Using Digital Devices for Fun: What are the Impacts on Academic Outcomes?

How does students’ time using digital devices on fun activities like gaming, social media, and watching videos for entertainment affect their academic outcomes? Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment test of students’ math, science, and reading knowledge for 43 countries is used to investigate these questions. Estimation results of three-level hierarchical linear models with random intercept and random slope show that marginal increases in social media use frequency are associated with increases in science, math, and reading PISA scores (3.915, 4.506, and 5.705 points, respectively, all at the 1% statistical significance level). Marginal increases in gaming are associated with increases in science and math scores (2.216 and 1.972 points respectively, both at the 1% statistical significance level). Marginal increases in digital device use frequency for entertainment raise science (1.371 points at the 5% level) and reading (1.997 points at the 1% level) scores. These findings suggest that in general using digital devices for various fun uses is positively associated with academic outcomes, which should mitigate some parental and policymaker concerns over screen time.