Patterns of smartphone-mediated digital engagement among pre-service teachers: A behavioural clustering approach to digital self-regulation

Smartphone use among students is usually studied through exposure measures such as screen time, which reveal little about how learners manage their digital engagement for academic purposes. This study identifies distinct patterns of smartphone-mediated digital engagement among pre-service teachers, treating digital self-regulation as a latent construct inferred from observable behaviour and interpreted through Self-Regulated Learning theory. A total of 464 pre-service teachers in Indonesia were surveyed, and 460 complete responses were analysed. Five behavioural indicators were examined jointly: perceived productivity, goal-oriented information seeking, daily smartphone exposure, entertainment access, and perceived academic influence. K-Means cluster analysis identified three profiles, supported by internal validity checks and by external validation against three variables not used in the clustering: Restrained Functional Users (36.09%), High-Intensity Purposeful Users (24.13%), and Entertainment-Heavy Engagers (39.78%). The clusters differed significantly on perceived importance of technology, the role of technology in goal achievement, and self-development interest, with the High-Intensity Purposeful profile scoring highest on all three. What separates the profiles, then, is not the amount of smartphone use but the way attention, purpose, and academic meaning are organised around it. Semester level, but not gender, was associated with cluster membership: higher-semester students were more likely to belong to the two intensive-engagement profiles, a cross-sectional cohort pattern rather than evidence of individual change over time. A decision-tree model translated the cluster structure into simple behavioural rules for practical use. The findings challenge simple links between screen time and distraction and position digital self-regulation as a candidate mechanism shaping academic engagement.