It’s hard not to notice the connection of today’s youth to technology.
Fused to their smartphones around the clock, they prefer screens to paper and text message to speech; they consider leaving voicemail an act of interpersonal aggression.
They seem to focus differently too: skimming and sampling their way through multiple streams of data, they look like they’re taking it in all at once.
Some educators call them “digital natives,” reflecting the idea that tech is at the core of who they are and how they function.
If living with technology really has rewired this generation for multitasking, what implications does this have for how we educate them? Should we tolerate—or maybe even encourage—mobile devices in class? And should we worry when we see students keeping an eye on social media or other diversions while doing homework?
Why Attention Matters for Learning
As a professor who specializes in course design, I deal with these questions frequently as I help fellow faculty devise better strategies. In this work, I draw on my research background in cognitive psychology, a specialization focusing on mental processes such as reasoning, memory and attention.
Of those processes, attention is one that I tell teachers to be particularly attuned to. Research shows that memory—especially working memory, which holds information we’re using in the present moment—is deeply intertwined with attention.
Without sustained focus, we retain surprisingly little, and that window of focus is much narrower than we may realize.
