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Checking your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feed in class is the quickest way to failing grades, according to a new study.  Researchers said even the smartest college students suffer academically when they use the Internet for non-academic purposes.

Researchers at Michigan State University wanted to see how laptops and smart phones affect learning in the lecture-hall culture.

"Students of all intellectual abilities should be responsible for not letting themselves be distracted by use of the Internet," lead researchers Susan Ravizza, associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, said in a news release.

The latest study involved 500 students. Researchers predicted that students with lower intellectual abilities who frequently use the Internet in class would score significantly worse on tests. Previous studies revealed that people with higher intelligence were better at multitasking and filtering out distractions.

However, the latest findings revealed that all students scored significantly lower when using the Internet for non-academic purposes, regardless of intellectual ability.

Researchers say that this could be because Internet use is a different type of multitasking that is more engaging.

Researchers said that the findings also support previous findings that Internet use hinders student performance.

However, researchers said it would be impossible to ban smart phones or other electronic devices from lecture halls, as it could be a safety issue, since cell phones have become a primary source of receiving emergency messages.

"What would you do, have hundreds of people put their cell phones in a pile and pick them up after class?"

The findings were published in the journal Computers & Education.