Multimedia Multitasking Influence on College Learning No matter where you go people can be observed on their smartphone and laptop while engaging in other tasks. According to Pew Research Center, as of November 2016, 95% of Americans own a cellphone which includes 100% of 18-29 year olds. The college classroom is now home to a generation that has been raised with so much technology that they are accustomed to multitasking and interruptions (Rosen,Lim,Carrier,and Cheever, 2011). It is second nature, something as simple as brushing their teeth, and the idea of simplifying and focusing on one thing is no longer in their DNA. Thus, even when it comes to sitting in a college classroom, it’s hard for them to shut down the constantly active technological portions of their brain. Technology has been statistically proven to hinder knowledge, even though students are using it to gain knowledge in itself. The majority of technology use, according to a survey by Jackson (2013), 39.1% of 102 students in question admitted using their mobile phone during class for personal use and only 3.1% reported to use their device for academic purpose. According to an article in Government Technology, students who use their phones more than 10 hours day had a significantly lower grade-point average – 2.84 – in comparison to the GPA of those students who only used their phones up to two hours daily – 3.15. This shows that multitasking has a negative impact on learning. In support of this,
Which includes less time on my phone texting, or any social media sites. This relates back to Margaret Soltan’s essay “Better Living Through Consciousness: Why You Should Take Your College Education Seriously”, she discusses how technology should be limited to reduce distraction of students. She wrote “Students are gazing at all manner of stuff on their laptops (and in doing so distracting those students trying to pay attention to the front of the room); professors are staring down at their PowerPoint slides and reading the words on them aloud. In some classrooms, professors report that groups of students are gathering in various corners to watch films together on someone’s screen while the professor attempts to lecture”. Many students use technology whether it’s a laptop, cell phone or IPad almost every class period you will find at least one student on a device.
1. Froese, A. D., Carpenter, C. N., Inman, D. A., Schooley, J. R., Barnes, R. B., Brecht,P. W., & Chacon, J. D. (2012). Effects of classroom cellphone use on expected and actual learning. College Student Journal, 46(2), 323-332.
When someone says the word apple, what comes to mind? Most people would respond the iPhone company that’s only been around for 20 years, rather than a fruit which has been around for centuries. This supports the fact that technology plays a huge role in our daily lives; however, as we grow attached to our social media accounts and gain pleasure from watching our favorite Netflix shows, there are consequences to overusing anything. Furthermore, dedicating time in school to using websites and software on the computer can add to the addiction younger generations already have towards technology. The use of technology in a learning environment can negatively impact a student’s learning capabilities and their growth.
According to Lenhart, in 2012 three quarters of teens, ages 12-17, owned cell phones. Of those teens, twenty three percent of them indicated they possessed a smartphone. With the technology advancing in cell phones, it has become yet another classroom distraction and a serious concern for cheating. With cell phones on hand, it has created an easy way to become distracted during class. Assistant Professor Campbell from the University of Kansas brought to attention, “one study found that a third of university students in the US play video games on their mobile phones and laptops during class (Gilroy, 2004 as cited in Katz, 2005).” The majority of researchers have found that mobile phones have lead to problematic use in the school environment
Most college students use a computer at home and/or a smartphone, a more compact, mobile version of a computer. Thanks to the mobility of smartphones that makes them ubiquitous, accessing the internet is effortless. Frequently, I observe students dotting all over the campus interacting with their smartphones. As observed by Clive Thompson, author of “Smarter Than You Think,” “our tools are everywhere, linked with our minds, working in tandem (p.347).” In other words, we are likely to be using our computers all the time. We use our computers whenever we have a chance. In particular, students from my writing class opt to use their smartphones during our short ten minutes break. Author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr shares a similar experience, “Even when I’m not working, I’m as
Sana, Weston, & Cepeda (2013), Laptop multitasking hinders learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education 62 (2013): 24-31.
Teenagers who use their cellphones very often will have their academic progress negatively affected due to being distracted. It is not a rare occurrence for teenagers to have their phones with them while they are in class, but that is mainly because many of them do not realize the impact it is having on their grades. Researchers, Christian M. End, Shaye Worthman, Mary Bridget Matthews, and Katharina Wetterau at Xavier University did a study about the impact of
Many people believe that bringing cell phones to school may cause distractions. However, a recent study leads more and more people to believe that mobile phones could in fact be a “powerful learning tool” (Docksai), serving as a mobile computer ("Cell Phones in the Classroom” ). Elizabeth Hartnell- Young, a research fellow from the University of Nottingham tracked 331 students from 14 to 16 years old, for learning through cell phones. They used cell phones to make short videos, set homework reminders, record poems, and transfer files from home to school (Docksai). Students described their learning experience as “motivated” (Docksai). Many experts pointed out that students have a “deep comfort level” with mobile phones (Docksai). In other words, students could learn more if they enjoyed what they were doing. An increasing number of teachers have changed their point of view towards cell phones, many now believe that cell phones would exert positive effects on education. For example, some teachers have already started to collect homework online and answer questions through text- messaging. A school in Saskatchewan encouraged students to read and share thoughts about books through their cell phones (Docksai). Furthermore, according to a recent survey, the majority of students could refrain from using cell phones and not be distracted by them in class. In fact, over 71% of students didn’t
Many kids grow up hearing that staring at a screen is bad for you or that technology and education don’t combine well. In fact many teacher believe that mobile devices have no positives: “many faculty anecdotally report that the use of mobile devices during class increases the students’ level of distraction, encourages a shallow level of cognitive processing … and/or causes disengagement,” (48). A test took place to see if it was true that apps and mobile devices have no benefits when it comes to education. The use of technology, especially apps, was tested to see if Introduction to Psychology student’s scores had a significant improvement from other Introduction to Psychology students score’s that
One problem with cell phones in today’s society is that they have become major distractions. Cell phones are distracting employees in the workplace and are leaving them with their jobs halfway done. Everywhere in the business industries, the employees are hard at work re-tweeting and catching up on the latest newsfeed rather than managing their time more wisely. Not only are cell phones a distraction in the workplace, they are also a distraction and disruptive in school districts, causing students’ attention to be elsewhere. Many students would rather text in the middle of class instead of pay attention to what the teacher is reviewing. In this case, students do not gain the amount of education provided for them. In addition to cell phones being distracting, people often like to multi-task by walking or driving while texting. These things cause them to be unaware of their surroundings. Texting while driving has become a major issue because texting and driving can lead to car crashes which are often fatal. On the other hand, texting and walking isn’t too bad, but can cause a little bit of embarrassment. There are stories of people walking into walls and bumping into people or tripping over a table because their nose seems to be stuck in their phone. To some, being on their cell phone is more important than grades, clients, and others around them.
Writing an essay on the impossibility of multitasking and the learning setbacks caused by technology use in the classroom caused me to reduce my technology use while doing homework. Deak says, “If you are listening to Mozart while you are going maths, whenever your brain starts to hear Mozart it has to leave the maths part, and that takes time. When the brain starts to refocus on maths, it goes through the whole process again” (Morrison 1). Ever since writing this essay, I’ve began to pay attention more to my own technology use and productivity. I no longer take short, frequent breaks while doing school work. Instead, I take longer breaks after accomplishing more of my work before switching to another task. I find that I am now more efficient and less stressed ever since I allow myself to do more work. Prior to writing, I would have never considered such an anti-technology stance, no matter what
Unfortunately, cell phones have become one of the biggest challenges instructors face in college classrooms as these devices have become a pervasive part of young people's lives. What used to only make phone calls and send text messages, now does our emailing, sends us Facebook and Snapchat notifications, and plays music. Additionally, our cell phones are not only used for personal activities, but for school and work life. We want to be reachable in case of an emergency, but the constant stream of notifications has led our productivity to significantly tumble down. Recently, I noticed that in many of my classes, even though the professor says there is a “no phone” policy, many students are scrolling through their social media feeds or responding to a text rather than paying attention to the lecture of the day. I admit to using my phone constantly during class, which often has led my grades to suffer poorly. Rather than paying attention to the lesson, I was checking on buzzing notifications of entertainment news and random trivia. Because I was not listening to my professor earlier in the day, I had a difficult time trying to complete the homework assignment. Thus, in an attempt to be epistemic temperate, for the last two days, I tried to not use my phone during class lectures and study time to measure my productivity.
The article focuses on the distraction of mobile devices in the college classroom. Brenner explains that they are distracting to not only the person using them, but the people around them as well. Through her research, she found that the people sitting next to multitaskers on their laptops tended to score lower on tests than those without the distraction. On that note, she states that people “are not wired to multi task”. Through a study, she found that texting during lectures caused a decrease in student’s ability to take notes, pay attention, and perform well on tests. She also found that the use of laptops
Technology is a major distraction for teenagers. A psychology professor at California State University conducted an experiment to prove this. He observed several students who were asked to study for 15 minutes. After just three minutes, they had all lost focus and technology was to blame for this. With results of only 65% of the time being spent on effective studying, it can be stated that just how quickly mobile phones can get in the way of our education is at a highly concerning level and something must be done about it. The distraction of technology already greatly disturbs revision at home, how can we possibly be allowing it
Furthermore, as communication and writing skills diminish our school performance begins to be affected. The entertainment of mobile devices distracts nearly every student in the classroom whether it is texting, or playing games, or surfing the net. Mobile devices also play a big role in communication by making it possible for students to easily communicate with each other when they should not be. The power to communicate with virtually anyone is a major distraction. Some teens are so attached to their technological devices they sleep with phones on and wake up to answer text messages they get at night. When kids have cell phones in their classrooms they are extremely distracted from what is actually being taught. They are looking down and playing their games or going on social networking sites instead of listening to their teachers. With the constant distraction of technology and teens short attention spans reading and writing skills have suffered significantly and vocabularies are shrinking. This relates to their education and their ability to do well in school. Another problem is that technology provides students with the ability to explore numerous search engines for any problem they come across and copy them word for word. It seems that students don’t spend time thinking; they are simply repeating information instead of learning concepts and ideas. When students do this, they do not actually learn the