Students and Cell Phones: Exploring Their Use and Crafting Our Response

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Students and Cell Phones Exploring Their Use and
Crafting Our Response

• Valerie A. Molyneaux
• Emory University/ University of Georgia
• ACPA/ NASPA Joint Meeting
• April 2, 2007

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Presentation Overview

• Interactive audience poll
• Overview of qualitative research
• Explanation of methodology
• Presentation of study results!
• Hands-on activity quiz and take aways
• Discussion
• Questions

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Interactive Audience Poll

• I need 2 volunteers to help me count hands,
  please.
• If you wish to help, please come to the front!

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Overview of Qualitative Research

• Best for answering what and how questions
• Interested in participants meanings
• Major types exploratory, case study,
  phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography,
  narrative research

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Qualitative Research (cont.)

• Yields rich, descriptive data
• Data often in form of words
• Common methods interviews, document analysis,
  participant observation
• Results not generalizable, although lessons
  learned may be transferred to new situations

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Why Study Cell Phone Use?

• Curiosity
• Anecdotes-- my own and others
• A proverbial gap in the literature!

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Particulars of My Study

• Qualitative, explorative study
• Data interviews of 5 college students,
  collection of daily logs and phone bills,
  researcher journal
• Methodology constant comparison, triangulation,
  member checks

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A New Way of Considering All Those Calls to
Parents

• And like just like even if you speak to them for
  a few minutes every day, they stay happy and that
  way they dont bother you. So like thats
  probably one of the reasons she never calls me.
  Im sure if I stopped calling her for like a week
  or whatever, she would start calling me, like
  making sure Im okay, like chatting as an excuse
  to make sure Im still like sane, or that type of
  thing. So it keeps them happy. --Josh

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What the Literature Says

• Study on new wireless users (Palen et al, 2000)
• Stated purpose business and safety
• In actual practice social calls
• Theories cognitive and cultural
• Baxter Magolda (2001)
• Howe Strauss (2000)

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Industry Data

• CTIA, 2006
• 219 million subscribers in 2006
• 850 billion minutes used each year

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Research Purpose Questions

• Purpose To explore how wireless phone use
  figures in the lives of college students as well
  as how it affects their development

• How do students use wireless phones?
• What are the subjects of conversations and their
  conversation partners?
• How do students understand and describe their use?

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Participants

• 18 year old first years
• Michael
• Annie
• Kimberly
• Joshua
• 19 year old sophomore
• Jordan

• Most recent user
• Talked most with opposite sex
• Had steady boyfriend
• Most technically savvy
• Best developed social network

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First Finding

• Wireless phone use is ubiquitous and common-place

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• Where are you? is what I say a lot on the cell
  phone and what I hear people saying when theyve
  got their cell phone on the shuttle. I laughed
  at that and then I did it myself. Michael
• Like I said, I dont even have a dorm phone. I
  dont think Ive made a single call since Ive
  been here that wasnt on my cell phone or someone
  elses cell phone. --Kimberly

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Second Finding

• 2) Students understandings of their own uses are
  gendered

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• Like maybe every three days, I just try to call
  someone in my phone book that I havent really
  talked to a lot or talked to recently, just to
  see how things are going. Annie
• When I use it for conversation, its a tool to
  get to the conversation. When I use it with
  other people, its like a tool to get to a
  different thing to get to some other activity
  that has some value. --Michael

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Third Finding

• 3) Phone use reduces the need for pre-planning
  and organization-al skills

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• It was almost an inconvenience for me to go out,
  especially, you know. Like Im a teenager so I
  didnt drive like an amazing car or anything, so
  I was always afraid something would happen and
  Id be stuck without a cell phone. --Annie
• It would definitely rely on setting things up,
  pre-planning, planning things in advance more
  than it does now. --Josh

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Fourth Finding

• Phone use inhibits reflection and conversation

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• Well, I was going to be by myself, and I was
  like, I dont really like going by myself when
  nobody was around, so I was going to call
  somebody just because. But I ended up not. I
  was like, okay, thats stupid. I can be by
  myself and be fine. So I just went and ate by
  myself and then came. But I would have called
  somebody normally because I wasnt doing anything
  else. --Jordan

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Fifth Finding

• 5) Phone use is a marker of both belonging and
  superiority

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• As I was hanging out with people, and that would
  be when they said, Whats your cell phone
  number? and Im like, Dont have a cell phone.
  Now, its just not a topic of conversation
  anymore. Which probably makes sense because
  everybody has everyones number already. Some
  people were amazingly surprised. It was funny,
  because one of my most entertaining things during
  the day was for someone to ask what my cell phone
  number was. And cause they were always shocked
  that somebody would not have a cell phone in
  college. Its such a useful thing. Why dont
  you have one?-- Michael

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• I used to think that I send an insane amount of
  text messages, but I asked a couple of my friends
  about it, and some of them send more than I do.
  Like, the reason I know about the 2500 text
  messages plan, cause my friend has it and she
  goes over that. So she text people a lot. And
  every time I see her, shes on her phone. Like
  shes on her phone a lot. If she doesnt have
  her phone, shed probably die. Seriously.
  (Laughter) So like in general, I think I send a
  lot of text messages, but there are definitely a
  lot of people who send way more than I do.
  --Jordan

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Directions for Future Research

• Anxiety enhancement role of phones
• Gendered uses communication utility
• Relationship formation and maintenance
• Experiences of parents via phones
• Etiquette and practices
• More research into effects on self-reflection and
  development
• Use differences according to race

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Limitations of the Study

• Not generalizable only reader transferable
• Only one site
• Volunteers received incentives
• No participant observation
• Only considered perspective of students, not
  their conversation partners

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Hands-on Activity Quiz!

• How good is the reception for wireless phone use
  at your institution?
• Please read each question and circle your answer
  on the cards provided.
• At the conclusion of the quiz, we will trade
  answers and grade each other.

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1. Do you have a policy regarding wireless phone
use by students during 11 meetings with
administrators?

• Of course we dootherwise, theyd constantly be
  answering them during appointments!
• I have no idea.
• We have no such thingtheres no need to
  communicate that expectation to students because
  they should already understand it.

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2. Do professors include a notation about
wireless phone use on each class syllabus?

• DefinitelyI have seen or heard about this from
  students, or on the sample syllabus our center
  for teaching provides.
• I have no clue.
• No waythey stick to the basics of assignments,
  texts, disability accommodations, et cetera.

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3. Do you record students wireless phone
numbers?

• Yes, its a mandatory part of the student data
  system, and I know how to access those numbers.
• Yes, but its an optional element of the student
  data system.
• On some applications and forms created by
  individual departments/programs.
• I dont know.
• Nowhy would we need them when we have email and
  home phones and residence hall room numbers?

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4. Do departments or programs on your campus use
text messaging to remind students of events
and/or advertise programs?

• Yes students can provide their numbers to
  receive text message reminders.
• You can do this? I had no idea!
• Nothats going too far to get students to
  attend/participate. We rely on flyers, email,
  word of mouth, et cetera.

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5. Does your campus have a contract with a
dedicated wireless service provider?

• Yes, and I know the companys name.
• I am not sure.
• Our campus does not enter into proprietary
  contracts like that.
• Nopeits up to individuals to decide on wireless
  services.

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6. What kind of phone service do you offer
residential students (if applicable)?

• Wireless phones.
• Voice over IP.
• Good old landlines.
• I will have to checklet me get back to you.
• We dont have residential students.

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7. Does your institution require you to answer
wireless calls at all times?

• Yes, even during non-work hours and weekends.
• Yes, when I am on-call.
• No, answering the phone while away from my desk
  or during non-typical work hours is not part of
  my job.

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8. Does your institution pay for your wireless
phone service as an employee?

• Yes, the whole bill!
• Yes, but only part of the cost is covered.
• No, I have to pay everything myself even though I
  take work calls on my personal wireless phone.
• No, because they do not call me on my personal
  wireless phone line.

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9. What do cya, g2g, text messaging world?

• cya
• g2g
• ttyl

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10. Which electronic/wireless communication
formats does your campus regularly use to contact
students? Circle all that apply.

• Website announcements
• Email
• Text messaging
• Instant messaging
• Cell phone calls
• Campus-wide voicemail distribution

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Time to Grade the Quizzes

• Please choose a neighbor with whom to exchange
  your quiz responses.
• Using the scoring key on the back, please assign
  points for each response.
• Total the points to determine how receptive your
  neighbors institution is.

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Take Away Exercise

• Please turn to the same neighbor who scored your
  quiz.
• When it is time to do so, please share a way you
  could use the information presented today in your
  professional practice
• Leave time to listen to your neighbors idea

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Take Away Exercise

• Please begin sharing now
• One concrete idea
• You could put in place
• Based on this research/presentation
• Critique and challenge each other
• Listen for the signal to complete your
  conversation

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A Few Suggested Take Away Ideas

• Training for academic advisors, faculty, and
  student services personnel
• Helping students develop missing skill sets
• Scheduling
• Patience
• Immediacy of expectations
• Reflection

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More Take Away Ideas

• Parent orientation ongoing outreach
• how to sift through volume of conversations
• letting a child handle his/her own problems
• Educational materials on instruction and parents
  websites

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Discussion Questions

• How do you believe wireless phone use is shaping
  education, both inside and beyond the classroom?

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Discussion Questions

• As student affairs practitioners and scholars,
  how can we use students wireless phone use to
  get to the next level of shaping education?

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Discussion Questions

• How can we use the prevalence of and reliance on
  wireless phones to our advantage?

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Discussion Questions

• How do we shape technology to assist us in
  meeting our goals rather than allowing technology
  to shape higher education or our profession?

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Discussion Questions

• Would someone please share a take away idea?

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Questions?
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Thank you for attending and participating!