The impact of goal achievement orientation on student technology usage in the classroom

The aim of this study was to investigate whether students with differing goal achievement orientations were more likely to engage in on-task or off-task mobile device usage, as well as whether particular devices (specifically, laptops and smartphones) have a positive or negative relationship with specific task usage. The results of this study found the mastery approach goal achievement orientation to be negatively associated with off-task device usage, and the mastery avoidance goal achievement orientation to be positively associated with on-task usage behaviors. In addition, it was found that on-task behaviors were positively associated with laptop usage, while off-task behaviors were positively associated with smartphone usage. This study focused on student behavior in a higher education classroom, although the results may be applicable in any context in which users of personal electronic and internet-enabled devices are focused on specific learning objectives.