More Distracted Than Ever

Click. A bill is paid. Click. A medical diagnosis is made. Click. A life was just saved. Technology is being used for almost everything, everyday. You can conveniently pay your bills while watching television at the touch of a button. Doctors can easily make a diagnosis and start treatment, which, in turn, saves millions of lives. J. Christian Fox, a professor of emergency medicine and assistant dean of student affairs says, “Everything from eyeballs to ankles, and all the organs in between, can be seen in much better resolution and a lot more accurately than the physical examination can ever dream of." Most people think of all the eye-opening ways technology has helped improve our society, but has anyone really thought about how it’s damaging

Technology has opened many opportunities for students, but is it taking a toll on their education? Based on the two articles the “Avid Weekly: When it is and isn’t OK to be on your smartphone: the conclusive guide” by Caitlin Dewey and Is Technology Killing Our Friendship By Lauren Tarshis, technology can have a lasting effect that can either be positive or negative. Technology has let the world stay in touch with what’s happening around them, which has positively affected students and their surroundings. Causing disruptions though is something not to be happy about, because if technology advances in classrooms, students can easily be picked off into the wonders of technology. Although technology has helped students prosper, there are still

The leading cause of this generation’s idleness in today’s society is the easy access to technology. An abundance of schools is allowing the use of phones and computers during school hours. Although this can have some benefits, say looking up an unknown word, students take much more advantage of that. Allowing

Technology has a huge impact on everyone. Despite the variety of age groups, we have all become dependent on using technology throughout our lives. With the use of smartphones, alarm clocks, headphones, and so forth, we have started to invest tech into our everyday lifestyle, where it is now a social norm. As we are moving rapidly into a tech-based world, the use of technology has been incorporated into classrooms. Teachers have introduced PowerPoints, chatrooms, online assignments and much more to make the classroom run smoothly and help students accomplish more from their learning. However, problems can arise with technology usage in the classroom. Through students being able to access technology, they can become distracted

Along with procrastination, teens also need to limit the amount of time they spend on technology as overuse leads to a decline in their attention span and their academic performance. For Vishal, 7th grade provided some struggles as “He became increasingly engrossed in games and surfing the Internet, finding an easy outlet for what he describes as an inclination to procrastinate” (par. 23). With very accessible technology, kids can be distracted from homework easily by their phones, games, and notifications on the Internet because whatever is happening on their device is so much more fun than the bland homework. The author points out that kids should balance out the use of technology and the real world, not giving up all technology, but being more leisurely so the brain can explore itself and the world around it. Richtel provides results from an experiment stating, “brain studies suggest to researchers that periods of rest are critical in allowing the brain to synthesize information, make connections between ideas and even develop the sense of self” (para. 52).

In the section titled The Dumbest Generation, “Digital Nation” lays out a haunting narrative describing technology’s negative impact on students today. This section draws from an interview with Mark Bauerlein, a professor and author of book titled “The Dumbest Generation.” Bauerlein claims that reading, writing and math skills of students have all already began to deteriorate. It seems that constant interruption and attempts to multitask are at the heart of this deterioration. I received my first smart phone just before the beginning of this semester, from my own experience I can only agree with the assertion that technology puts a damper on the educational experience. The issue does not come with the technology itself, rather, the desire for constant connection distracts from the learning experience. As the first generation of persons who grew up with technology become parents, I hope they can teach their children the skill of moderation and the importance of education – skills often not taught to kids today by their parents born before the technology boom. These ideas will solve the deterioration of reading, writing, and math that Bauerlein speaks

“If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.” This quote has been attributed to many different persons, but regardless of the origin, this statement has never been more applicable than to the current state of education and the use of technology in today’s classrooms. Mark Weisner stated, “We live in a society in which technology is so pervasive that we do not notice it anymore when used for everyday tasks such as information retrieval, communication and entertainment” (cited in Swan, van t’Hooft, Kratcoski, & Unger, 2005, p.99). Many middle school age students have never known a time when daily use of technology has not been as common as

In the article, “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction,” Matt Richtel explains how students’ constant use of media may induce a pattern of distraction and disinclination toward academics. Richtel starts by investigating how parents, teachers, and administrators use technology to pull the attention of students from games and social media to academics. Researchers say when youths use technology and media, their “developing brains can become more easily habituated...to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention” (2). The intention of using more technology in classrooms is to invoke student interest in academics, prevent distractions, and allow students to concentrate. Richtel moves on to discuss how students blame media

Back in my days, we were not fortunate enough to... Gotcha! Did you expect that to be a dull story like our grandparents or parents may have told to show us how much more difficult their lives were? Not exactly, this writing is about how college students of this generation make use of digital technology. The wide spread of today’s technology via computers or smartphones results in constant connectivity to the internet. Social media, video gaming, information databases, and online classes, have affected college students’ studies. As a result, more students are being distracted, making a wider academic gap with self-disciplined students.

Technology has always been a human fascination, from the way it promotes rapid communication to the simple fact that it entertains, and connects people worldwide. As more and more technology-based education systems are being set up in classrooms, we have seen an era when smartphones overpower people, interpersonal communicaiton, and even minds. Personally, after reading these articles, I feel more compelled to quit the use of technology, whether it be the smartphone, laptops, or tablets, in a classroom setting. As the West Point Academy study showed, students tended to score better when any use of technological device was strictly banned. Further demonstrating that technology is a burden on effective learning, the Ereader study made me become aware that the mind is stimulated through actions,

Back in my days, we were not fortunate enough to... Gotcha! Did you expect that to be a dull story like our grandparents or parents may have told to show us how much more difficult their lives were? Not exactly, this writing is about how college students of this generation make use of digital technology. The wide spread of today’s technology via computers or smartphones results in constant connectivity to the internet. Social media, video gaming, information databases, and online classes, have affected college students’ studies, causes a wider academic gap between distracted students and self-disciplined students.

The article written by Matt Richtel essentially examines the link between digital technology and student academics in the 21st century. Growing up Digital, Wired for Distraction looks at a student-Vishal Singh, an aspiring 17-year-old filmmaker who spends the majority of his time on the Internet. When he is not on Facebook or YouTube, he is making digital videos. Vishal is also constantly in touch with his friends throughout the day by text or social media platforms. Technology has become a large part of this particular student’s life and is seen as his top priority. It is also seen as an effective tool for procrastination from his responsibilities. As a result, technology is consuming most of his time and schoolwork is being affected. Although

Today, many campuses offer free Wi-Fi internet access in all classrooms. However, students abuse the advantage of Wi-Fi internet availability and misuse their laptops in ways that prevents them to engage and concentrate in class. Carrie B. Fried’s points out that although her research demonstrated that laptops are an effective learning tool, there was more suggestive evidence to ban laptops in class because they detract students from learning. Based on her research results, she concluded that students learning are negatively related to in-class laptop use because students spent “considerable time multitasking and that laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students” (Computers and Technologies Journal). With Wi-Fi networks, it allows students to use the internet and do non-course related activities: check emails, play online games, visit social media networks such as Facebook and Blogger, and instant message other friends inside and outside of their current classroom. Students performing non course related activities on their laptops distract their fellow classmates as well. A student who misuses their laptop hinders their own learning as well as the learning of peers who are using their laptops appropriately. A student watching a comedy and smiling can distract another classmates’ learning and the disrespect the professor who is struggling to teach.

Digital devices and social media have become so engrained in our everyday lives, it is easy to become oblivious to the impacts that they might have on an individual’s education and cognitive development. It is not uncommon to look around a learning environment of young adults and see an abundance of smart phones, laptops and tablets which can freely access the vast amount of social media sites and internet information. While some would argue it can have its advantages, this ‘Age of Distraction’ does appear to fostering a generation who lack the ability to focus thus affecting their attentional capacity in the learning environment. This assignment will consider what evidence there is to support this claim, the potential short and long term affects digital devices are having in the learning environment, and lastly what we, as teaching professionals, can do to combat this growing phenomenon.

As far back as I can remember my family and I have taken advantage of technology. The types of technology have changed over the years, along with our usage and dependence on it. Technology is a fundamental part of our lifestyle, including both work and play. What is interesting is that we also have many friends who use very little technology in their day-to-day living. This drastic difference makes one wonder how necessary the technology really is, and whether or not our dependence on it is healthy in the long run. It is really easy to just get caught up in using technology without thinking about the pros and cons.