App will reward Glenbard North students who lock their phones

Scan a classroom of teens, and at least a few faces surely have their eyes glued to their phones and not their teacher.

So when a Carol Stream high school announces a plan to encourage students to unplug from their devices during school hours - voluntarily - it sounds like a pie-in-the-sky idea.

Think about it. No Snapchatting, no texting, no more distractions.

But here's why administrators think it might work: positive reinforcement.

When classes resume later this month, Glenbard North High School will offer students incentives to stay off their phones with Pocket Points, a smartphone app that first rolled out on college campuses.

Students will receive points when they open the app and leave their phones locked in school. Rack up enough points, and teens can redeem them at partnering restaurants and businesses for free food and deals.

The district is paying Pocket Points $1,870 to make the app available to Glenbard North students and to provide tech support.

Last January, the company began testing the app - created almost two years ago by students at California State University, Chico - at four high schools. During the new school year, Pocket Points plans to expand to more than two dozen.

At Glenbard North, two teachers approached Debra Cartwright, assistant principal of students services, at the end of the last school year about offering the app to help enforce the rules. Students can carry their phones, but they must be on silent and "out of sight," Cartwright says.

"I thought it sounded like a great idea," she said.

In a survey of 194 staff members last spring, teachers were asked to identify the student behaviors that interrupted their instruction. They overwhelmingly blamed misuse of technology as the most prevalent issue, Cartwright wrote in a memo to school board members, who approved the agreement with Pocket Points.

Researchers have found that academic performance can suffer when students use devices during class for reasons unrelated to their coursework.

A 2015 study of college students showed those who kept off their mobile devices, or texted messages relevant to class, scored higher percentage grades on a multiple-choice test and recalled more information than students who tweeted and texted irrelevant messages.

"I think it's a clear connection that when students are not focusing on class, they're missing something, so that's going to impact their achievement," Cartwright said.

She and company representatives are now ironing out the details to launch the app.

It's not clear yet which businesses will accept the points, but Pocket Points lists fast-food chains as some of the restaurants that give discounts.

To earn just one point, students likely will have to lock their phones for no less than 40 minutes. Students will be able to download Pocket Points for free from Apple's app store and Google Play.

The app uses geofencing technology to set up "boundaries" around the school during regular hours, so teens aren't rewarded at home.

Glenbard North also will set up an on-campus store where students can redeem Pocket Points - the only currency accepted - for school supplies, dance tickets or spirit wear. That store will be staffed by students with special needs in a transition program.

Glenbard North is the first school in District 87 to test the app.

Cartwright makes clear educators use a variety of techniques to teach students to use technology appropriately. But she says the app helps the school acknowledge when teens are "doing the right thing."

"I'm excited to see how this helps our students and our teachers because it's something that we all struggle with," she said.