Is Technology Distraction Really Hurting Students in the Classroom?
Technology can distract and sidetrack — but when it’s done right, it can also be an educational boost.
Most of us are glued to our screens nowadays — even you! According to Nielson’s 2018 Audience Report, the average American adult spends about eleven hours of the day consuming digital media.
Nowadays, technology is everywhere, including in the hands of our children. So the question on so many parents’ and educators’ minds is: does it belong in the classroom?
We all know the usual concept of devices in class; a student pulls out their phone discreetly under their desk to text or browse the web. They’re actively distracting themselves from class and using their device to do it — but does that make the tech a distraction in itself?
Though easy to blame, technology is only a facet of the problem; conversely, the problem itself is a single facet of technology in the classroom. The omnipresence of tech doesn’t have to be a problem to crack down on — instead, it can be a tool for better education and even better mindsets.
Concerns and presumptions
The concept of educational technology is nothing new, but we often find ourselves flinching from the concept. We can’t forget the frustrating scenarios of students completely checking out when they have access to a screen, ignoring class in favor of messaging a friend.
Hate to break it to you, but many of these concerns are a bit old fashioned. But still, they are valid worries to have, which only makes it all the more important that we understand them.
Technology damages social skills
It’s the classic concern that we’ve all had or heard: the constant use of technology to communicate is detrimental to young peoples’ abilities to interact in person. Seeing three people sitting together at a table, all on their cell phones — are they really together and paying attention to each other?
Keith Hampton, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, has been performing studies that poke holes in that theory. As he and the Pew Research Center have found, socialization isn’t lesser in today’s youth — it’s just different.
Though someone on a laptop may be less likely to chat it up than someone who’s doing nothing, Hampton points out that these behaviors are not isolating. These people aren’t alone; they’re interacting with an entire diverse community. The numbers say no different; he found that those who use social media more than once a day reported having 9 percent more close relationships than non-users.
“We found that the types of things that they are doing online often look a lot like political engagement, sharing information and having discussions about important matters,” he says. His data backs it up, with social media users clocking in at 43 percent more likely to plan on voting.
People can’t multitask
It’s assumed that when digital devices get involved at school, students aren’t going to stay on task. Surely they’ll have something else pulled up if they have the chance, and then they won’t focus on their work.
On one hand, it’s a bit presumptuous to say that technology equals multitasking. Still, let’s assume that this is the case — if a student is given a computer, they will try to multitask while doing their work. Reports within the last decade or so have firmly stated that humans are unable to multitask; we simply aren’t wired to. They’ll multitask, get distracted, and not do their work as well as they could have.
Here’s the catch: it’s true that we can’t really, wholly focus on more than one thing at a time. Instead, we rapidly shift focus between different things in our awareness — a shift that can cost you a bit of time (and, supposedly, efficiency).
But does this really mean you can’t “multitask?” Or, as phrased in a piece published by The Atlantic, “rapid-fire-single-task.”
The truth is that multitasking may mean not finishing one task quite as quickly, but could also mean completing more tasks at a time. For others, their performance is actually heightened by a multitude of stimuli.
The BBC cites a 2015 study by the University of Florida as an example. People cycled on an exercise bike for a while, then later performed cognitive tests whilst riding again. They then took similar tests while sitting down and honing their focus. The results: while solving mental problems, subjects not only pedaled 25 percent faster but also performed just as well on the tests. Due to the extreme difference in the two tasks, their performances actually improved!
Ultimately, the ability to multitask is up to the individual. The potential split-second cost could be disastrous in a situation like driving, but when it comes to personal productivity, the benefits may be worth it.
The possibilities are endless!
Education has just as much to gain from technology as the rest of the world. Every market and industry is developing into something entirely new, and how we teach our children should be no different.
Sure, there are kinks we’ll have to work out first — but just think of what could come next! Stanford Graduate School of Education has described how well-implemented technology is undeniably effective in closing achievement gaps between students. The report, written by Professors Linda Darling-Hammond and Shelley Goldman with doctoral student Molly B. Zielezinski, describes in-depth how the right blend of teachers and tech can change lives for at-risk students.
Educational applications and adaptive learning are beneficial for anyone. For students with disabilities, though, it can mean a level of accessibility they’d never have otherwise; from text-to-speech to artificial intelligence.
AI may sound like Iron Man levels of futuristic, but it’s already being utilized in adaptive learning applications like Lalilo. These programs engage individual students by registering what they best react to or what needs some work, and altering exercises and approaches accordingly. Futuristic, perhaps — but believe it or not, we are in the future.
Tech in practice
Technology is an incredible, boundless tool for education, from organizational tools for teachers to learning apps for students. It’s possible for it to go awry, and perhaps you find the risk unnecessary, but that risk isn’t in the technology itself. Rather, it’s in the learning model that incorporates it. Just like any tool, it’s about knowing how to use it.
Harvard’s David Dockterman recounted that when the blackboard first came about in American colleges, schoolhouses tried to implement it in the same way. Due to the era’s model of education — one teacher rotating between students in a one-room schoolhouse — the blackboards were impractical and unused. It was only after the public education system changed to a more lecture-like model that the blackboard became a staple.
What matters isn’t the tech or the tool (because tech is just a tool); it’s the model it’s implemented in. And just how such a model can develop may blow your mind.
How it’s done
In international education assessments, Singapore has dominated for decades. Their centralized education system has helped the now-famously advanced nation rise from their independence in 1965. How they got here was through seemingly-infallible foresight.
In the 90s, the Ministry of Education initiated the first phase of its long-term technology plan. After spending years building infrastructure in schools, they moved on to phases two and three: training teachers to properly use these new tools and selecting schools that would beta-test newer innovations.
Now, learning culture has developed in such a way that tech brings students together to collaborate, rather than separate them. When they aren’t actively using their computers for exercises, students ignore the devices entirely in favor of classroom activities.
Principal Ng Chen Kee of Crescent Girls School told the Hechinger Report, “The technology just fades away, and that’s what we hope for it to do.”
With over two decades of strategy, Singaporean schools strike a careful balance: one of fun and learning, individuality and teamwork, digital and traditional. Even still, they consider themselves a work in progress. Officials are currently focusing on incorporating soft skills like collaboration and confidence into the curriculum, hoping to move beyond the culture of high-pressure standardization that’s prevalent in many Asian countries.
In a way, they’re the perfect image of the three core principles of educational technology described in the report from Stanford: interactive learning, explore and create rather than “drill and kill,” and a perfect blend of teachers and technology. It sounds to us like they might just be on to something!
It’s not the tech — it’s what you do with it
It’s vital to remember that the gap between this generation and the previous one is massive. To today’s students, technology is simply a part of life. It’s their connection to the entire world. To remove them from it for six hours every day is only an avoidance of something we don’t understand.
Yes, there are ups and downs; there’ll be troubleshooting, problems to work out. We can’t become Singapore overnight — Singapore itself didn’t become Singapore overnight! But we can see by their progress that technology isn’t inherently harmful.
Ultimately, it’s up to the user whether they benefit from the device or let it distract them. That isn’t something we can control. But by teaching young students to view technology as a tool rather than a toy, we can hopefully decrease the likelihood of future misuse.
The road to a tech-savvy education model is probably a long one, so start slowly and start now. Gather your resources, get other teachers and officials on board. Begin with implementing tools on your end, and then move on to introducing some digital learning. You can start with something like Lalilo to test the waters; it can be used at school or at home, it tracks student progress, and you can sign your class up today for free. Literacy is only the beginning — from there, who knows where you’ll go?
Our world is changing, and so is how our kids view it. It’s about time we change along with them.
