Distraction vs Academia
Recently in my Technology Specialist Course EEND 676 we have often discussed the benefits and challenges with technology in the classroom. As our society continues to evolve, and technology revolutionizes education in the classroom, we are still met with some thorns on a very beautiful rose.
In my personal opinion, I believe it would be difficult to argue how technology has not helped modern day classrooms. Students are able to connect and collaborate efficiently, they are able to research anything that piques their interest by a click of a button, and are able to have quick, if not, instant feedback.
Conversely, some of the issues that I believe we face when integrating technology in our 21st Century Classrooms would be the abundance of material in the abyss of the Internet that serves more as a distraction, than it does as academic use.
Students today are connected to some form of social media or technological device. Which is extremely distracting, especially for pupils that are beginning to develop into the man or woman they are going to become (I know, that takes years). Yet socially speaking, humans deeply care about the acceptance of their peers and others. Which is why social media is an unfortunate addition. While some schools utilize social media in the classroom, and some schools block particular websites, the walls of the classroom can only permit and prohibit so much. While schools continue to try and enforce policies of internet use, it will prove to be difficult as technology has proven to evolve at an exponential rate.
Additionally, what I believe is another distraction for our students: “click bait” information. They are assigned to research and collaborate on projects, and often do not know what is a credible source of information. But can we blame them? How many adults know how to cite credible information? Just because we read it on the internet, does not make it true (except I really am a French model).
So aside from the social media aspect, children are being flooded with unlimited amount of access to articles and information that may not necessarily be accurate, making it difficult for the student to properly organize and/or create work.
I also feel because students live in such an interactive and globally connected world the amount of information both academically and socially fed to them is overwhelming. According to an article in the Washington Post, it states “Teachers reported that students are distracted constantly. Their memory is highly disorganized. Recent assignments suggest a worsening at analytic reasoning. Further, they wonder if we are creating people who are unable to think well and clearly.”
In view of this, what is your personal opinion? Does the risk of distraction worry you about your students and their academic achievement? Do you think that the benefits of the internet outweigh the potential of distraction? Do you have any suggestions on how educators can combat this reality in and outside our classrooms? We need responsible and focused students to help guide them to achievement but how do we condition a beast already in motion?
Statistical photos found through:
Byland, David. (2016). Journal of Media Education. Licensed under Broadcast Media Association on https://campustechnology.com
Article used:
Porter, Alfonso. (2013, January 28). The Problem with Technology in Schools. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com.
I admit that many times I, myself, have been trapped with on online distractions. I imagine students experiment the same way when they are digitally working on school assignments and conversations go off topic. However, my opinion is that students might get distracted when school assignments are not designed well for them to keep them busy and engaged. Assignments need to be educational as well as just plain fun. If a student’s interest is peaked and the assignment is entertaining, the risk of distraction should be minimal.
ReplyDeleteIn order to make the online assignment engaging to a student, we must:
1. Tailor the on-line assignment to personal preference of the student;
2. Embolden the students to help create an interesting assignment;
3. Make sure school districts support creativity in this situation to encourage the idea of doing entertaining assignments, while differing from preferred delivery, they will still have the same leaning affect as well as delivering the required lesson;
4. Lastly, students need assignments that are meaningful in real life. This is a universally held standard on any task for complete and thorough learning.
Clara, do you have an example of an online assignment that you used following the four criteria? I am interested in your experience of using that criteria in designing a lesson. I am always looking for ways to change and add in things to my classroom.
DeleteLiteracy discussion groups activities and group projects lead students to conduct their own learning through online research, team discussion, creativity and collaboration. Check out the following link to see an example of an online literacy discussion group assignment: Comprehension Focus Circles About El Deafo (https://padlet.com/cprosiliakos/ElDeafo)
DeleteThank you for the link Clara! I definitely love having students have the trust and ability to lead their learning. I will have to try this out on a small scale and see how it works in my room!
DeleteClara,
DeleteI just checked out your example and it looks wonderful. I would like to use the format with a different book. Thank you for sharing!
In an ideal world, the risk of distraction would be minimal, but I don't know how realistic that is... Or maybe I am bias with my demographic of students? I absolutely love and appreciate your suggestions. When you suggest to tailor the online personal preferences for students? Could you provide me an example? I am not sure how I would be able to do that? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried using a Hyperdoc to tailor student experiences? Students with different learning styles can all start off in the same Hyperdoc and it can take them to so many other places with things such as pictures, videos, and articles. It would benefit the students because they can get the learning experience best suited with their learning style.
DeleteWhat I am trying to say is that instruction must be tailored to meet individual needs. Each student learns in different ways and teachers must be aware of their students’ learning styles to adjust their instruction that best suits them. One way that I differentiate instruction is creating comprehension questions on different levels of understandings, or allowing students to answer using a variety tech digital tool features such as writing, drawing or recording their thoughts. Something that really helps me know my students is the reading interest surveys. Through it, I learn their topics of interest and their attitude toward reading then I can plan accordingly.
DeleteClara, I completely agree that students' learning styles are different. I really enjoyed reading how you tailor comprehension questions to students' learning styles. I like how it is used as an onion. You have a goal of the lesson, but there are layers within the lesson that allow you to continue to learn about your students and add more to your understanding of each student in your room.
DeleteWhat is a hyperdoc? I would truly love to learn how to differentiate more using technology with the students I teach. I just realized that voice to text is not used with read, write, google - it is used as a tool with google docs. The read aloud (text to speech) is with read, write, google. I am having difficulty trying to find different ways to reach students who are reading at pre-primmer levels when not using google docs to complete writing assignments.
DeleteI had the same question Nicole! What is hyperdoc? I am definitely going to look at it now. I think that would be a really great tool to utilize with our demographic of students! Thank you Courtney for the suggestion. Courtney have you ran into any frustrations using hyperdoc?
DeleteI am actually going to be presenting on hyperdocs during the October PD. I have not run into a problem yet, but if you are interested in learning more definitely come to the session, we will be making one!
DeleteI definitely feel like there are some individuals out there that put students in front of their devices and then leave them there to fend for themselves. I think that this could definitely create problems within the classroom environment.
ReplyDeleteThe internet can definitely be distracting. Students and even adults are concerned about what is going on with their favorite celebrity when following their tweets. In regards to students on the internet; when the assignment includes safe sites to search the level of distraction is reduced. However, we will always have to be one step ahead of our students because they are very clever individuals and note passing has been kicked up several notches.
ReplyDeleteI refer to students all the time as Sneaky Internet Ninjas all the time! I agree, we definitely need to do our best at keeping a step ahead of them. However, I feel that is an uphill battle and will continue to be an uphill battle. Do you have any suggestions, other than blocking websites--which could be counterproductive in teaching them how to be digital citizens. You have to provide trust to students, in order to truly teach ethics.
DeleteI concur that just blocking websites is counterproductive. I feel it will continually be an uphill battle. Students will always test what they can and cannot - this is just kids being kids. My suggestion is to provide a platform where students can earn trust and continue to inform them about digital citizenship.
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