A survey just released has claimed an increased use of phones and the internet is undermining students’ ability to study and is a cause of poor grammar amongst many of today’s school children.

The Cranfield School of Management produced the report that blames children’s use of phones and the internet for what it claims are falling standards in study, research and written communication skills.

The study found that 90 per cent of students did most research on the internet, which is double the percentage who did their research with books. It also found that 6 out of 10 pupils have admitted to copying work from the internet without spending time reading or understanding it, with a staggering 25% thinking it is an acceptable practice. English skills have also been seen to suffer with 3 in 10 admit using text shortcuts in essay and exams.

Andrew Kakabadse, professor of international management development at Cranfield, said: “Our research shows that technology obsession hinders spelling skills, implicitly encourages plagiarism, and disrupts classroom learning.”

The Research also found that mobile phones especially had a negative effect upon school discipline with pupils often ignoring rules on mobile phones at School. One third of pupils admitted to using their phone in class, Andrew Kakabadse continues “Despite school policies restricting mobile phone usage, students use the phone frequently, with the majority making calls from the toilets. The mobile phone continues to be a prime channel of social communication during the school day.”

The paper shows additional patterns of behaviour that it finds concerning; many pupils spend one or two per a day on social networking sites. Most pupils had access to a computer by 8, had used the internet by 10 (with some doing so as young as 5), and joined social networking sites between 11 and 13. One in ten (9%) have said they spend more than six hours a day online.

One does have to wonder with the tone of the report is that do the writers expect education, learning and society at large to remain static? As technology changes education will change and adapt as it does too many other stimuli. Many of these changes will be positive others will be negative. Circulated highlights of this report only seem to focus on the negative aspects of this technological change.