Welcome to the Age of Distraction, where we will explore ways to find healthier, more balanced ways to live and learn with technology.
Hello! My name is Bill Belsey. I am a Canadian classroom teacher who has long been an early adopter of technology to support teaching and learning. While I have enjoyed much excitement and success throughout my professional learning journey using technology, I believe that we should always be willing and able to step back and question our teaching practice. In my own case, I am re-examining the use of technology with my students. The way we use technology as learners ourselves should be also questioned. By questioning, we will grow our professional practice and ultimately better support our students and their learning.
The basic principles that will guide this resource are:
- QUESTION: current technology uses in education
- CURATE: find emerging research that examines the ways technology use impacts learners and learning
- REFLECT: share insights about how emerging research relates to what teachers are experiencing as they work with students
- INFORM: present this information and related insights online and through in-person presentations to support fellow educators and help them develop their own best teaching practices
Related Articles:
- Learning In The Age Of Digital Distraction, by Eric Westervelt
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/05/498477634/learning-in-the-age-of-digital-distraction - Should You Allow Laptops in Class? Here’s What the Latest Study Adds to That Debate https://www.chronicle.com/article/Should-You-Allow-Laptops-in/245625/
- Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction.
https://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech004.shtml - How Much Screen Time is Too Much for Kids? It’s Complicated. It’s not about Screen TIME, it’s about quality of tech use.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/31/how-much-screen-time-is-too-much-for-kids-parents-advice-children-digital-media - Why technology is addictive and what to do about it.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-may-15-2017-1.4112604/why-technology-is-addictive-and-what-to-do-about-it-1.4112606 - Worried About Screen Time? Don`t Let Your Kids Go It Alone,
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/01/04/505468990/worried-about-screen-time-don-t-let-kids-go-it-alone - Screen Time Reality Check for Kids and Parents,
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/12/26/505905246/screen-time-reality-check-for-kids-and-parents - Heavy Screen Time Rewires Your Brains for Better and Worse,
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/19/502610055/heavy-screen-time-rewires-young-brains-for-better-and-worse - No Snapchat in the Bedroom? An Online Tool to Manage Kids’ Media Use,
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/21/498706789/no-snapchat-in-the-bedroom-an-online-tool-to-manage-kids-media-use - Trying to Get Kids to Put down Those Phones? Here’s Help,
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/14/493919532/trying-to-get-the-kids-to-put-down-those-phones-heres-help - Technology is Changing the Millennial Brain, http://publicsource.org/investigations/technology-changing-millennial-brain#.WGhcz_krJhE
- Does Multi-tasking Affect Our Academic Performance? https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa16/2016/10/19/does-multi-tasking-affect-our-acedemic-performance/
- Is Multitasking Bad for Your Brain? Experts Reveal the Hidden Perils of Juggling too Many Jobs,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1205669/Is-multi-tasking-bad-brain-Experts-reveal-hidden-perils-juggling-jobs.html - How Today’s Computers Weaken Our Brain, by Tim Wu, http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/how-todays-computers-weaken-our-brain
- Why Your Favourite Apps are Designed to Addict You, http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/15708/addicting-apps-mobile-technology-health/
- The Student Cellphone Addiction is No Joke, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/04/27/the-student-cellphone-addiction-is-no-joke.html
- genM: The Multitasking Generation -Time Magazine, http://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1174696,00.html
- Report: Wearable Devices Expected to Become Mainstream in Education in Next 4-5 Years, http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2016-nmc-cosn-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf
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Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain by Kevin Roose, technology writer for the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html
Related Research:
- Communication: Technology, Distraction & Student Performance by Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy -May 2015 http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1350.pdf Comment: “Well that proves it then – banning 21st-century technology improves 19th-century school exams. Who knew?”
- Hamilton, Jon. “Think You’re Multitasking? Think Again.” NPR Research News, National Public Radio, 2 Oct. 2008, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794 .
- “The relationship between multitasking and academic performance.” Elsevier, vol. 2, no. 52, Sept. 2012, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013151100340X . Accessed 18 Oct. 2016.
- Weimer, Maryellen. “Students Think They Can Multitask. Here’s Proof They Can’t.” Colorado State University, http://old.biz.colostate.edu/mti/tips/pages/Students-Think-They-Can-Multitask—Here’s-Proof-They-Can’t.aspx
- Ellis, Y., Daniels, W. and Jauregui, A. (2010). The effect of multitasking on the grade performance of business students. Research in Higher Education Journal, 8 http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10498.pdf
- Kraushaar, J. M. and Novak, D. C. (2010). Examining the effects of student multitasking with laptops during lecture. Journal of Information Systems Education, 21 (2), 241-251.
- Bowman, L. L., Levine, L. E., Waite, B. M. and Dendron, M. (2010). Can students really multitask? An experimental study of instant messaging while reading. Computers & Education, 54, 927-931.
- Barak, L. (2012). Multitasking in the university classroom. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6 (2) http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v6n2.html
- Fried, C. B. (2008). In-class laptop use and its effects on student learning. Computers and Education, 50 (3), 906-914.
- Hembrooke, Helene and Gay, Geri The Laptop and the Lecture: The Effects of Multitasking in Learning Environments, Human Computer Interaction Laboratory Cornell University. http://www.ugr.es/~victorhs/gbd/docs/10.1.1.9.9018.pdf
- Brain scans reveal ‘gray matter’ differences in media multitaskers, https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-09/uos-bsr092314.php
- Multitasking: Switching costs -American Psychological Association, http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx
- Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin: The Impact of Task Juggling on Workers’ Speed of Job Completion, Decio Coviello, Andrea Ichino, Nicola Persico NBER Working Paper No. 16502 http://www.nber.org/papers/w16502
- You’ll Never Learn! Students can’t resist multitasking, and it’s impairing their memory. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.html
- Dopamine: the Cause of Digital Addiction? By Dr. Sarah McKay, http://yourbrainhealth.com.au/dopamine-cause-digital-addiction
Related Videos:
- How Social Media is Affecting Teens, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QWoP6jJG3k
- CBC Nature of Things Surviving The Teenage Brain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNOYSO69DE
- How Social Media Is Rewiring Our Brains, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkMh6xdJNeM
- Five Crazy Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain Right Now, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HffWFd_6bJ0
- Is Your Phone Changing You? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6CBb3yX9Zs
- Teen Brain HD by Teen Mental Health.org, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGdlpaWi3rc
- The Teenage Brain Explained by the Science Show, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiduiTq1ei8
- Sherry Turkle -TED Talk (edited), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI7wkzjM7uo
- Look Up -spoken word by Gary Turk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY
- Can We Auto-Correct Humanity? Spoken word by Prince EA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ
- I Forgot My Phone, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8
- The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High Tech World, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkesEzSn1zI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiANn5PZ4BI
- 23 ½ Hours, What is the Best Single Thing We Can Do For our Health? By Dr. Mike Evans, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo
- Cell Phones, Dopamine, and Development: Barbara Jennings at TEDxABQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGZvNbfrNag
Related Books:
- Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle, https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Together-Expect-Technology-Other/dp/0465031463
- The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High Tech World, by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen. https://mitpress.mit.edu/distracted