How Do Students and Teachers See Digital Distraction in School?

Perceived distractions might not always directly relate to actual distractions, so this chapter delves deeper into what students and teachers initially witnessed regarding digital distraction inside these unique pandemic learning environments. Subsequently, both students and teachers saw digital distraction through their own individual lenses (i.e., actions and choices), as well as the behaviors of others. Some of these distractions were witnessed in person, while others were seen through digital mediums like videoconferencing (e.g., Google Meet and Zoom). In addition, unpacking participants’ shared perspectives about how they see digital distraction in school gives readers a variety of generalizable anecdotal evidence that can and should be discussed among school leaders when developing digital policies at school, and among teachers when discussing how best to modify classroom management strategies and techniques for minimizing digital distraction inside their classrooms during professional development sessions (i.e., weekly in-service meetings, district institute day breakout sessions, etc.).