人。他们的大脑前额叶皮层——控制计划、执行功能和风险承担的部分——尚未完全发育。他们有时判断力差、冲动行事，做出损害社交关系和学习的决定。这也是学生的教育——尤其是本科生——被委托给教授和大学领导的原因之一。

我真正希望的是，每间大学教室都能更像白宫和其他政府建筑中的敏感信息隔离设施（SCIF）：手机不允许带入，而是锁在每个房间外的小柜子里。学生必须在上课前存放手机，下课后取回。理想情况下，教授仍然可以选择退出这一政策，尤其是当手机或其他移动设备对课程的教育过程和内容至关重要时。

我当然不是一个人。我最近了解到，我的课并不是宾夕法尼亚大学唯一禁止手机的课程。校园里至少有一位哲学教授也在他的课上禁止手机。在一门名为《刻意生活：僧侣、圣徒与沉思生活》的宗教课上，学生被要求放弃使用手机30天，作为体验修道院生活的一部分。

如果课堂上禁止手机和电脑的规定广泛实施，学生可能会从课堂中学到更多，更愿意在课堂上畅所欲言，在社交互动中更自在，并感到更充实。让我们回到近二十年前的美好旧时光，那时学生只有翻盖手机，却学到了更多。 ◾

I’ve taught the same course to a class of undergraduate, M.B.A., medical and nursing students every year for over a decade. While I didn’t change my lectures or teaching style, somehowthe students’ evaluations of last year’s class were better than ever before:

“This course taught me more than any course I’ve ever learned at Penn. …”

“The best course I have ever taken.”

“Amazing class!!”

Out of all the reviews, only one was negative. But the point is not to brag — I don’t think these comments reflect anything about me and my teaching ability. I’m teaching in basically the same manner I have for years.

So what changed? I banned all cellphones and computer-based note taking in the classroom, with the exception that students could use a device if they wrote with a stylus. Initially, my students were skeptical, if not totally opposed. But after a couple of weeks, they recognized they were better off for it — better able to absorb and retain information, and better able to enjoy their time in class

My policy required phones to be turned off, and, more important, not be visible on desks. I did allow students who were expecting urgent calls — say, from a spouse about to have a baby — to have a mobile phone readily available during class.

Class sessions are recorded, and transcripts of the lectures are available any time after class to students with academic accommodations or those who want to go over them again.

My 40 years of pedagogical intuition tell me that this change made students less distracted and more engaged. I think it made them more attentive and satisfied with the learning.

Associating the no-digital-device policy with high course evaluations is just my sense, but it comports with the available data on the effects of computer note taking on retention of classroom material and the impact of cellphones — even when turned off — on the quality of and satisfaction with person-to-person interactions.

To help sell this policy, I presented in the first lecture of the course a studyshowing that students who were required to take class notes by hand retained significantly more information than students who used computers. The reason is that with computers, students can type as fast as I speak and strive for verbatim transcripts, but there is almost no mental processing of the class’s content. Conversely, virtually no one can hand write 125 words per minute for 90 minutes. Thus, handwritten notes require simultaneous mental processing to determine the important points that need recording. This processing encodes the material in the brain differently and facilitates longer-term retention.

The data on the distracting effect of mobile phones — even when they are face down and turned off — are strong. In one study, researchers enrolled 520 undergraduates who were required to have their phone ringers and vibration functions turned off during class. Members of one group put their phones face down on their desks. Members of a second group put their phones in bags or pockets. Members of a third group had their phones stored in another room. Then all students were given cognitive tests to assess mental focus and attention.

One test evaluated their ability to solve math problems while keeping track of randomly generated letter sequences. Another involved solving novel problems like completing a pattern. Students performed worst on both tests when phones were on desks, next worse when they were placed in bags or pockets and best when they were stored in another room.

Interestingly, when asked, the students reported perceiving no difference in phone-related thoughts regardless of the phone’s location. The study investigators argued that “the mere presence of one’s Smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity, even when it is not in use.” Translation: Smartphones don’t make us smarter. Indeed, quite the opposite.

The presence of smartphones also undermines the quality of in-person social interactions. In another study, researchers in British Columbia asked people to go to a restaurant with family members or friends. Some were allowed to keep their phones on the table during the meal; others were not. Those who kept their phones on the table were more distracted and less able to connect with dining companions who were sitting right there, even when their phones were not being used. Diners who had their phones on the table also reported more boredom and less enjoyment of the dining experience.

These are strong arguments for banning phones and laptops in schools — in the classroom, in the cafeteria, during recess and at other times throughout the school day. Thankfully, this data has precipitated new policies across the country. As of April, 11 stateshad enacted statewide bans or restrictions on mobile phone use or access in public K-12 schools. Additional states have legislation pending to either ban or restrict students’ phone use or access in school.

This trend has not caught on in colleges and universities. My searches have turned up just one small college, Wyoming Catholic College, that has bannedmobile phonesin the classroom. While most college students are legal adults, neuroscience teaches usthat they are not biologically adults. Their prefrontal cortices, the part of the brain that controls planning, executive functioning and risk taking, aren’t fully developed. They sometimes exercise poor judgment, act impulsively and make decisions that damage their social relationships and learning. That’s among the reasons that students’ education, particularly for undergraduates, is entrusted to professors and university leaders.

What I would really like is for every university classroom to be treated more like the sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs, in the White House and other government buildings: Phones are not permitted and are locked in cubbies outside of every room. Students would have to deposit their phones before class and pick them up after class. Ideally, professors could still choose to opt out of this policy, especially if phones or other mobile devices were integral to the educational process and content of the class.

I’m certainly not alone. I recently learned that my class was not the only one at the University of Pennsylvania to ban cellphones. At least one philosophy professor on campus bans phones from his class, too. And in a religion class titledLiving Deliberately: Monks, Saints and the Contemplative Life, students are asked to forswear their phones for 30 days as part of experiencing a monastic life.

If bans on phones and computers in classes were widely instituted, students might learn more from their classes, be more willing to speak their minds in class, be more at ease in their social interactions and feel more fulfilled. Let’s go back to the good old days, nearly two decades ago, when students had only flip phones and were learning more.

来源：左右图史