As an adult living in the world today, one of the most important skills to have is the ability to multitask. Most of us live a fast pace life, juggling work, family, school and our social life. Technology has enabled us to do this more efficiently, and in order to keep up, it is important to learn how to use the different applications available to us. While the Internet, smartphones and tablets make it easy to do more things at once, have they become too much of a distraction in learning environments?
The PBS Frontline documentary “Digital Nation” addresses this subject in one of its segments and is a question that teachers today have to ask themselves when deciding on what is allowed in their classroom. Can students stay focused while they have a laptop or tablet in front of them? How do you monitor a student’s activity during class? One of the studies done in the documentary test a group of student “multitaskers”, to determine what effect it has on learning. Although the students involved with the study thought they were good at multitasking, the results showed that they were significantly slower when switching between tasks than when they focused on just one. The outcome sounds obvious, but most students who multitask think they are great at it and that it does not affect their learning.2 Professor Sherry Turkle says in the documentary, “There really are important things you can not think about unless it’s still and you’re only thinking about one thing at a time.”2 In my opinion, this is no more true than when you are learning something new for the first time.
Even in writing this blog, I find myself wanting to check my email or look at facebook, so it is understandable that students would be doing the same thing if they had an open laptop in front of them during class. It is not to say that students don’t daydream or lose focus even without a computer in front of them, but the distractions are more readily available with technology at arms reach. The use of technology can satisfy many urges at once, and this can prevent you from focusing on one singular task.2
I feel that even with the threat of distraction, I would have to allow my students to bring laptops or smartphones into the classroom because there is still a big advantage to what technology can bring. As a teacher, I would have to find creative ways to keep their attention and involve them during class, not just as a spectator, but as a participant.
2 "Video: Digital Nation | Watch FRONTLINE Online | PBS Video." 2010. 7 Jan. 2015 <http://video.pbs.org/video/1402987791>
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