Technology and Distractability

This week’s article summary is Smart Phones Don't Make Us Dumb by Daniel Willingham. 

Both our professional and personal lives are surrounded by the ubiquity of technology. 

There are benefits and detriments in any new technology.

As a veteran (sounds better than old) educator, I have seen schools go from no-tech to low-tech to high-tech.

The same is true for my personal life: I now do the majority of my reading on an iPad, use my big screen TV to stream Netflix and Amazon Prime movies, and at night keep (perhaps foolishly) my smart phone next to my bed.

While instant access to information is great, as the article states, it’s the availability of something more enticing and interesting that distracts us--and our students.

Using an iPad to read, I have found that if a book, article, etc. doesn’t catch my attention quickly, I move onto something else.

The article closes by reminding us as educators to make sure we create no-tech times for our students so they have the opportunity to reflect.

At three different times in my life—as a student, teacher, and administrator—I attended and worked in a Quaker school where we had a weekly Quaker meeting of silent mediation. The 18^th century Meeting House was plain and austere (wooden benches with no cushions) to minimize distractions. I learned to meditate (albeit in a hyper manner befitting my age and personality) and reflect on who I was, what I wanted to become, the good and bad decisions I made, etc.

Reading this article was a reminder to me that while technology is a positive in so many ways, we all need to find the time for no-tech activities. 

Maybe I’ll start by not having the iPhone by my bed at night.

Joe

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We all hear the often-voiced concern that electronic devices are destroying people’s attention spans.

This sounds logical, given the quick-quick style of links, apps, and games, but people today are just as able to maintain focus and keep several things in mind as people 50 years ago.

A true rewiring of brain circuitry takes place over evolutionary time, not because of a smartphone.

So why did 90% of teachers say (in a 2012 Pew survey) that students can’t pay attention the way they could a few years ago? Why does it feel like our attention spans are shrinking?

It may be that digital devices have not left us unable to pay attention, but have made us unwilling to do so.

The digital world carries the promise of amusement that is constant, immediate, and limitless. If a YouTube video isn’t funny in the first 10 seconds, why watch it? The Internet hasn’t shortened my attention span, but it has fixed a persistent thought in the back of my mind: Isn’t there something better to do than what I’m doing?

Another way of framing the problem is that we’re always on high alert. One experiment found that people do worse at paying attention when a cellphone is merely sitting within view. Another experiment in a driving simulator found that people were more likely to hit a pedestrian when their cellphone rang, even if they’d decided in advance they wouldn’t answer it.

Neuroscientists have identified two systems of attention and associated thought. One is directed outward, as when you scroll through your e-mail or play Candy Crush. The other is directed inward, as when you daydream, plan what you’ll do tomorrow, or reflect on the past.

Digital activities direct us outward, and since the two modes toggle with each other (when one is on, the other is off), spending lots of time with devices means we spend less time reflecting.

The trick is balancing the two modes of thought – making time for deeper thinking by putting our devices in another room, but also knowing when it’s time for more outward-directed activities and tuning in the wider world.