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Next Gen Literacies

What can you do so that your device doesn’t make you stupid?

By September 7, 2019150 Comments4 min read10,898 views

(Image credit: Psychology Today)

Device use is a major contemporary education challenge for parents and teachers alike. In our family, we have fairly strict rules around the use of internet-connected screens. However, these rules have become increasingly difficult to implement, as our child has grown older. This is because the boundaries between device use for leisure and for study have disappeared.

A few years back, our teenager’s school instituted a bring-your-own-device policy and notebook computers and tablets quickly became a major part of learning. A lot of homework and out-of-school studying shifted onto devices, too.

All of a sudden, limiting screen time to less than two hours per day, as recommended by pediatricians, no longer made sense. It became obvious that approved screen time had to be extended. But that was not all. The big question – and the source of what seems like a running battle that has been going on for years now – became whether, at any given point, the device was used for studying or for other purposes.

Monitoring what your child and your students do on their devices – as opposed to whether they are using them or not – is much harder and less clear-cut.

Multitasking

The challenge goes back to the amazing capacity of today’s technology for multitasking. While I am writing up this blog post in my computer’s word processor, I also have Adobe Reader running in the background (with an annotated article by May and Elder open), my Endnote bibliographic database, a file explorer, and an Internet browser (with four separate windows open). All these tools help me to write this text.

I know that this is a comparatively Spartan use of my computer’s capacity. I have no personal social media accounts, I have no push notifications enabled, and, over the three decades of my professional career, I have developed the habit of monitoring my time closely.

Young people are socialized into a very different use of digital technologies and can easily confuse the computer’s capacity for multitasking with their own ability to multitask.

A recent study (reported in May and Elder, 2018) found that as many as 90% of college students multitask when they use digital devices. They also report that their multitasking aides their learning.

As a mother and a teacher, my gut feeling has always been that these young people are kidding themselves, and that it requires strict discipline to reap the benefits of new technologies.

Turns out that I have been right, as the review of research into device use and learning by May and Elder (2018) shows. Reviewing 38 research articles related to multitasking and academic performance, these authors find that “multitasking interferes with attention and working memory, negatively affecting GPA, test performance, recall, reading comprehension, note-taking, self-regulation, and efficiency” (p. 1).

These negative effects hold both in-class and out-of-class. They hold whether the multitasking is off-task (e.g., checking Facebook while listening to a lecture) or on-task (e.g., looking up a Wikipedia entry relevant to course content).

Source: May and Elder (2018, p. 12)

What is more, these negative effects hold not only for the multitasker themselves but also for nearby peers: seeing someone else going through their news feed while studying is almost as distracting as engaging in such multitasking yourself. One study found that students within view of a multitasking peer scored 17% lower on tests than those who had no multitasking peer in their field of vision. This means that – in classrooms where digital devices are permitted – it is almost impossible for students to escape the negative effects of multitasking.

I mentioned above that I have my internet browser open in the background. I do not go there while writing other than to fact-check and language-check. Turns out, I might be better off even without this sparse use of the Internet: one research reported by May and Elder (2018) found that students who write their assignments on computers that are not connected to the Internet achieve higher grades than those who write while connected …

Digital technologies doubtlessly have huge benefits and are here to stay. However, we need to mitigate their negative effects if we want to ensure that out devices make us more, not less, smart. To this end, off-task multitasking needs to be eliminated.

Elimination requires awareness of the dangers of multitasking and self-regulation. As May and Elder (2018) show, both awareness and self-regulation are currently widely lacking. This post is here to help raise awareness and I will be curious to hear what strategies for self-regulation you have in place. How do you ensure you are staying focused and on task while using your device to learn and study?

Reference

May, K. E., & Elder, A. D. (2018). Efficient, helpful, or distracting? A literature review of media multitasking in relation to academic performance. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 15(1), 1-13. [open access]

Ingrid Piller

Author Ingrid Piller

Dr Ingrid Piller, FAHA, is Distinguished Professor of Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her research expertise is in bilingual education, intercultural communication, language learning, and multilingualism in the context of migration and globalization.

More posts by Ingrid Piller

Join the discussion 150 Comments

  • Chloe Ng says:

    After going through this unit, what provokes my thinking most is the influence of technology in literacies. That’s why I want to come back to this blog and expand my thoughts on it.

    The advantages that technology and AI bring about are now idolised by numerous people because they reduce people’s workload and give them more time to enjoy their lives, which are the two valuable things that most people wish for in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Some people use them as the winners as they can control machines. Others, including me, are scared of the day machines control this life and people become useless. In my opinion, the 2 things that help people dominate this world are their brains and their feelings. If people continue to allow technology to “think” for them, they will lose the only strength that controls the world. If people don’t use their brain to think and their heart to feel, they will lose their identities as the unique individuals in the world. Therefore, to maintain our identities, not only do we need to keep ourselves from the distraction of technical devices, but we also need to live without the dependence on technology. This not only applies to work or study but also applies to every single thing happening in life.

    We were born with different identities and we need to devote ourselves to life in different ways. If everyone uses technology for everything in life, the marks of humanity of this world will forever fade.

  • Jhonny says:

    Having a cellphone ringing next to me, remembering to pay my bills, read my emails or watch documentaries are among the things I have prioritized instead of focusing on an assessment or reading. Besides selfregulating or rewarding myself after a task completion, I have found on the Pomodoro Teachnique a valuable source to maximize study time. Basically, you work for 25 to 50 min intervals, then you can take a 5 to 10 min break. Heaps of videos with this technique and background music are in YouTube. Music will basically allow you to concentrate and identify when your break time comes, avoding the temptation of switching between unnecessary windows.

  • Siyao says:

    Dear Ingrid,

    Thank you very much for your wonderful article. I always thought that electronic devices were helpful for our learning before reading this article, but now I do realize that the multitasking function of devices can easily affect people’s concentration.

    I am an easily distracted person, so I may not have a good way to stay focused when using electronic devices. I usually have to turn off the mobile phone network before I decide to study and turn it on again when I need to search for information, so as not to be disturbed by messages from social apps and news from other apps, or turn the phone to silent mode if there are important things on the day. As my laptop does not have much software installed, it is defined by me as a learning tool. I am not affected by it, even if the network is open. Secondly, I think it is also a good way to study with peers and supervise each other, such as going to the library. The library has a good learning atmosphere, and most students are studying. I believe everyone is too embarrassed to chat and watch videos on their devices there. Finally, I think that concentration importantly depends on a person’s self-control, that is, her determination to accomplish something. If the thing is important or interesting to her, she will not be easily affected by devices. This is a good question, which provides me a chance to find some effective ways to improve my concentration from the comments of other classmates.

    • Thanks, Siyao! I really like your suggestion to study in the library – creating a good atmosphere and an environment that aides concentration is so important!

    • Jung Ung Hwang says:

      Thank you for comment, Siyao. I didn’t know that you are the easily distracted one similarly to me. I completely understand and sympathise with your points. In my original comment, I talked about one specific solution not to be distracted by digital devices, which is to turn on the flight mode. In my case, I am not able to delete all the software and apps as I need those to do my work. However, your another two suggestions are far more interesting, which are to study in places with the right environment to focus, and to control ourselves to keep our concentration.

      Last week, we went to the library as an excursion class and those librarians we met told us that most of the students came to library to study because of a unique atmosphere to focus on and me, too. Even if it is not necessarily a library, there are some alternatives where is able to contribute to creating a good atmosphere. Regarding self-control, I have a bit of a different opinion. Even though we are trying to control ourselves, it is difficult to focus on only one task without being distracted, especially for this digital generation. In the bottom-line, I would like to say that we should learn how to put ourselves in good atmosphere to concentrate rather than believe and control ourselves.

    • Chloe Ng says:

      Hi Siyao, thank you for sharing your interesting tips.
      I’m also easily distracted even unconsciously by others’ phone notifications. Therefore, finding a way to keep myself out of distraction is always a must for me. I really like your idea of learning in the library. How amazing it is! I think that when others are studying and working so hard with 100% concentration in the library, it’s quite embarrassing if I use my phone to watch videos on Youtube or keep scrolling Facebook feed. I think that we’re all partly influenced by our surroundings, so when we see others stay focused, we cannot allow ourselves to get distracted. Learning with peers is also a good way to reduce distraction, I believe. When we are in close interaction, we can see how our distraction can affect the productivity of others and we definitely don’t want it to happen. Therefore, it’s great to work with someone and allow ourselves less time for personal activities when we want to stay focused.
      Thank you again for sharing. It really works for me 🙂

  • Saraf Anjum says:

    We are bound to have our phones or laptops with internet connection open before us when studying, as all of our educational material are right there. Our education system has made it almost impossible to study without these resources. I am quite old fashioned and really prefer writing on a paper than typing. Though sometimes I am not stubborn enough to type what I wrote on paper and waste time.

    I only use FB as social media but even that is limited in its use of only meme’s and cat videos. No notification disturbs me and I can concentrate properly on my study. I do like to google things I’m studying. I am my own worst enemy and can’t stand sitting still and studying for hours. After an hour or two I would get up, do some house chores (even if it’s not needed), eat or drink something and come back again.

  • Logan says:

    Thank you for raising awareness about using the device. I used to run a blog for 2 years. I wrote short writings about the teacher’s life and uploaded some pictures. My followers numbered about 8000. Every time I got a reply, I would reply back immediately, thinking that it would help make my blog bigger. I even took my cell phone into the bathroom. One day my wife complained about it. She asked me to play with my son. At the time, it felt like I was hit hard. I said to myself, “What are you doing? You idiot!” Then I stopped blogging and made my own regulation: No SNS in my life.
    I don’t tend to get distracted when I learn or study. But after reading this article, I found myself procrastinating for about 30~40 minutes searching the internet and watching YouTube videos before starting my studies on my laptop. I’ve set another rule: Just start!

    • Thanks, Logan! The “rewards” of likes, and responses, and follower numbers, etc. are really pernicious, as you say. In truth, it’s a form of conditioning (like Pavlov’s dogs or Skinner’s pigeons) 🙁

    • Lynn says:

      Hi Logan, thanks for your comment. It made me think of a video I watched on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/reel/197375386635148). If you have time, you can watch it if you like. I promise it is worth it for you to watch. When I was surfing this social media and letting my son play in his playpen, I caught this video, and after watching it, I contemplated whether social media was good or bad and how we could use it appropriately. As you see in the video, time flies; those things attract us, and we forget what is really important to us. After reading the blog about multitasking, we all have a reason to spend time, slowly perceive, look back at what we have done and decide to improve it. Let’s make things better for us; don’t let things make us worse.

      • Logan says:

        Hi, Lynn. Thank you for your comment. I just watched the video. That is a simple but huge impact!
        I think people nowadays can easily become addicted to their devices and therefore have less time for basic and important things like family conversations. Even in this article, students including me often think of multitasking as something advanced such as multi-purpose cleaners or multiplayer in football… Before I read this article, I was one who believed that multitasking helps with learning, so the experiment in the article above is valuable. I would like to use this article for my English reading lesson when I get back to school.
        I think as technology advances, paradoxically, the basics become more important. This also reminds me of the Matthew effect that we learned. I think it is the most basic duty of teachers in schools to help students recognize this problem and educate students from an early age.

  • Tasnim says:

    I have been thinking hard about how to ensure one is staying focused and on task while using a device to learn and study, but I could not find a definite solution. There are only vague ways to ensure concentration on the task. For example: having a high resolution to concentrate on nothing but studies; downloading or taking screenshots of the study materials and using device without being connected to the internet. It all comes down to the amount of dedication one has. Students should be taught how damaging it is to “multitask” while studying. But since the device addiction is high now-a-days, directly switching to negatives might cause the opposite effect of the desired result. The students should be made aware of this in a way that they won’t reject the truth completely. I prefer researching the materials beforehand then doing the task based on the knowledge I have gained. And I don’t get sidetracked because I know if it happens then I will forget all the brainstorming I did and everything I was going to write.

    • These are good points, Tasnim! I think we need to recognize that some people actually suffer from device addiction. In those cases, preaching self-regulation is pointless. As a society we should strive to create environments that are less, rather than more, addiction inducing; social media algorithms like those of Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat are designed to induce addiction ..

  • Em says:

    Thank you for the article. To be honest, I have no self-regulation in use at the moment. Still, we do have a kind of screen time ‘limit’ for the kids, nothing strict, but more like common sense ‘not too much in a week’. We have an iPad, and it does have the screen time regulation app, but it hasn’t worked the way it should be – or my 4.5-year-old is too smart, so we quit using it. For myself, I feel like it’s actually better for me to listen to lo-fi music and have multiple articles opened while writing an essay for example. I also do let my brain flow to its thoughts of Googling something I was left wondering. However, I think I could improve this by taking a certain time to use all of my focus and then take a small break. I just feel it would be problematic with my brain and how they work. It is hard to explain, but my concentration is not coming forced but it has its times and then I can do 3 hours writing non-stop. However, if forced, I will write 5 minutes and my focus is on something else again, like what’s for dinner for example. It’s hard but I think we all need to find the way that’s suitable for our needs. I’m still happy that I have lived my childhood without 24/7 internet availability.

    • Thanks, Em! I agree with you that everyone is different and has their own habits. The flow states you mention – where you kind of go “in the zone” – are the most effective ways to study … unfortunately, our devices are taking us away from those flow states more and more …

    • Laura says:

      I could not agree more with this statement: “I’m still happy that I have lived my childhood without 24/7 internet availability”.
      When I think about reading, our ability to read and to engage deeply with texts has changed drastically since the arrival of the internet. I have realised that the more online short news stories I read in a day, the less I am able to remember specific details from the story. When I report on a news story I have read earlier to my partner for example, I find myself struggling to recall crucial pieces of information at times such as numbers, dates, etc. As a result, I have most likely communicated inaccurate facts and on top of that, I do not believe that skimming through a multitude of texts on various topics daily helps me improve my memory.

  • Brownie says:

    Usually, to focus on my study, I have to turn off the internet on my smart phone and take off my smart watch as well to prevent distraction from notifications of my social media. I also close all the irrelevant browser window such as movie and shopping websites and, as you mentioned, just keep the window for fact-check and language-check. I also use paper and a pen/pencil to note down ideas in the study or in my mind. The paper and a pen/pencil help me engage and focus more on my study. I think it is because (I don’t know exactly technical terms) the computer screen is moving continuously. If we look at the light screen through the phone camera, we can see many horizontal moving lines which may make our eyes and brain tired and distracted. However, paper is not moving, it is still, so I think that is the reason why I can focus more when using paper. Additionally, I also listen to background classical music such as Bach and Mozart to prevent my brain imagining and thinking about something else.

  • Arghavan says:

    Thank you for this interesting article. Very interesting to know that students who had a multitasking peer performed 17% worse on examinations than those who did not!
    On the question, I would say setting goals before turning on your computer helps a lot. If there are multiple things I want to do, I will list them and mark their priority to check off one by one and that helps me keep on track. Another way that works similarly is to close any irrelative tabs or apps and make sure I will not receive notifications to withdraw my attention from the task. This is harder to implement while working with mobile phones so I would make sure to choose the right device before attending to the job.
    At last, I don’t think distractions can be fully avoided. We can try our best to minimize the negatives and amplify the positives. It inevitably comes as a full package. However, I strongly agree being aware and conscious users will address this issue immensely.

  • Chloe Ng says:

    In this day and age, I think that multitasking is considered important by many people. One of my friends told me that in order to find a good job, I need to show my ability as a multitasker. However, I agree with you that multitasking is not always a good choice.

    With the ubiquity of technical devices, using them for work or study is unavoidable. However, making the best use of them without distraction is never an easy task. As I usually use my laptop to do assignments or take notes during classes, I used to be distracted by the notification from Messenger- the chatting app employed by Facebook users. I couldn’t ignore the messages from friends or family, especially when I’m far from home. Besides, when searching some websites to brainstorm ideas for my assignments, I was also attracted by some entertaining articles or videos, which definitely delayed my cognitive process. As a result, it would take me much longer to complete my tasks. As you mentioned, it’s truly off-task, which brings no benefits for either the brain or work efficacy. Hence, I decided to minimise the unfavourable impacts of technical devices by turning off all notifications while studying and planning a specific schedule for my study. I would set the amount of workload required to do in a specific period of time together with some break. Meanwhile, in order to avoid getting caught up on entertaining platforms during my break, I usually do short meditation, going out for a 15-minute walk or cooking. It’s better to distance myself from off-task activities during learning or working time so that I could 100% stay focused on the main task.

    • These are great strategies, Chloe! Re your friend’s advice, I’m thinking that there are different meaning to the word “multitasker.” I imagine that your friend meant things like being able to prioritize or keep oversight of multiple projects. Most jobs involve a number of different tasks, projects etc. and learning to handle those is important. Trying to do them all at once, at the same time, usually does not work 😉

  • Jaehoon Kim says:

    These days, I have started to go to the library near my place, as well as the MQ library. I think changing environments to study can be an effective way to stay focused for a long time. One day, I needed a certain change for my study efficiency, so I decided to go to the library. As a result, It actually worked.

    Motivation. I would say this is the most important factor to make me study. When you get there, you may see and think that all people in the library are concentrating on their study without any distractions. It does not seem that they even go to the toilet while studying.
    This situation really motivated me to study and stay focused. It may be a competition or assimilation from this positive and silent environment in which you should put down your phone and study right now.

    In addition, I have once been recommended to use “pomodoro technique”, a time management method using 25 minutes of study and 5 minutes of rest. It actually worked for me but I failed to keep using this technique due to the excessive use of the rest time.

    Thank you for your motivating article!

    • Thanks for sharing! Libraries are such magic places! I spent some the best times of my life in libraries 🙂

    • Arghavan says:

      Thanks for sharing your comments with us. Using libraries to study certainly seems like a great way to stay focused. What I found interesting was your point about other students in the library motivating you to focus, as I have experienced that studying techniques like body-doubling or having accountability partners help to a great extent.
      There are also other methods of exercising self-regulation. However, the trick is to try different techniques and see what works best for you! You could try keeping your phone in a different room for a dedicated period of time. Alternatively, you could turn off all notifications or keep your phone in Do-not-disturb mode.
      Deleting social media apps from your phone or in extreme cases deleting your social media profiles itself can be worth exploring. You could also use a “dumb phone” or an alternate phone without social media and apps that could steal your attention. I hope you find this useful! Good luck.

  • Jung Ung HWANG says:

    This article and May and Elder’s research made me realise that I am constantly distracted by the demon called ‘multitasking’. (It also gave me an excuse for why my academic performance is lower than I expected). In particular, the section where May and Elder explained how this multitasking distracts students and influences people around the student using devices to check their message made me reflect on myself. I just felt that at the very least, I didn’t want to bother or have a negative impact on my friends, especially during our lessons.

    Fortunately, I was able to find the great solution used by one of my best friends (I am quite sure that he is a decent student and passionate about this study, and he also knows how to discipline himself). His name is Shogo. Each time, I was curious how he focused on the task and his things intensely and stably. His solution is to switch on the ‘airplane mode’ on his mobile phone. When you turn it on, the phone shuts off all alarms and notifications until you turn it off again. As it is mentioned on the post, being distracted by notifications and a number of other distracting sources is natural and inevitable, it is part of psychology. What is the best solution to avoid this if there is nothing we can do about it? Get rid of it.

    • Thanks for sharing and particularly for giving Shogo a shout-out! Students learning from each other are the best 🙂

      Re getting rid of devices: I’ve just started to read Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus – on the recommendation of Justin in the comment below – and Hari compares an individual getting rid off their devices to regain focus to someone wearing a gasmask all the time to escape air pollution: it may give them some respite but it doesn’t address the underlying problem of pollution; similarly, the problem of our collective degradation of attention needs a collective solution …

  • Pineapplebun says:

    After much trial and error, I have developed some habits to help me stay disciplined. I would turn off all the app notifications to minimize distractions. I like using different chat groups and news feeds but I would limit myself to checking time at specific intervals such as once every two hours. These policies keep me focused and aware of the time, which in turn helps me stay on track.

    I also find that on-task multitasking is beneficial as it helps me achieve my goals. As someone who has difficulty juggling multiple tasks at once, I find the multitasking capabilities of computers practical and valuable. I can maximize my productivity and efficiency with my electronic device when I have a clear goal. However, I would avoid multitasking when it is not related to the task that I want to complete.

    • Thanks – important to distinguish between on-task and off-task multitasking. Even so, even the research on on-task multitasking is not encouraging …

    • Laura says:

      Studying or working while using a device has become perfectly normal, and for most of us it is actually a necessity. However, trying to stay focused and on task while using a device can be challenging, especially if it’s connected to the internet.

      As I am currently working in an office, staff members are constantly distracted by incoming emails, and especially Teams messages and calls from colleagues within the same as well as other work divisions. On top of that, on fewer occasions, I personally get distracted by personal phone calls, text messages, and sometimes push notifications on my phone. In my opinion, in order to work effectively, we have to ignore the non-urgent interruptions and not feel obliged to respond instantly. In many workplaces, employees are expected to be pro-multitaskers. However, it has been proven that multitasking is clearly a source of distraction.

      Personally, I don’t get much free time to study anymore so whenever I get the chance I know I am on a time limit. So, precious limited time for me is a huge motivation factor! However, when I was a young student, I would simply turn my phone off while studying on my laptop so I wouldn’t get tempted to go off-task.

      • Email and Teams are the banes of my existence, too 🙁 … just read a study that if you administer an IQ test to the same person before and after you pelt them with push notifications at 3-minute intervals for an hour, their performance drops by 10 points. Apparently, if you smoke cannabis your IQ test performance only drops by 5 points … so most office workers would be more efficient if stoned 😉
        [Source: Johann Hari, Stolen Focus]

        • Laura says:

          Ha ha! Wow thanks for sharing this very interesting (and quite concerning) study. I’m almost tempted to suggest trading push notifications for cannabis to management so that we become more efficient office workers 😉

  • Justin says:

    While reading your post, I had a flashback of my dealing with an assignment last weekend – one rare occasion I did not go on social media or reply to any message for two days, even with my phone right next to my laptop, to stay focused on my essay.

    There is a strict set of sites and programs to open on my laptop: Word/PowerPoint, dictionary, thesaurus, and relevant literature – that’s it, for my study sessions. A good practice is using the ‘Focus Sessions’ function available in Windows, which allows arranging consecutive focus-break periods for better productivity. I’ve also got used to leaving my phone on silent mode at all times for years now and somewhat managed to resist the temptation to touch it while studying.

    Going beyond focus during work and study, I think self-regulation is what we need to keep in mind to strive for better well-being. Learning to detach from devices once in a while is important, for example, by practising mindfulness, spending time in nature, or planning daily digital detox time. Once these habits are formed, we will naturally overcome the urge to stay off-task.

    And I just added this book, ‘Stolen Focus’ (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57933306-stolen-focus), to my reading list!

    • Thanks, Justin! I hadn’t come across this title before but it sounds great and I’ve just added it to my reading list, too! I like the point from the blurb that seeing loss of attention only as an individual problem covers up the pernicious influence of corporate interests that are deliberately engineering global inattentions to maximize profits: “our focus has been stolen by powerful external forces that have left us uniquely vulnerable to corporations determined to raid our attention for profit.”

  • Lynn says:

    Thank you so much for the interesting post. It is an issue that we are struggling with and finding the way out. Multitasking can make our study or work less productive and effective. It is challenging to stay focused on a task when using technology to learn. For me, when I was watching my lectures or doing my assignments, I often turned off notifications on my phone and stayed off social media. I only used the dictionary on my phone. However, it is true that surfing Facebook or Instagram for several minutes after intense brainstorming can help us relax and continue the learning process. The point here is whether we are aware of the time to stop using those means of social media for relaxing and ready to return to studying. If yes, the “weapons of mass distraction” above are not a problem for us to worry about. We need self-control to be clear-sighted and decide which is the best for us.

    • Thanks, Lynn! I agree about rest and pauses – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as they used say. However, one of the dangers of social media pauses is that if you don’t time them, they can drag out because the algorithms are designed for addiction and our brains learn to crave for the next post, video, etc. I actually recommend physical exercise for your pauses – stretch, go for a walk, do the dishes, cook your next meal …

      • Lynn says:

        Hi Ingrid, I agree that physical exercise is better than surfing the mass media. However, sometimes, ”rest and pause” on social media can give us a chance to explore new ideas. Take my case as an example when I was stuck with designing a lesson plan for my students. I opened the Facebook app, and immediately it showed up an interesting clip. After watching it, I came up with an idea for my lesson planning. But I have to say, not always, and we need to be clear-sighted.

  • Japanda says:

    I can relate to this article as a teacher and a learner. When I was teaching at high school, a few students stealthily used a phone in class, and I gave them a warning about it. I often asked them how their classmates might feel and persuaded them to change their behavior. Thanks to this article, next time I see such students, I can explain why it is inappropriate based on evidence.

    As a learner, I make it a rule to use airplane mode or “Do not Disturb” mode when I am in class, do tasks like now, and work. This is because even the vibration of a phone for a second disturbs me and I end up doing something different from what I want to do. Another strategy I employ is to keep it in my pocket so that it is not in my field of vision. I used to put it on the desk, but I noticed that I unconsciously reached it and wasted my time. Self-regulation is difficult but everyone who uses devices needs the skills to manage it.

    • Thanks, Japanda! I actually feel self-regulation is the easy part but really struggle with how to help learners. I’ve experimented with full-out prohibition of devices, various levels of regulation of device use, and complete laissez-faire … not sure where I’ve landed but, as you say, awareness raising through sharing evidence with students is probably the best way to go.

  • Abed says:

    Multitasking is unavoidable. I find myself going down a rabbit hole as soon I start checking my social media accounts while studying. According to Robert Greene in his book “48 laws of power” Napoleon was famous of putting himself into the hardest situation ever, then working on a solution to overcome it. I am a person who works better if the deadline is near. Like Napoleon, I believe I created this habit of putting myself in the hardest situation ever, then starts to take things seriously and work on my assignments. Then I criticize my work and beat myself to death and say “if I had more time, I would have done a better work!”

    • Thanks, Abed! When you say that multitasking is unavoidable, do you mean you are actively pursuing multitasking or that you haven’t yet developed strategies to avoid it? For instance, if you are drawn to your social media accounts while studying, you could close all irrelevant apps and disable notifications, etc.
      Not sure Napoleon is a good role model – he was not very successful after all and his foolhardiness cost around 1 million French soldiers their lives and brought suffering across much of the European continent … maybe you could look to scholars or teachers for more pertinent role models?

      • Abed says:

        Dr. Piller, Thanks for your response. By “unavoidable” I believe in my mind I was trying to say that I haven’t developed strategies to avoid the distracting aspects of multitasking. Your recommendations defiantly works, but how could you resist the temptation of checking your online accounts, especially when you are heavily engaged on social media. Regarding Napoleon, I was just using him as an example but defiantly not as a role model. But I believe we still would be able to learn something good from tyrants while in the same time, not following their steps and ideologies.

  • Luna says:

    Thank you for the article. After I read the reading task for week 6 and this article. It made me think of my experience of being disturbed by my own device. In the last session, I used to take notes on my iPad during the lecture. Whenever my Twitter notifications I always check it directly without concern about being lost from the lecture, and yes, I was interrupted by that notification. I just switched from a note-taking application to a Twitter application immediately. I found that I just lost the important key from the lecturer. Since then, I’ve turned off the notifications to help me pay attention in class. It has helped me remember to be more aware of how I use my devices.

  • KINZA ABBASI says:

    While reading this blog, I had a question in my mind how this off task and in task multitasking started and is there anything we can do about it? If we can not reduce multitasking , then is there a way to integrate it as part of the learning? Is there any way to reduce its depleting affect on our mental resources ? To some extent I believe it is possible if we structure multitasking in our learning system. In this way we may be able to at least grasp some percentage of the students inside the classroom under complete focus of studies. In my country, mobile phones are completely banned in colleges and schools , even in post grad studies most of the time we have to keep our phone on our front desk upside down, so our professor could clearly see we are not engaged with mobile phone behind the back. Even with these policies , we are unable to curtail the influence of media gadgets in our learning system. if not directly with the phones he/she is indirectly distracted and the attention is somewhere else rather than study related activities. I think this will be another failure dealing with students’ study focus. There is a need to inculcate discipline and self regulatory techniques , teaching students how to set priorities and scheduling, how to follow up with the outcome and establish the targets, in this way we might be able to divert the centre of attention towards the future target .

  • Peter O'Keefe says:

    When I first read about this issue, I thought that it was so obvious that multi-tasking on devices during lectures is going to impact our academic performance. Why even bother to research On the contrary, reading May and Elder has taught me so much and given me valuable evidence on this issue. What is surprising (or perhaps I should say “not surprising”) is that the multi taskers themselves feel that they have some special ability to be able to divide their attention efficiently and will use this to validate their actions. What is also of great interest is how distracting multi-taskers can be to the people around them in class. This is something very important for all teachers to be aware of and act accordingly. I for one will take a different approach from now when I see students in class checking their messages “innocently”. And, I have the evidence to back me up!

  • Audrey says:

    Thanks, Ingrid! As a daydreamer, I find this topic extremely relatable. A few years ago, I happened to read a study which showed that children who spent 2-3 hours or more per day watching TV had low concentration in the classroom. I was enlightened as I spent too much time watching TV when I was a child. Sadly, I couldn’t find a solution to eliminate distractions. I find working under time pressure helps me stay focused and minimize multitasking. For that reason, I tend to leave my assignments to the last minutes. As the transition from face-to-face to online learning, students with poor concentration are disadvantaged. I think a simple way to reduce multitasking while having a Zoom session is by turning on the camera. That’s works for me.
    Recently, Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has adopted a new circular which allows middle and high school students to use their phones during class time for learning purposes. In the past, there was a full ban on students using mobile phones in class. Unsurprisingly, this change has stirred some controversy. It’s hard to visualize how this change will affect teaching and learning in classrooms.

  • AlexH says:

    Thank you for another honest post, Ingrid!
    I must say I sadly come from a generation of “multitaskers”. While I am writing this, I am listening to jazz on YouTube, registering for an ASAP purchase, and thinking about the whereabouts of my sneakers to receive my goods (awful, am I right?).
    However, when I am writing an academic essay, I try my best not to do the above described and take one task at a time. It takes a lot of effort sometimes, depending on my level of distraction, and I make it work in the end. When I do not succeed, it takes me a while to reinsert myself into a deep concentration state. According to Gloria Mark, who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine, it takes 25 minutes, approximately, for a person to come back to their original task after an interruption (regardless of who or what initiated it). I must remind myself about this curious fact every time I want to appeal to my infamous millennial nature!

    Thanks for reading!

  • Claire says:

    Multitasking at the best of times is difficult – just this weekend I had the experience of trying to listen sympathetically to a friend’s relationship woes, while making a birthday cake. Surprise, surprise, the cake was overcooked (ok, burnt), and my friend didn’t get much useful feedback from me as I tried to switch my attention between reading the recipe to listening to her speak.

    My experience is consistent with May and Elder’s (2018) description of the scattered attention hypothesis which states that, if too much demand is placed on a person’s attention, there is a cognitive overload and task performance is reduced.

    Interestingly, In relation to media multitasking, May and Elder (2018) found that students taking notes using pencil and paper and students who took notes using laptops performed equally well, provided there were no additional distractions. It isn’t the use of technology that is the problem, it seems, but rather how we use it. In reality, of course, it’s very difficult to be on your computer and not be tempted by the infinite distractions the internet provides – even when these distractions are related to the lecture at hand. It’s much easier if the temptation is removed completely and you have only a pen and paper in hand.

    However, as someone who spent their undergraduate degree taking handwritten notes, and now uses their laptop to do so, my experience in either mode has been that by stopping to look up something (seemingly) relevant, or to make a comment to a friend, I miss important chunks of information and risk losing the thread of the lecture entirely.

    Multitasking, in my opinion, has always been a bit of a myth, and technology has just made it easier for us to fall into the trap of trying to do more than one thing at a time. In my case, I will be putting my attention solely onto note-taking or cake-making or giving relationship advice from now on – in the hope that my performance in each of these areas improves!

  • Yuta+Koshiba says:

    Thank you for sharing this interesting topic. While the development of the internet has brought a positive impact on language learning, it is also true that social media, such as Instagram and Facebook create an environment where people cannot concentrate on their studies and work. Most people realize that they are multitasking and reducing their work efficiency, but according to Eyal Ophir (as cited in Gardner, 2013), “Humans don’t really multitask, we switch.”. Therefore, people do not really multitask. They are just doing task switching. It is just a quick switch from task to task. Multitaskers have a negative effect by focusing on various things with many task switches. It goes without saying that if the adverse effect is on students, it will lead to academic performance.

    Reference
    Gardner, J. (2013). Stop juggling, start single-tasking. (Features). The London Evening Standard.

  • Yuta+Koshiba says:

    Thank you for sharing this interesting topic. While the development of the internet has brought a positive impact on language learning, it is also true that social media, such as Instagram and Facebook create an environment where people cannot concentrate on their studies and work. From the perspective of school education, students usually attend school with their mobile phones. Students often want to check and use their mobile phones during class as soon as they receive social media notifications. For this reason, schools must create rules for using mobile phone in the classroom. For example, when I was a high school student, students have to turn off their cell phones during class time as a school policy. Parents’ understanding of net literacy issues is also essential. In Japan some schools offer lectures on net literacy not only for students but also for parents.

  • Enkhzaya+Regzendorj says:

    Thanks, Ingrid for another interesting topic.
    It is so true that it is hard to imagine people without internet nowadays. A lot of people (including me) especially younger people spend so much time on their phone surfing through social platforms and it makes people so dependable on them gradually. As you mentioned in the post that put away your phone and put it into silent mode, this is what I normally force myself to do when I am working on my assignments. On the iPhone, there is a weekly summary of usage and it shows how much time we spend on each app. Until seeing my weekly summary, I have never been realised how much time I have spent and wasted on those apps. Also, I found it very effective that we are able to limit our social network usage on those apps on our phone and it helps us remind ourselves how much time we already spent. Sometimes all of these technological advancements and devices made me realize how our childhood was so much fun because we did not have internet access, phones or tablets to use instead we used to spend a lot of time outdoors playing with our friends.
    But if we could use the Internet effectively, there are a number of useful things that we can access to such as a thesaurus which has been my best friend quite a while It is so helpful for me not only to enhance my vocabulary knowledge but also improve my writing skills to avoid using simple words and repeat the words in my writing.

    • Thanks, Enkhzaya, for mentioning the usage statistics! I think everyone should know of that function and monitor their usage. As you say, it can be a real eye opener …

  • Christina says:

    Hi Ingrid,
    Thank you for yet another very interesting post. Like your child, I was introduced to the BYOD way of learning back in high school and since then I have seen a steady transition of using more technology than pen to paper. I have also reflected on my style of learning using such technologies and I will have to agree with the whole “multitasking” with a combination of on-task and off-task usage. In relation to staying focused when learning and studying, one of my strategies is trying to eliminate as many windows (distractions) used as possible and limiting it to one screen (predominately Word). For example, if I am writing an essay and need to include a set amount of articles, I would first download the assessment instructions, then I would research the articles I would use and afterwards print off everything I need in order to write the essay. Using this method, I find myself more focused on what I am studying about, as well as finishing my work faster. Other methods I also use is working in a common area, away from my room which is predominately my “study space” as well as not having my phone nearby as that is another distraction.

    • Thanks, Christina! Studying in common – but quiet – spaces such as the library is a really good idea. Fear of potential embarrassment (at being caught off task) is a powerful control mechanism for most people 😉 … I believe there are even apps that simulate that kind of social control …

  • Subin says:

    Thank you for posting an interesting topic for this week, Ingrid. Especially, I was interested in Elder’s (2018) research result that students who write assignments on computers that are not connected to the Internet get higher grades than students who write assignments by connecting them. I could empathize with it because I was the same for me. In fact, I only use one application called ‘Passionate Timer’ when I study and do assignment. It provides a stopwatch that records my study time so I can see how much I study every day, week, and month. Also, the study planner in the application automatically enters my study time and helps me organize my own subjects. But I sometimes use the dictionary application, so I have no choice but to use my cell phone to multitask. In this process, concentration is often reduced or distracted by studying. It is true that studying using electronic devices is convenient, but I prefer studying without using electronic devices yet. To do so, I am trying hard to improve my note taking skills. The development of electronic technology is inevitable in the 21st century, but I hope that more tools will be created to study efficiently without using electronic technology.

  • Kyohei says:

    Thank you for sharing the interesting topic with us. As you mentioned, the Internet can be an obstacle to both learning and teaching. I personally do not install any fascinating applications, such as Instagram and Facebook, in my laptop. Moreover, I usually turn off my phone not to use it when I have to focus on something. Thus, I can concentrate on online learning.

    However, it is more challenging for me to organise students as a teacher not to use phones and laptops for their personal purposes during class. This is because that normally, there is a number of students in class, and some students may immediately change the page of, for instance the social media, to the relevant website to the class when a teacher comes to him or her. Therefore, educational institutions need to create some strict rules for the usage of students’ gadgets, and all teachers, students and parents have to comprehend and observe them.

    • Thanks, Kyohei! How to deal with devices in the classroom is such a challenge! Social media are designed for addiction and once you get into a situation where learning and social media are in competition, as a teacher, you can only lose … instead of hoping that students will exert self-control themselves, it’s best to keep a tight lid on device use in the classroom, as you say.

  • Sue says:

    Thank you Ingrid for this interesting post! Without doubt we are all attached to our devices at least for a few hours a day as necessity to interact with others, especially during these extraordinary times more than before. My research interest is to learn more about how we could integrate ICT in education that actually benefits learners beyond the theories and be a help to them rather than hinder. I have to admit that today technology provides children with great learning opportunities that were not available back in my time as a student, however, there are for sure drawbacks to having free access to too many contents that may not be necessarily accurate or appropriate. Additionally, as educators, parents, and individuals we should appreciate the traditional ways of learning as much as the modern and contemporary methods, and not let those older ways fade away.

  • Han says:

    Thanks, Ingrid! I totally agree that devices with an internet connection have occupied too much time of the young generation. As for me, when I deal with assignments or something important, I will keep my device silent. If there is a proper condition, I will leave the phone and go for another room or space. During this period without a smartphone, I will “disappear” in social media for a while. However, it is funny that someone may want to contact with me at this time, but they never showed up when I was in leisure time. Sometimes, my friends or families who need to get in touch with me would storm away because I didn’t reply to the message for a long time.

    • Thanks, Han! It’s strange how devices lead to false priorities, and someone distant can claim greater priority than someone close … switching off is the only way to escape.

  • Monica says:

    Hi Ingrid, Thanks for this interesting post. It’s a topic I think about a lot because I really dislike my smart phone and regularly want to swap back to the old little Nokia I still have in my drawer. But the one thing my smart phone lets me do is use whatsapp to connect with friends overseas, which I really enjoy. Being an older student means that I grew up without the internet or mobile phones (I got my first phone at the age of 24!!), so I don’t find it that hard to turn off my phone or even to disconnect from the internet to do my assignments. This lack of connectivity during my own childhood is something I’m really grateful for and is the reason my own children go to a school which doesn’t use any technology in the primary school years. I suppose high school is when the problems begin….

    • Couldn’t agree more. Most people think that teaching children how to use devices young is the main challenge but it really is to protect them and to help them mature in a way that is not addictive …

  • Moni says:

    Oh, my days! Ingrid, this article could not be more relevant. Working full-time and studying full-time I am multitasking all the time on all levels, add to it daily interaction with my family (over the internet as well) and I can tell that as much as I want multitasking to be helpful, it is indeed not really effective at all and something needs to give in. As for self-regulation strategies, oh well I fall here miserably. I cannot really focus on one task, my curiosity tells me to check the phone, the TV, ask my sister how her assignment went, and ask my mom for the recipe, that came to my mind for tomorrows dinner. I just learned to start early and give myself as much time as I can to finish whatever task, because it will be time-consuming with all those distractors around.

  • vichuda says:

    Writing an assignment without an internet connection really makes your work better, I agree, at least for sure you spent less time working on it to finish speaking from my experience. 😂 In my case, right now I use the app called ‘forest’ to help me concentrate. you set the time limit in the app such as 2 hours and if you don’t open any app on your phone during that time, you grow 1 tree in the app. the more you can endure not using your phone, the more trees you get and it turns into a forest just like the app name. I found it helpful as my body knows that mobile phone = social media and I am wasting my time. 😩

  • Banie says:

    Hi Ingrid!
    Thanks for this week’s content. I like the way you have provided us with a lecture and a Twitter post that really enhance our comprehension and memory. Also, I love the metaphor of “weave a text” that is so interesting and meaningful. I am curious about how and where you got all those great pictures to accompany your lectures ^^.
    Regarding your question in this post, I think I have the same strategies as other students here. I do not have many techonogical devices around me when writing my assignments, but my phone and laptop. I have my phone right next to me to keep in touch with my workplace, but I turn off all the notifications from Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. I do the same thing on my laptop. However, when working on my assignments, I always have websites of online thesaurus and collocation dictionaries on to make sure I am writing as accurately and appropriately as I can.
    Reflecting on the current situation with the Covid-19, online learning and working from home, we seem to rely more heavily on the web and the Internet than ever. So I guess sometimes it is hard for us to resist the temptation to get access to those beautiful apps or social networks. However, I think it is a matter of how we manage, arrange, and prioritize stuff in our daily and academic lives.

  • Chris Skottun says:

    This issue is so important in today’s interconnected times. Every child is grown up with a device at hand, and an increasing amount of parents use tablets, phones and computers as a method of primary socialisation of their children. The institution has thus moved on from being the parents’ jobs to become a third-party’s responsibility.
    Because of this, many children become so addicted to their devices, with a decreased ability to interact with others in person, and rather be a slave to online interactions and social media. By understanding this worrisome trend, parents get increasingly aware and conscious of their children’s device-time, and more parents are implementing more restrictive device usage. For example, as you mentioned, limited time for devices. These restrictions may help a lot of children get out and interact with each other in person, in an attempt to avoid the negative development of children’s social skills, as well as making them aware of the dangers of their addiction to devices. I don’t think devices are necessarily a negative thing for children to use, but I think awareness and restrictions need to be put in place to avoid a socially underdeveloped child.

    • Thanks, Chris! Couldn’t agree more. In addition to cognitive and social aspects, I also find the mental health aspects really worrying. It’s so easy for young people to get dragged into quite dark spaces way before they have the maturity to deal with them …

  • Yudha Hidayat says:

    Thank you for raising this issue. This writing increases my awareness as a teacher and a student regarding the disadvantages of electronic devices and internet. I think social media has the biggest temptation. I sometimes throw my phone away from me so that I can focus on my assignments. But, I realise that my laptop is connected to the internet and it turns out I open my Facebook or other social media on my laptop or iPad. I can relate my issue to my students’ issue. Therefore, I think I should be more strict on the use of phone in my classroom. And teachers and parents should develop their communication so that parents also can take part in preventing the impact of electronic devices on the students’ study.

    • Thanks, Yudha! How to deal with devices as a teacher is another hard question. I sometimes have instituted a ‘no devices during class’ policy but then am not strict about it and it falls apart …

  • Yuan+Li says:

    Thank you very much Ingrid for sharing this with us. That is why I prefer face-to-face courses rather than online ones. In classrooms, I can have more opportunities to discuss with others. When I use my laptop to take lectures, I always want to check social media… I usually have two ways to help myself concentrate on study. One is a cup of deep-roasted coffee. Coffee without any sugar and milk is really helpful to have a fresh mind and focus on my study with a digital device. I would recommend Moccona and another brand but I forgot the name. Another way is listening to music. It sounds impossible to many people. However, when I have studied for a long time, I would like to listen to music to help me refresh my mind so that I can be studious again.

    In terms of how do I ensure if I’m concentrating on the online study, I don’t think I have some special methods, but I may ask myself if I know what was talked about in today’s class. If my mind is in a mess, then I know that I distracted in the class, otherwise I focused on the class.

    • Uh, another coffee lover 🙂
      I’m also looking forward to having face-to-face courses back: as a teacher, if you have a student who gets distracted by their device you just give them a bit of a stare and that usually takes care of it … none of that is possible in Zoom although I suspect that there is much much more distraction going on …

  • G says:

    Thank you, Ingrid, for this post. Regarding the advancement of technologies and the ubiquity of the Internet, I am in the same vein with you about how efficient we could gain access to a wide range of informations nowadays. However, as you mentioned, with a dearth of self-regulated and disciplined digital usage, we could possibly suffer counter-effects from the benefits of technology. Indeed, many years ago, I was type of a person mentioned in this post hardly got any tasks completed as planed due to spending excessive amount of time on off-task activities such as social media notifications like Facebook, youtube, and so forth. Until now, it usually consumes me at least 30-minute length for flicking aimlessly through social media websites as a mental break from hours of doing assignments. At first, it is just a glimpse of an eye to keep update with “the world”, however, it become a run-on mission when more intriguing animations pop up on the screen. Gradually, the off-task behaviours have become a factor which I will feel uncomfortable and frustrated without its existence. I did made myself think I was less productive without any access to social media or other recreational sources from the Internet while doing assignments. Fortunately, I do recognise this activity actually hamper rather than stimulating my workflow. To remedy this issue, I usually turn on some content restriction apps and softwares on my phone as well as laptop to maximise my workflow, concentration and efficiency.

  • T says:

    Hi Ingrid! I believe that choosing a quality study environment, decreasing distractions, and limiting multitasking can make our study and work time more productive and effective. At home, when I need to focus on my study, I often leave my ipad and iphone in another room after putting them on silent mode, and then “out of sight, out of mind”. Even if I feel tempted to check messages, I won’t go because it takes a lot of effort to walk to the other room. When I use technical devices to study, I turn off notifications from Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter etc. It’s essential to minimize temptations.

  • Tazin Abdullah says:

    Many, many thanks, Ingrid for directing us all to what is, as you rightly say, a huge concern for teachers, parents and even ourselves. Even prior to the pandemic, iPads were rolled out at primary schools and became central to school work.

    Amusingly for me, one of my children had to do a library assignment recently where the class was required to research the history and invention of writing. They were directed to take notes. In this case, researching involved learning how to navigate the internet and taking notes. I noticed my child just copied and pasted what was on the internet and produced these as “notes”. The feedback, of course, was that it needed to be done again and we went through what it means to take notes. Reflecting on this, I think that if the research had involved looking up actual library books, the children would have been somewhat compelled to take actual notes because: a) You can’t copy and paste and b) It would have been too long to write in full!

    It also made me realise that my note taking skills have suffered a little and one of the things I do is force myself to have a paper diary, hand write shopping lists, take handwritten notes at work meetings rather than on my laptop (I find many people answer emails while in meetings!) and writing out essay plans. I even leave my device to write up plans for my assignments on a mini white board. It is still very challenging and I feel that often, my focus suffers.

    • Thanks, Tazin! Re the note-taking episode: without knowing the age of the child, I would guess they are too young to do actual research. I think this whole idea that even elementary school children (and the same applies to junior high) should do their own research is deeply flawed. Without very well-planned guidance, they lack the critical skills to actually do something other than copy-and-paste from random sources. The practice is also a major source of inequality in education: the success of all this early “independent” learning depends on level of parental involvement, and there are obviously huge differences in the ability of parents to support their child’s “research” …

      • Tazin Abdullah says:

        You’re so right, Ingrid! I have always taken it that the very stressful degree of parental involvement is a given and that it is expected. However, it should not be. In fact, the introduction of devices has actually added to how much I need to monitor and assist the children in their schooling.

  • Nusrat+Parveen says:

    Using device and multitasking is very timely topic now a days. I grew up spending limited time on computer, only for the purpose of assignment writing or emailing. I grew up buying, collecting and reading books. Now I forgot the excitement of buying a new book, feeling it with all senses. Now I spend most of the time in front of the laptop, I Pads and I phone for work, for study , for shopping, for entertainment, almost for everything! I don’t buy newspaper anymore! I rely on my phone and all the apps it has. I have social media account which enabled me to keep in touch with friends and family in abroad , at the same time it distracts me a lot and throws me out of my direction and I get lost in the news feed and seeing others blissful , happy portrayal of life etc. At the same time devices enabled me to keep me updated with latest news , to use online at any time from anywhere, to check on traffic, weather, emergencies , to shop whenever and whatever etc. So a day without device is almost impossible for me! I used to monitor my time, now I don’t. I can also see the effect of screen time on those who are working from home during this unprecedented time of COVID!1My ten years daughter is relying on I Pads for their BYOD program, she is using ZOOM, Google classroom to stay connected with her teachers and class mates. I try to limit her time, but there is always an excuse of presentation, assignments etc. What a world we are living in now ! I feel like will we have any real friend or colleagues or mates in future that we rely on so much during our ups and downs? OR IS IT GOING TO BE ALL VIRTUAL??? Do I write in pen and paper any more? What about my next generation? What should we do?? There is no alternatives to self – regulation, self – control and self – discipline .These are the only weapons that we have to fight with the demon of addiction and lead a healthy life!!

    • Thanks, Nusrat, for this vivid account! I wrote this post last year, well before the pandemic, and while the virtual world seemed overwhelming then, if feels completely out of control now …

  • Nazzia says:

    This post is so relatable to me and I am sure to everyone trying to study while fighting the urge to just watch one more episode of a TV show on Netflix. It really tests our determination and our ability to focus when so many distractions are around us. I have to really try and be disciplined about restricting screen time on my phone or on stuff other than studies.

  • AK says:

    It is really hard to be focused and on task while using my device. I was taking too much time to finish a small part of my work. My weaknesses are the online shopping and documentaries. I tried many times to find a right way that works with me. Now, the best way that I found is to deal with myself as dealing with a child; for example, If I finish my work on time, I will reward myself.

  • Sasha Sunshine says:

    The use of technology definitely have both pros and cons. In class, when I take notes on my computer I often find myself checking social media or emails. However, when I take notes in my books and look at the slides which helps me focus my attention on the lecture. Often while doing assignments or readings I do get distracted and check different websites, it is something I have to make a conscientious effort not to do. I have realised that when someone sitting next to me is multitasking on Netflix, social media, browsing the internet, and so on, it can be quite distracting. I believe that knowing the negatives we as users need to make better use of devices and control lies in our hands on how best we use it.

  • Chih says:

    Thanks for sharing the post. An increasing number of electronic device has been used in people’s daily life in recent years. The issue of students overuses the technological device has also become more serious than before. Many schools and use a smartphone or laptop to teach students and students also practice it by using electronic devices. Although technological devices have some negative effects on students if they have well self-management. Technological devices will be helpful for students to learn.

  • Teufeld says:

    There is no doubt that people are relying more on device because they are helpful and efficient. When I use device to do task, I always set a limited time to encourage myself to finish task quickly, so that I cannot spend time on other things, such as online games, or chatting software.

  • Rajendra Prasad Kandel says:

    Self-regulation is quintessential while using digital technologies. We can attain a better result in our work if we concentrate profusely or be focused on our tasks in digital devices. We need adequate resources to accomplish our tasks perfectly but while searching for resources we should be always aware that we may not be entangled with off-task multitasking. But it’s too hard to be completely free from the negative effects of multitasking if students are allowed to have access to the internet and digital devices in the classroom or out of class settings but their negative effects can be minimized by constructive use of them. On the one hand, it’s difficult to monitor the students by teachers or parents in the use of technological devices because it’s not easier to categorize the tasks students do by using digital devices are of educational purposes or not. On the other hand, multitasking helps us to our learning hugely; if we are disciplined users of digital devices, we can be immensely benefited by the access to intellectual property, language resources, and knowledgeable people.
    With regard to the attainment of concentration on our tasks even if we use digital devices, the most crucial thing is self-awareness of the student about the pros and cons of these devices. For smarter reading comprehension, stronger memory power, more effective performance in the classroom, better socialization with peers, higher marks in the assessments we need to be focused on one task at one time. So, let’s get rid of unnecessary hanging in social media, discard irrelevant emails, always try to connect what we read or write to the main topic which we are dealing with, avoid propagandist brainwashing advertisements, or off-topic youtube videos, etc. And let’s enjoy our assignments and ensure better marks.

  • Saichon says:

    I agree that technology can be harmful if the users do not know how to use it smartly. In the regard to having a good discipline, I grow up in the setting that “no phones” in family activities, so leaving the phone aside does not hurt me that much. I think screen time should be one point that parents take it as a consideration. I used to work as a nanny, and parents who allow their children to spend time on screen have a lot more problems because their children do not eat food or finish homework on time. On the other hand, the children, who have restricted screen time, can focus on their tasks better. So, I honestly agree with your article that new technology has a lot of negative effects. Recently, I found that I can focus on what I have to do better when I close all windows on my computer. Beyond anything, I think your idea in the classroom setting helps me a lot to improve my learning habit since you suggest that all devices are not necessary in your class lecture. It is true that Internet is useful and it is hard to avoid using technology nowadays. I do not think I am good at multitasking, so I usually download all readings and go to park or cafe where it does not have the sign “Free-WiFi”. Then I shut down my phone for a while when it comes to my study time. This helps me a lot to focus on my essay and helps me to concentrate on my reading better than turning on my phone and seeing all notifications popping up. The technology is very smart, but I think I have to be smart and know how to use it. Spending my alone time without the Internet is actually not bad because I start appreciating other things around rather than the Internet more.

  • Irene Nguyen says:

    The influence of electronic communication nowadays has been increasingly negatively impacting on human life. In other words, smartphones alongside social media are truly causing people stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. People gradually harm socialization by overwhelmingly building up their social relationships through the touch of the digital-devices’ screens. Moreover, in the learning aspect, technology is known to be the utmostly main cause of students’ distraction or it could be said that student’s loss of focus has resulted from both their self-multitasking and peer-multitasking. The primmest example of technology constraints lies in the appeal of notifications of social apps (Facebook, Instagram). Once you leave the flow of your lesson to keep updated with your app’s notifications, it means that you can totally get lost with your study since the social media will keep you stay by constantly connecting you with another information related.

  • Xin Zhang says:

    Thank you for your post. In fact, with the development of digital devices, it is easy for students to change study into entertainment. Students are easily distracted by electronic devices. It is easy to be attracted by other social software, games, interesting networks and even advertisements. For me, i have found the way to make myself concentrate on my tasks. When i do my assignments, i just download articles which i need and take phones away to focus my tasks. In addition, i will not log on my social software and ensure i am not disturbed by other factors in the computer. Generally speaking, it is important to constraint ourselves when we do multitasks. I was also easily distracted by others when i do my tasks on computers, which made me spend more time to finish my assignments and the quality was poor. As long as you realise negative effects when you are distracted by devices, you prefer to change methods of doing tasks.

  • Summer Dang says:

    This is such an interesting and concerning topic to be discussed regarding educational issues nowadays. I totally agree that the use of technological devices as a compulsory part of school works makes it hard to separate between using Internet for learning and for leisure purposes. For both purposes occur on the same device, this becomes a huge temptation for individuals to stay focused on their learning side and not slip to the other fun activities. This off-task, as you mentioned, needs to be eliminated; however, the on-task multitasking where students probably look for relevant information for their academic tasks is also posing many worries. As a postgraduate student in Australian educational context, I clearly experience this distraction when I myself often set my laptop active during lectures. My common digital activities include browsing the iLearn site, opening the lecture slide, and searching google for unfamiliar words/notions/names of people, places, etc. that come up in the lecture. However, I later found out that looking at the slides on classroom screens is better in helping stay concentrated than looking at my own screen and the content on iLearn site can be pre-looked at home instead of during lecture. I also find sitting with no-multitasking peers assists my concentration much better. At home, I also try to set a certain time for social media (no more than 2 hours a day) and never open them while conducting my assignment tasks. I also find it hard to browsing at one time too many pages, thus now I try to finish the readings quickly and note down ideas to write my assignment instead of going back and forth between pages like before. Knowing that this practice takes huge efforts and determination, I hope everyone out there will successfully find your own way to self-discipline and get higher marks with your assignments.

  • Thi Thanh Huyen Do says:

    In today’s digital world, students have more and more things competing for their attention. With access to so much entertainment and information, students are often left dividing their focus between more than one task—whether it’s checking social media while studying or trying to complete multiple homework assignments at once. Multitasking isn’t new, but, with limited attention spans and more distractions, it’s important to make sure students are still learning effectively. Many students multitask while working on schoolwork, whether they’re completing a homework assignment or studying for an upcoming test. Since students aren’t giving their full attention to their schoolwork, they aren’t as effective at absorbing the information they are studying. And without a solid comprehension of what students are learning, grades can start to slip—up to a half a letter grade. Longer and more frequent distractions from multitasking can cause school performance to drop even more. Personally, when I study or do my assignments, I only focus on the main task and ignore other activities. However, I usually listen to music when studying, particularly classical music or some kinds of music for concentration and study. This helps to increase my concentration on doing the assignment, and I seem not to be affected by external factors.

  • Pramanandra Joshi says:

    Thank you Ingrid for this relevant post.
    Nowadays anywhere in the world this issue is common either in developed countries like the USA, UK, Australia or in developing countries like Nepal, India and Pakistan. Massive use of devices and technology by students and professional is become troublesome. It is good thing to use technology in this modern age but we people become the slave of different technology and device which is not good.
    This article raises psychological and social effect of using multitasking device. Nowadays each person is in isolation because of excessive use of social media such as Facebook, twitter and YouTube. Use of technology became unavoidable in this age, so we cannot escape with it but we have to find the way to go. Multitasking has more negative effect on students because there is no concentration in one particular task.
    We have to search solutions to come out from multitasking. In my view, to concentrate one task we have to shut down other device and just focus on one task This way will be perfect to come out from this problem.

  • Chi Tam Nguyen says:

    The question posed on this article is always one of my great consideration when I am doing any task on my devices, especially with those with internet connection. Self-regulation could be the strictest rule in the rule set that I make for myself, which I frankly broke so many times. Therefore, I tend to put me under pressure, such as negative consequences if I fail the task, with the purpose to make me concentration on the task. It works quite good at first. Unluckily, I have a fairly good adaptation skill (I guess) so those pressure do not pose considerable threat to me; therefore, many new ways have been considered. Dividing the tasks into small pieces could be a great way for me to avoid attraction from my using devices. I know it sounds absurd but it works for me until now.

  • Joseph says:

    Thank you for your wonderful post. The use of the computer seems to be troublesome for many teachers in the modern era. After reading many articles about multitasking using computers, I tried many different techniques myself so that I won’t multitask using smartphone and computer. Simply, my best solution was to turning off any unnecessary application and devices. This process was a difficult challenge at the beginning but my grades did improve. Soon I am going to be teaching to young students so I need to make a rule to control students’ learning in class. My honest solution is probably the same as mine. I would ask the students to turn off their smartphones during my lecture. However, I don’t know how realistic this solution will be…

  • N. P. says:

    I find this blog post very relatable as I myself have often fallen victim to the “weapons of mass distraction” of YouTube, Facebook, and the like. Nothing is more welcoming than a ten-minute YouTube break after being at your wit’s end slaving away at a mind-numbing essay, yet on more than occasions ten minutes turned into hours. Indeed, discipline is key here. To somewhat diminish the destructive power of multitasking, I have taken up the habit of disabling my phone’s internet connection and only using it to consult a great [offline] collocations dictionary app (whose desktop equivalence isn’t available without a hefty price tag). To be sure, I still multitask and access the internet on my laptop when, say, writing for an assignment because of the limitless resources it gives access to, and, as an almost indispensable tool, it does help me a great deal.

  • yofa says:

    Thank you Ingrid for such an insightful post.
    I do agree that I am one of those students who hardly avoids the off-task multitasking however I always try my best not to get sunk into social media for a long time. While studying or working on assignments, I put my phone away from my hand to reach and set up a particular time to check social media as the break time. However, it will be a different case with attending a lecture. Most of the time, I will keep my phone in my bag when in class and if the class is engaging I can keep myself away from my phone as if I never had it with me. However, if the lesson taught in the class is too complicated and the lecturer is not helping to make it more understandable, it will be really hard to make my eyes wide awake and hands are just unconsciously grabbing the phone. Eyes will consider it as a quick refreshment to boost my motivation.

  • Sofia says:

    Thanks Ingrid for this post. A while ago, I realized that I have been letting the technology distract my work and overwhelm my timetable. I am the type of person mentioned in this post who will open differents windows in the background of my laptop and cant keep my attention for a long enough period to complete all the tasks given. I spent a huge amount of time scrolling the websites rather than doing my assignment but I havent noticed that until the deadline is coming. I try to find a solution for it and come up with an idea to stop using social media, try to write down assignments on paper instead of typing in my laptop. It seems to be time-consuming, however, I realize that it actually works better than using the laptop. Stop using social media also save me a lot of time, which I can spend for meaningful relationships with friends and loved ones.

  • luwen huang says:

    Hi, Ingrid. I agree with you that device is a major contemporary education challenge for parents and teachers because the device such as notebook computer, smartphone, and iPad play an irreplaceable role in teaching practice and learning process today. Schools’ policy about bring devices in the classroom has changed. In the past, many schools prohibited students from bringing devices to the classroom in order to avoid the negative effects of equipment. However, recently, a variety of device has been used in the classroom to help teach. In addition, these devices have been used to evaluate students’ assignments, self-study, and so on. But the negative impacts of the device should not be negligible. It is a good way to avoid the negative effects of these devices that help students build good habits of using these devices.

  • Dee says:

    Hi Ingrid, Thank you for your interesting post!
    As for my multitasking in studying, I am frequently distracted by the availability of digital devices while studying. In fact, I usually put my phone on the table, so it is really a distraction when there is a message come or a notification of social medias such as facebook or Instagram. To dimish myself from being distracted by them, I choose to put my phone in another place such as the kitchen or the living room rather than in my room, and it surprisingly works for me. In addition, to prevent myself from being continously notified even when I do not study, I always put my phone into silent and do-not-disturb mode. This way also boost my performance in many daily tasks such as cooking food or cleaning the house.

    Dee

  • fidjicz says:

    Thank you for this post. It’s great to finally see that there are voices claiming that multitasking isn’t that beneficial as it used to be thought and celebrated (thinking about all those job ads having a line like “great ability to multitask” on top of their description of an ideal candidate). I find myself very distracting to do more things at the same time and yes – technology such as computers, smart phones and such aren’t very helpful. I feel like my attention span has shrunk since I got my first smart phone some three odd years ago. While I don’t have any notifications on (they would literally drive me crazy and just “litter” my life) and keep sounds (and lately also vibration) off I still check it fairly often and find myself mindlessly browsing Instagram (for all those beautiful photographs of fauna and flora). Lucky for me, a couple of years ago I made a great decision to get rid off Facebook. It was probably the best decision in my online life to date. One does not realise what kind of effect it has on them until they’re out.
    When it comes to children and technology – speaking from my first hand experience, I got my very first desktop around in 1999 or so. Back then there was only a dial-up connection which happened to be also very expensive. I got hooked on that piece of device and was literally addicted for a few years. I would drive my parents crazy and my academic results would suffer. I was a teenager back then and it completely absorbed me. I can’t imagine what it does to a child brain. Whenever I see all those very young children anything between one and ten years it makes me really sad. Think about those families having a Sunday breakfast or mid-week dinner and children are glued to iPhones or tables. Very sad indeed. It doesn’t make their undeveloped brains smarter. No one can convince me of that.

  • Leo says:

    There is no doubt that the effectiveness of digital technologies gives us and almost all of us use technology for multitasking. However, besides the strengths, digital technologies have negatives effects. I confess that sometimes in class, I surf Facebook or look up new words on my device while listening to the lecture. As a result, during the lesson I did not take note anything and felt confused what I have just learned. I’m also distracted by others sitting next to me and using their own devices not for the purposes of learning. At home, with the availability of the Internet, I use search engine to find articles for assignments, but I am still distracted and waste a lot of time on Facebook and Youtube. I realize that I have to solve this problem. While doing assignments, I download all the documents that I think are related to my topic disconnect to the Internet, just focus on my reading and writing. Besides, I set the quiet mode on the phone so that I will not be distracted by these devices.

  • Abbie says:

    It is true that technological devices are increasingly important for human in different social practices. I remember we were still arguing the necessity of buying a smartphone in my family few years ago, but now most people carry at least not only a smartphone but also a tablet. While the negative impacts can be serious to young learners because they are still building their self-regulation, I think tertiary students should be aware of the danger and hence learn how to balance multitasking and self-regulation. Because we sometimes need different browsers to find appropriate reference while we were writing, or I would look up an online dictionary while I want to find an accurate word to express my ideas. If I got distracted by social media messages, which happened frequently, I would turn off the alarms or notifications while I was writing or reading research papers.

  • Loulou says:

    Thank you for your sharing. It can be seen that the modern technology in general and the multitasking function in particular has distracteted people from their work and so do I. However, in some specific cases, the beneficial of multitasking can not be completely denied. For example, when I searching papers for my essay or research, the act of switching between several tabs displaying different papers often provide me new ideas for my work. From my point of view, I think that the impacts of multitasking on individuals’ work are relatively and depended on how they manage and control it.

  • Sunny says:

    This article focuses on the issue that students need to consider thoughtfully. Due to the rapid development of Internet Technology, Internet-connected devices can be found and utilized everywhere. Students can use them as effective tools for gathering resources, updating knowledge and widening their horizons. However, easy access to internet-devices as well as multiple social platforms and applications do have negative effects on students’ learning performance. Students may easily be distracted by all kinds of updated ideas and news, which leds to the result that they spend less time on improving academic performance. In this case, students are supposed to enhance the capacity of self-regulation. Based on my personal experience, I will set a limited time for myself to finish the assignments I need to accomplish. During this period, I will turn off all notifications of multitasking except the Word. I cannot turn on them again until I finish the tasks. Meanwhile, I silence my mobile phone so that irrelevant messages will not distract me from my work. Even if this method can be difficult to be implemented, it does have amazing effects.

  • Alex P. says:

    In my opinion, we tend to blame technology for our flaws. With multitasking, we are discussing peoples ability to concentrate or in sporting terms “keep an eye on the ball”. Sure it is distracting, but to what degree is the person’s personal attention span skills taken into account with all of these studies. We have all had school friends who would not stop talking in class and possibly got us into trouble. Perhaps they were late or kept laughing, distracting the old school way. Multitasking, in my opinion, is nothing more than a modern extension of innate human behaviour. So the question is; if technology or multitasking was withdrawn, would we simply find something else to distract us?

  • PJ says:

    I agree that people’s lives nowadays have been affected by not controlling their time on using technological devices. It could be worse especially for young children as they have schooling and other social skills they are expected to attain rather than sticking eyes all the time on their cellphones or laptops. I have seen many of my students using their smartphones on the way to school and even in the classroom. Then I had to set a rule of no mobile phone in class. It somehow did not work well because they still got distracted with any notification pop-up on the screen. So that I asked them to put their phones on my desk during class time to focus more on the lesson. I myself whenever doing anything requires my full attention, always put my phone far from my sight.

  • Alisa says:

    I am a person who likes to study and finish homework on a computer. Typing on a computer is faster than writing. You can get more information when you access the data. However, as the article says, writing a job on a computer can easily lead to distractions by processing multiple tasks simultaneously. So in order to avoid this happening, my approach is to separate multiple tasks. For example, when I was preparing my assignment paper, I was looking for information on my computer until I had almost all the information I needed, and then I began to read the information carefully before I started writing. You can also take notes on paper while reading. Writing can help me focus, and taking notes can help us improve efficiency when writing.

  • Mia says:

    Hi Ingrid,
    Thanks for your sharing. The digital technology has brought about many positive changes in education, as well as many negative effects. We use technology to make the study interesting and make it easy to access information, but we also worry about whether it affects academic performance. In fact, I really like listening to music when I am writing an essay, but I find that it is inefficient to write an essay in this way. It’s hard for me to control myself from focusing on writing. Therefore, I can only stay away from everything that affects me when I am writing, such as mobile phone and social networking sites.

  • Ana says:

    This post has made me reflect on how pervasive the usage of digital technologies has become in our daily lives. I am from the generation that saw the digital revolution change our way of life, going from analogue to a complete dependence on digital technologies and with it the construction of our online identities.

    As with any breakthrough at the beginning is hard to see its negative side effects, but with time we can see right through them. Distractions caused by digital technologies can have a very negative impact on our learning. I attempt to mitigate these distractions by switching my mobile phone to airplane mode while studying or working, and taking notes with real pen and paper. However, since most on my work is done on a laptop, I am always online in one way or another. It is difficult to imagine a life where we do not feel the pressure to be online, and perhaps this will be an important challenge for the future generations

  • Jamie says:

    Hi Ingrid,

    Thank you for your interesting post. Reflecting on my study, I also find myself get distracted easily while working with internet-connected devices. However, it is nearly impossible for me to work on my assignment without using the Internet to search for references, to look up new words, or to do some fact-check, so what I usually do is to make a deal with myself that I would not open any social media sites until I finish my work. During the break time, I could read some news or a part of a book instead. I also divide what I need to do into smaller parts to suit my short attention spans. As technology has become an indispensable part of our daily life, we have no choice by to get along with it. Instead of trying to deny its existence, we need to come up with effective learning strategies and practice our determination to follow those strategies closely.

  • Keelan says:

    Hi Ingrid, thank you for this post, which is very interesting, and yet very debatable. As a millennial growing up in the digital age, I do find working with technological devices and the Internet very helpful. I don’t think multitasking is so much of a problem that it affects students’ learning and grades and so on. I think smart multitasking is the key here. I cannot imagine writing my assignments offline, with a dictionary and way too many books open on my table, because oftentimes, I write them with ready access to the Internet so I can, for example, check the meaning of a word, whether my expression is correct, or when I come across an author mentioned in an article, I can search for the original one and gain better understanding on the matter being written about. I think the matter is whether we can stay focused on the task or not. So I believe that you have raised a very accurate question about what WE (as internet and technological device users) can do not to be made stupid by such digital enhancements.

  • Kina says:

    This post really has me thinking about my study methods. As I am not an avid user of social media, I do not find myself off-task in that sense. However, I have a strong tendency to listen to music while studying and writing assignments, especially when I’m at a café, or using the study facilities on campus. After reading this post, I do feel that it could potentially hinder my concentration and abilities in some way to perform to my fullest potential. On the other hand, I also feel it keeps me on-task, as I am not distracted by those around me and do not feel the urge, or the need, to access off-task materials and activities. I am in my own little study ‘bubble’. I would be curious to know if anyone else uses music in this way.
    Further, as a few have also mentioned, I tend to have multiple tabs opened at once pertaining to particular areas, such as articles, databases, and assignment rubrics etc. However, I feel that because these are related to the particular task that I am completing at the time, it is an effective use of on-task multitasking for me.

  • Judy says:

    I am also very worried about negative effects of the use of devices on children. Seeing some of my friends’ children, I am surprised how capable they are of using multiple functions of smartphones even when they are still 1 year old. As you mention, the spread of device in education is inevitable, and it might be advantageous for children to have chances to touch devices since they are little. However, as the data show, it is a problem that the development of some other important skills is impeded. It seems they become easily distracted by notifications and less focused. Therefore, I feel adults have a responsibility to teach children how to use properly (such as how to avoid being distracted) and teaching how to control notification is one effective way for that.

  • Thuong Tran says:

    Every time a new technological device is launched, its producer always emphasizes on its multitasking functions based on the chip core inside. Therefore, users and audiences perceive multitasking is a superior task undoubtedly. Obviously, people are dictated by technology. Partly because they are new and facilitate people’s curiosity of exploration, partly unconsciously people fall into a ‘multitasking trap’ causing distraction and set them apart from real lives. Nowadays, in comparison with 10 years ago, children are more accessible to technological devices such as laptops, tablets, play station, virtual reality enabling them to sit at a fixed place and conduct various tasks. People have a plausible reason for multitasking that is time-saving. But actually the reality makes people time-consuming, distraction and inefficient productivity. For me, multitasking isn’t completely negative, but not perfectly positive. The solution to reach an efficient result in every task is to know when we should multitask or not. Multitasking, or technological multitasking reduces efficiency of each task in the multitasking groups.

  • Thanh Duong says:

    Thank you for sharing this post. I personally think that multitasking has both negative and positive impacts on learners’ academic performance but the negative ones seem to overweigh positive ones. I believe that our attention can be allocated to one or maybe two tasks at a time and when the first task(s) is/are completed, then the next one(s) can be processed. Therefore, if people multitask during the learning process, their performance may probably be inversely influenced. Especially with the advent of the Internet, laptop or mobile phone multitasking has been statistically proven to be harmful. The more use of mobile phone, the more distraction. For example, we open many tabs/windows for searching for information, then we sometimes get involved in messaging our friends online or scrolling facebook timeline ore surfing online shopping websites… These things do attract us a lot and distract us from concentrating on studying.
    Thus, I always attempt to open tabs for studying, reading materials and taking notes and to stay away from social networking sites (facebook, instagram). It is not easy at all and requires a lot of effort.

  • Milo Han says:

    It can be said that multitasking is an unavoidable problem in the technological era. Individually, I am strongly affected by multitasking when studying. Although i am conscious of off-task multitasking, I am frequently distracted by attracting activities on the screen. Nevertheless, I have some effective ways to limit this problem. Firstly, when studying or doing assignments, i will access entertaining media such as Facebook, YouTube and so on and I just concentrate on searching websites related to academic materials. This will help me increase my concentration on study. Secondly, I will establish an timetable for using activities appropriately. Specifically, I will spend 3 hours for studying and a thirty-minute break for entertaining activities on Internet. I think that these methods will be helpful.

  • Odno says:

    That’s the topic that are widely discussed by parents and teachers. I somehow agree with the blogger that using technologies can be negative if it is used too much and has several negative aspects regarding studying, concentrating and so on. Nevertheless, I personally think that benefits outnumber negative inluences of using technologies. I wouldn’t use technologies to study when I was a teenager and now I am not a tech savvy and sometimes I feel that my weakness is related to technology use. Thus, I think that I should allow my own children to use technologies because technologies has brought many positve things for career and personal development. If technology is used smartly, it can give us huge benefits. In my view, the main advantage is that technology can be used to reduce education difference (private school learners can get more high-quality education and vice versa). Like each good thing has negative aspects, the technology use can be negative if it is used too much and in ineffective way.

  • Yongqi says:

    Thank you for sharing this post. It does a matter for us to be aware of the saying that “each coin has two sides”. When we attain the benefits from the development of technologies, we should also consider whether we have overestimated our self-control ability and whether we have overlooked the disadvantages of technologies. We are confident that we can handle multitasks at the same time. However, our attention to the main task is often distracted by the use of technologies. As for me, when I am doing my assignments, I would not log into my social media account on my laptop. I would only open the pages of online dictionary on the Internet browser and open some downloaded PDF of the references for my essay in order to focus on my work and not being distracted by other pop-up information from the browser. I think this can be consider as an effective way to concentrate on the main task when I am using digital devices.

  • Mary Burr says:

    The argument surrounding media multi-tasking and the increasing use of technology and personal devices in classrooms is far too multi-faceted an issue for only one side of the conversation to be seen. Instead of focusing on who or what way is right- it might of some value to focus on the information being made available and to what purpose its role in the lives of an individual? When the article above speaks of a student scrolling through a newsfeed, does it state if we know this is happening because of the student lacking motivation in class? Are they particularly interested in the type of news being displayed? Better yet, have they long suffered from some mild form of ADD that has never previously been diagnosed; this inattentiveness manifesting through the use of a laptop or cellphone? Or is the material being taught of complete disinterest to them, and would be, no matter the attention-demanding personal device in their hand?
    In my opinion, it can be far too easy to label technology, cellphones, and laptops as the devil’s playthings without taking in consideration other valuable aspects of student’s lives that contribute to such distractions. Is the newsfeed they are scrolling through on their phone of interest to them because they hope to pursue a career in political science, while the class they are in currently is one they will have no use of in the future? Would the student with the facebook app open during the study period had found another method of distracting themselves if they did not possess a phone? Do students simply lack the study tools needed to maintain focus? Perhaps many students stray from the confines of institutional walls in pursuit of a different path, one seemingly accessed through social media? While I understand, as a past and present student, the importance of staying on task, I find it equally important to address all of the issues surrounding a student’s academic performance and not just the consequences found in technology

  • Amal says:

    Hi everyone,
    Nowadays many aspects of our life are related to the use of technology. However, I agree with the limiting of the multitasking across online platforms because they will distract our attention from the main task we are doing, which deceases our efficiency. When i use my computer to do research for articles for an assignment, I always make sure that I close all the tabs when I’m done with them, the internet browser and also the notifications from my phone, before I start writing.

  • alfa says:

    Hi Ingrid, thank you for raising awareness regarding this issue. Through reading your post, I realised I do engage in these on-task and off-task multitasking and I should definitely eliminate those disruptions. However, whilst studying, I keep my mobile phone away from me so that it is not within reach that my hands automatically go for it. I also avoid having social media tabs open on my laptop so I do not keep going on them. The only time I check social media while studying is when I have breaks and I give myself breaks depending on the time: example “it is 2:54 right now and I will take a short break at 3 pm” so I work hard until then. To stay focused, I also place a clear goal in front of me with a deadline to push myself further such as “finish the introduction by today” otherwise I’d fall behind. Self-discipline is really difficult and I am one of those people who achieve better marks when working offline. I aim to build other strategies that keep social distractions away whilst devoting time to uni studies.

  • Stacey says:

    Hi Ingrid, thank you for sharing this interesting blog.
    It is inevitable today to use various devices for learning purpose in school. For me, a smartphone distraction is the biggest problem I’m facing while studying. As this article says, it seems that the boundaries between device use for leisure and for study do not exist anymore. We check our phones every few minutes in class or while writing essays even if it didn’t vibrate or sound. As long as it’s connected to internet, we are eager to browse the latest news and posts. This leads to the fact that in classrooms where digital devices are allowed to use, “it is almost impossible for students to avoid the negative effects of multitasking”. I’m still trying to find a good way to get rid of device distractions and stay concentrated when I really need to focus on my tasks.

  • Giang says:

    Personally, I’m highly aware of the negative impacts of multiscreens during working and studying. I’ve seen many people, colleagues and friends who cannot work efficiently and productive because they are too busy switching between screens and tabs. My approach is to switch off the wifi on my computer so that I just can focus on what I’m reading or writing. When I need to use the internet, I limit the tabs I open to around 8 so that I can manage what is going on. I think my strategy works well to me. However, I admit that sometimes I am a bit behind my colleagues or classmates in updating new information, because I don’t usually check my phone and mail box, I have been in troubles several times for not responding immediately.

  • Mark says:

    Thanks for the interesting post Ingrid.
    I’m fascinated by the results of the May and Elder study as I was not aware of just how disruptive off-task multitasking is for students. I admit I can re-call times when I have sat down in front of my computer with the intent to do an assignment and been whisked away by the distractions of social media and other internet-related distractions, to the point where an hour has passed I have barely done anything. I think the benefits of technology for studying, particularly by way of word-processing and research, well and truly outweigh the disadvantages. However, as this article suggests, for students to take advantage of technology academically and not be sabotaged by it, they need to be aware of the potentially disruptive effect of multitasking. I think more needs to be done to raise awareness of this issue, as I personally have not heard much about it as a problem in society. I also think that in this day and age of digital distractions and short attention spans students could benefit from learning more about self-regulation and self-regulation strategies. Perhaps I could benefit from some more self-control too!

  • Jasmine says:

    Hi Ingrid, this is an insightful post about the negative effects of off-task multitasking towards students’ academic performance. It is true that the dangers of multitasking should be decreased by self-regulation. In terms of the strategies I have for self-regulation, I usually list what tasks I need to finish and switch off my phone. When I read a journal article and find unfamiliar terminologies, I will switch on my phone and find the online dictionary to check the definition. I set a timer to record how many time I can focus on the tasks to evaluate my efficiency and concentration.

  • DrHandstand says:

    I think this is a very interesting discussion on what is a somewhat serious side effect of today’s society. They only way, in my mind, to get beyond it is through education into how such multi-tasking ultimately reduces the quality of the end product. Or maybe society will adapt and change over time as the human brain changes. Personally, I’m 46 and grew up without the Internet. I don’t need it and have no smart phone, FB or anything else. When I need to seriously work, I actually turn off the Internet.

  • Quang Huy Nguyen says:

    Thank you, Ingrid, for your post.
    Frankly speaking, multi-tasking is inevitable in the contemparary digital age. I, myself, usually perform both on-task and off-task multitasking while self-studying. I have to admit that despite my awareness of off-task multitasking, it is really difficult to constrain myself from such activities. However, I have applied several methods that I think might be useful. One solution is that I often create a daily to-do list and have it shown in front of my desk, which functions as a reminder whenever I am immersed into off-task multitasking. Second, I found that mobile phone is a genuinely troublesome source of distraction, so I usually hide or put it out of my sight and reach. Another solution is that I have a 30-to-45-minute rule, which means that I will put all of my focus into study for a period of 30 to 45 minutes then I will take a 10-minute break to do the off-task multitasking. I found this way effective to resist my temptation of using social networking to chat or listen to music because I would rather get involved in off-task activities for a short period of time than be interrupted intermittently during my study.
    At the end of each day, I spend alone moments reflecting my day in which I assess what I have done and have not done as well as how to deal with the unfinished tasks for the next day.

  • Hanna Irving Torsh says:

    Both commenters make the important point that the digital world can have very negative effects on those who are trying to focus on a task, be it an intellectual task or even just enjoying a weekend at home to recover from a busy week. Balancing the tidal wave of choice and information online with our need for solitude, contemplation and reflection is one of the greatest challenges of our age and there are no easy answers. For me, learning to take the best of what’s available online and use it for purposes which add to my knowledge and happiness has become part of my answer, as I balance work and family in an increasingly-interconnected world. When life is challenging and even traumatic, connecting online with those you care about far away can be a lifeline. But when it stops being a help and turns into a hindrance, I try to turn away from the online and tune into what is in front of me (spoiler: it doesn’t always work). As Maryanne Wolf argues in her wonderful book, Proust and the Squid, we have the capacity to do many things but it’s how we, collectively, choose to act that determines the capacities we end up with.

  • luwen huang says:

    Bring the development of technology, computer and different kinds of mobile devices such as smartphone, iPad, and so on have deeply influence in many aspects in our daily life including learn and study. When I consider how to ensure focus on tasks while I learn and study with these devices, study plan, time management, and strict discipline are three important skills. Time management and strict discipline also mentioned by the author in this article. On the one hand, making studying plan in the learning process helps the learners know what they should do in different steps. This way can help the learners know their tasks and what should be done when they do the tasks. On the other hand, good time management skills and strict discipline can help learners complete tasks on time and avoid distractions in their learning process.

  • Sue says:

    It seems that the advantages and benefits of electronics such as smart phones, tablets,laptops have been overstated regarding learning. As these electronic devices have increasing functions that people can switch from learning or working to entertainment or social media within one second on the same device, which actually means people are very likely to distract from their work or study. Unfortunately, few people are aware that the negative impacts of those electronics on our learning and work efficiency and concentration. Self-regulation is a high inner power that regulates one’s behaviour strictly, producing quality work or study. One should have a deep understanding of the increasing negative effects of electronics and the significance of self-regulation if he/she would like to achieve efficient and effective work or learning.

  • Self-regulation is about having self-control and self-discipline. I’ve just written two words that are now some of the most hated in the English language – control and discipline. Especially discipline. There is no doubt that that word is fast becoming obsolete. That word is abhorrent and does not appear to correlate with devices such as mobile phones or social media usage via computers or email checking.

    Strategies for self-regulation: Check work emails stringently after work (unless I know I have to respond to my boss or students). Minimize writing emails to two close friends (who love writing regularly to me). I don’t explain why I’m busy to my close friends, I just let them know that I won’t be able to respond to their emails for a while (I give no set time frame so that I’m not obligated to respond at a certain time).

    When using Facebook I use it when I’ve achieved all the tasks I needed to complete. Otherwise, if I know I’m going to be very busy, I don’t post anything on Facebook so that I won’t have to respond to anyone. I find Facebook boring and mindless. I’m tired of looking at people taking selfies of their jogging sessions in the park and their latest shoes or reading about ‘little johnny has just lost another tooth!’

    Instant messaging is annoying. Australia has no laws that regulate the employer or the work colleagues from text messaging on mobile phones. Unlike Germany, where their laws help prevent overloaded text messages from the boss or colleagues. So earlier this year I resigned from a particular job as the boss was obsessively emailing me during the weekends and phoning me on weekends or late after work up until 1 am and it was a huge distraction to my Master Degree studies. I didn’t want to jeopardize my results and I felt she was putting my focus and my academic performance at a perilous level. I tried explaining to her the importance of having to study on the weekends but to no avail.

    Family members tend to love phoning at odd moments on the weekend. I’ve had to resort to turning off my mobile phone in order to remain focused and I’ve told them the truth, but sometimes people don’t like to acknowledge boundaries. So the mobile phone gets switched off every Sunday afternoon.

    I ensure I stay focused because I’m afraid of failure. I keep visualizing the end result and the positive outcome I want. I keep reminding myself that the reason most people aren’t successful is because they are too busy looking at what others are doing and that quotation really helps to concentrate on the tasks at hand.

    To be honest, I often feel like I’m fighting a battle to keep the digital communication at a distance in order to study.

    I’d quite happily live as a hermit for a few months at a time and every now and then emerge renewed and strengthened by shutting out the attention seekers and the digital world in general.
    However, it’s impossible to live as a hermit (at least at this point in my life), so I keep giving my undivided attention to my Master’s Degree studies and using the devices for reading journals, communicating on iLearn at Macquarie University and researching. But I can’t say it’s easy. It isn’t.

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