Research findings support the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) as a curriculum supplement for improving math skills, including math fact fluency. There are a number of websites and mobile applications (i.e., apps) designed to build students' math fact fluency, but the options can become overwhelming. This article provides implementation guidelines to help teachers plan for CAI, including criteria for selecting a program and recommendations for monitoring student progress. In addition, free resources for CAI are discussed.

As the capabilities of portable technology continue to advance and become more accessible, educators express concern about the impact of the inappropriate use of mobile devices on academic engagement and learning. An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effectiveness of an antecedent (Clear Box) intervention and an interdependent group contingency (Clear Box + Good Behavior Game [GBG]) intervention to typical classroom management techniques (Control) in increasing the academic engagement and decreasing mobile device use of high school students during instruction. The results indicate an increase in academic engagement and a decrease in the inappropriate presence of mobile devices in both classrooms with the implementation of the Clear Box + GBG, as compared with the Clear Box and Control conditions. In addition, teacher and student social validity data suggested that teachers and students viewed the Clear Box + GBG intervention favorably. Discussion focuses on contributions to the current literature, implications for practice, and suggestions for future areas of research.

Advances in mobile device technology have made mobile phones and tablets omnipresent in middle and high school classrooms. In 2014, of high-school-aged students, 78% had access to cell phones and 47% had access to smartphones (Cyr, Berman, & Smith, 2015). Although there are clear instructional benefits to having students capitalize on information technology to search and retrieve information efficiently, access interactive learning platforms, send and receive email and texts, and capture audio/video (Engel & Green, 2011; Thomas, O'Bannon, & Bolton, 2013), educators are concerned about the impact of the inappropriate use of devices on learning (Alobiedat, 2012; Burns & Lohenry, 2010; Jackson, 2013). Concerns regarding the use of mobile devices range from cyberbullying and cheating to the loss of instructional engagement due to frequent distractions (Thomas et al., 2013). Research has shown that using the Internet and communicating with friends via mobile devices in a learning environment tax working memory resources, resulting in students working much less efficiently, making more frequent errors, taking longer to complete tasks, and decreasing overall academic engagement for individual students and the class as a whole (Froese et al., 2012; Shelton, Elliot, Eaves, & Exner, 2009). Given the pervasive appeal of mobile devices in the hands of middle and high school students, behavioral management strategies are needed in the classroom to reduce the negative impact of inappropriate mobile device use on academic engagement.

No abstract