SMARTPHONES IN BASIC AND SECONDARY EDUCATION: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW ON PEDAGOGICAL MEDIATION AND DIGITAL DISTRACTION RISKS.

Abstract

Smartphones have become widespread among primary and secondary school students in Latin America, sparking debate about whether they serve as a teaching aid or, rather, as a distraction and encourage problematic use. This systematic review examines recent empirical evidence on how smartphones affect teaching and learning in primary (ages 6–11) and secondary (ages 12–17) students, paying particular attention to the Latin American context and lessons learned for Colombia. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we reviewed studies in Scopus, Web of Science, and SciELO published between 2015 and 2025 that address smartphone use in formal schools and measure impacts on performance, motivation, attention, or self-regulation. The results are divided into two main areas: when used with lesson planning and educational apps, smartphones improve engagement, participation, and, in some cases, performance in mathematics or foreign languages. However, if smartphones are used for leisure, multitasking, or social media during class, they are associated with less sustained attention, poorer content retention, and lower grades. Data from PISA 2022 for Colombia also show that many students use devices for non-academic purposes during school hours, highlighting the urgent need for clear rules and digital control skills from an early age. In short, the smartphone is a double-edged sword: its educational impact depends primarily on how teachers guide its use, school regulations, and the digital literacy promoted by public policies, rather than on the technology itself.