Texting During Homework: The Millennial Generation’s Ability to Thrive Despite Constant Technological Interruptions

Texting is a popular mode of communication for the millennial generation, today’s college students. Studies have shown that the majority of students text during class and that these interruptions negatively affect grades. Yet, students continue to believe they can multi-task -effectively balancing texting and coursework. Unfortunately, outside the classroom, students report even less regulation with their texting -checking and responding continuously, often for fear of being disconnected from those around them. Students who engage in self-regulatory strategies in the face of cell phone distractions have been found to better sustain attention and use effective behaviors to enhance cognitive learning in the classroom. In the current study, we examined whether these behaviors held outside a classroom environment by texting participants during a homework task. After controlling for self-regulatory skills and GPA, we foundthose who texted actually outperformed those who did not on cognitive skills (i.e., a reading quiz and essay), with the opposite effect found for grammar.