Not Looking at my Phone in Class has Saved Me Money

Not Looking at my Phone in Class has Saved Me Money Its no secret that our generation loves our phones. I absolutely love social media; the idea of connecting with people across the world is a powerful one. From Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, you could literally spend your entire life scrolling the newsfeeds, liking, sharing, and retweeting. However, when youre a student, you are responsible for your own learning. At Illinois, you must take advantage of the next four years. Using your phone is a distraction for not only you but also for your fellow classmates and professors. What if I told you that there are financial benefits to not using your phone in class? Theres an app available for University of Illinois students called Pocket Points  (available for download on the App Store) that encourages you to shut off your phone while in academic buildings during class. For every five minutes you dont use your phone, you earn one point! When you get a certain number of points, you are able to cash in those points for coupons and even free food at local campus restaurants. Source: Digitaltrends.com For example, if you get five points, you get a FREE Jr. Frosty from the Illini Unions Wendys. Pay attention in class and actually learn, and get free ice cream while youre at it. Its a win-win! The more points you get, the better the coupon is. The most popular coupon on the mobile app is a FREE medium pizza from Papa Johns Pizza! You have to have 100 points to earn this though. There are very few mobile apps these days that can actually enhance your academic experience while inside of the classroom here at Illinois, but thankfully, Pocket Points is here to help us become better students and better Illini! Daniel Class of 2018 I’m an Advertising major in the College of Media. I’m from a northwest suburb of Chicago called Buffalo Grove. I chose Illinois because it was the first university in the entire world to offer an Advertising major, which is pretty cool!