Teacher educators’ views and responses to digital distraction in pre-service teacher education

Digital distraction is a growing problem as students’ use of personal digital devices increases. This paper investigates teacher educators’ views of the issue and how they intervened when noticing incidents of it. Through a semi-structured interview, the study found that teacher educators recalled numerous examples of digital distraction with some seeing it as a sign of disrespect rather than an unconscious habit. Interventions to address digital distraction varied but tended to be non-disruptive in nature. This paper outlines a hierarchy of interventions employed and discusses the implications of how digital distraction is perceived and responded to by teacher educators