2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This evidence-based practice, work-in-progress paper presents a classroom intervention that uses a physical app-blocking device to reduce phone use and improve student focus in the classroom. In a world where smartphone ownership and social media use are ubiquitous, and phone addiction is increasingly common, students face high levels of distraction from their phones, both inside and outside the classroom. This often manifests as students going off task during class or while studying. They may use their phones to scroll through social media or watch short videos designed to capture their attention. A growing body of research shows that smartphone and social media use can lower students’ focus and academic performance. As a result, it is common for K-12 institutions to ban phone usage in classrooms. In higher education, it is more challenging to regulate or monitor students’ phone use, especially in large lecture classes.

However, there are ways to limit phone use without the need to implement bans or confiscate devices. In recent years, a variety of mobile apps have been developed to help users limit their device usage, including built-in tools such as Apple’s Screen Time and Android’s Digital Wellbeing, as well as numerous third-party apps. One drawback to such apps is that they can often be bypassed, reducing their long-term adoption and effectiveness. Recognizing this issue, certain apps, such as Bloom and Brick, require users to tap their phone on a physical device to start and stop the app restriction, creating a spatial barrier that discourages bypassing the block.

In this study, we leverage this design to reduce classroom phone use by integrating the start and stop tapping of the physical app-blocking device into the natural routine of entering and exiting the classroom. This takes advantage of the added barrier of requiring students to leave their seat to unblock their phones, helping them commit to their decision to avoid phone distractions during class. This intervention aims to help students make intentional choices about their phone use during class and study time, improving their focus while also developing greater awareness of their relationship with their phones. During each lecture, students may opt in to block their choice of distracting apps by tapping the physical device on their way in and out of class.

We will track the usage of these app-blocking devices and explore students’ willingness to voluntarily restrict their phone use during class. Using pre- and post-surveys about students’ phone use and attention levels, we will analyze the impact on in-class focus and examine students’ actual and desired phone use. We will also assess how students’ focus relates to academic performance by analyzing outcomes from formative and summative assessments. In the long term, we aim to explore the effectiveness and practicality of phone-blocking interventions, including options that can be applied outside of the classroom. As the effects of phone use on focus and attention become increasingly apparent, it is essential to develop strategies that help students effectively and intentionally regulate their own phone use.