HICUP Lab hosted Prof. Daniel le Roux from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. During his visit, he gave a seminar titled “Should Schools Ban Smartphones to Enhance Academic Performance? Evidence from Five South African High Schools.”
Prof. Daniel le Roux heads up the Cognition and Technology Research Group at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He studies various dimensions of the interaction between humans and technology with emphasis on the cognitive and behavioural processes by which humans, both individually and collectively, adopt and adapt to technologies, and how this impacts their performance and well-being. His research is interdisciplinary in nature and has been published in outlets across various domains including Information Systems, Psychology, Business Management and Education.
The seminar presented findings from a multi-year research project conducted in collaboration with five South African high schools. The project included data from 2,195 students, 2,264 parents, and 203 teachers. Prof. le Roux addressed concerns about the impact of smartphone use on high school students’ academic performance and discussed the role of school policies, including restrictive approaches such as smartphone bans. While principals, teachers, and parents often perceive smartphone use during school hours as harmful to academic performance, empirical evidence on this relationship remains mixed. Drawing on an experimental study and a large-scale survey of students and teachers, the seminar examined links between smartphone policies, usage patterns, and academic outcomes. The findings provided evidence on the effectiveness and implications of smartphone restrictions in school settings.
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