In this article Annie Murphy Paul points to yet another study that clearly demonstrates that multitaking simply doesn’t work. Paul summarizes the work of Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University–Dominguez Hills, who observed the multitasking habits of 263 middle school, high school, and college students. Rosens observers recorded once a minute what the students were doing as they studied. One of the most sobering observations was that in a 15 minute period
students had spent only about 65 percent of the observation period actually doing their schoolwork.
A growing body of research is showing that the negative effects of multitasking include:
- The assignment takes longer to complete, because of the time spent on distracting activities and because, upon returning to the assignment, the student has to re-familiarize himself with the material.
- The mental fatigue caused by repeatedly dropping and picking up a mental thread leads to more mistakes.
- Students’ subsequent memory of what they’re working on will be impaired if their attention is divided.
- Some research has suggested that when we’re distracted, our brains actually process and store information in different, less useful ways.
- Researchers are beginning to demonstrate that media multitasking while learning is negatively associated with students’ grades.
Since technology and the plethora of mobile devices are not going away Rosen recommends that students learn to consciously control and manage their device use. It is as simple as shutting off the device for 15 minutes and then texting, posting or blogging for two minutes before returning to another uninterrupted period of study. Over time students can train themselves to go 30-40 minutes or more without checking their devices.
It makes much more sense to help our students learn moderation, control and discipline rather then demand that they check their devices at the door. Isn’t it our responsibility as educators to help our student learn these character building traits.
