Checking social media or text messaging is second nature in today’s day and age. When completing assignments or heading to class, most of us wouldn’t dare to leave our phones behind. It’s a necessity; we simply can’t live without them.
Or can we?
California State University, Chico and Penn State are using an app called Pocket Points that reward students for keeping their phones locked and untouched in exchange for free food or discounts at local stores. Emily Turner, a sophomore at Penn State, was one of the co-developers of the app, an article on Onward State read.
The app tracks when students are in the classroom and the times they use their phones. Points are earned as soon as the class begins and accumulated over the amount of time the students keep their phones on lock. Every 20 minutes of phone lockdown earns points. The rate also increases when numerous students are using the app at the same time.
Currently, the app is only used at Chico and Penn State. However, it is supposed to launch at other schools around the country. Its success rate of 1,000 downloads in Happy Valley alone looks promising.
To download the app, you can click here. Although Cal Poly doesn’t yet have the app, the influx and integration of social media into education makes me wonder if we would utilize the app in classrooms as incentives to students.
I can’t help but wonder though, would the app be more of a distraction then a beneficial reward? If points are accumulated every 20 minutes, I can’t help but think students would focus on the time, detracting their attention away from class material. We are so used to checking our phone anyway. Would students really be able to live without scanning social media or reading a text for the duration of, let’s say, a three-hour lab?
What do you think?