I don't use Twitter and it isn't something that I have ever felt drawn to. I think once, at a Google Summit quite a few years ago, I joined and posted something inane in an attempt to win a prize. I didn't win anything, so having served a very limited purpose I then discarded it. I noticed that throughout the conference the audience seemed to be so engrossed in tapping away on their devices, mostly phones, furiously tweeting, that I wondered how they could be focusing on the presenter and the content. It is common now to see similar things happening in different contexts - meetings where we do a quick Google search to clarify something, send a message, an email or invitation because something has jogged our memory, look up a reference or use the chat feature while someone communicates with us. I do it - except for the chat feature.
We all joke about our abilities to multi-task. I think I'm pretty good at multi-tasking, honed through parenting four children, full time teaching and now as principal in a large school. Why is it then, that I feel distracted by the chat line when I'm on a Hangout or Zoom? It feels sometimes like the undercurrent talk that occurs in a live audience situation, mildly irritating and even disrespectful to the person presenting.
As we work through these unusual times, relying on media such as Hangouts and Zoom for communicating, what is the impact on our cognitive functions as we combine listening and viewing, with reading and writing through chat options simultaneously? I wonder whether we are losing the ability to truly focus and listen. Can we be fully present, hear the whole messages and thought processes of those sharing, if we are dipping in and out of multiple conversations?
I see similar practices in our use of social media like Facebook or other online media. We flip from one focus to another, diverging from our initial interest to follow other links or posts , until sometimes we forget what our first purpose was. Dr Cal Newport describes this as "fragmented attention". He maintains it interferes with our productivity. Our fragmented attention prevents us from fully engaging.
In classrooms we use strategies to ensure that children's attention is fully focused on the teacher when information is shared or feedback is provided to promote learning, so that their attention is drawn away from their device at important times. As adult learners it is our own self-management, rather than the direction of others, that impacts on our capacity to focus, to be fully present. We develop habits that may not be helpful or reduce our productivity. Are we really as proficient as we think we are? Could we be kinder to ourselves by attending to less stimuli?
I had an episode of fragmented concentration this week. I arrived home from school in the early evening to find I had left half the house unlocked in the morning, the lights on and my dog inside. Fortunately my 10 year old dog hadn't left any puddles, or not that I've found, and was very grateful to get outside. Perhaps my brain would benefit from more single focus activities.
Hello Sue,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that we need to learn to manage ourselves and to make the tech work for us rather than we work for the tech. My understanding of multi-tasking is that we can, even women, only focus on one thing at a time. What multi-taskers are good at is switching quickly from one task to another and back again.
Cal Newport is almost suggesting that social media is causal to the fragmented attention and therefore mental health decline. He might have a point. I guess my wondering is do we learn how to manage social media use positively and teach our young people to do this or do we ditch it altogether?
Ngā mihi nui,
Maria
Kia ora Maria. I think, like all things, social media, can serve us positively when it is used purposely. We bring an awareness to written text by teaching students critical literacy. Perhaps we need to be apply the same to social media literacy. Maybe easier said than done though. Gaming is designed to be addictive, with specific techniques to sustain the players. Social media relies on the individual's need for validation. If people understand these things then perhaps they can be more discerning in their use and be more conscious of the impact to avoid the stresses of fragmented attention.
ReplyDeleteKia ora Sue,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting topic. In the process of trying to read this I have been distracted and interrupted a number of times. Some of this is because other people have questions for me related to my role and some of it was simply because I was working in a staffroom where other people are engaging in conversation. On top of this, my viber has been dinging. Demands for our attention are everywhere and I hate that.
I really like the concept of 'fractured attention'. I think it sums up exactly what we all contend with daily. I've also recently come across the idea of 'mental load', which is something apparently women carry, the idea being we mentally carry all the things that need doing for our home, job, families etc. Combine that with our fractured attention and I'm not surprised mental health is a growing issue.
I think the question is how to we manage it for ourselves and model it for our tamariki (our own and our students)? I know that certain tools are allowing me to control my time on social media and finding time in my week to rest is giving me space back. Easy said then done though.
Thank you for the challenging and thoughtful blog post. A week on from writing this how do you feel about it now?
Ngā mihi,
Sharon
Thanks for feeding back Sharon. Following this blog I became more conscious of not allowing myself to be distracted. I had turned the sound off on my phone and watch, and had resisted responding to the vibration on my watch. I knew from the vibration that there were messages or emails there to check but I mangaged in most cases to carry on. I tried not to surf when reading online material.
ReplyDeleteThen on Monday night, after the dinner with CPPA collegues in Hanmer, my watch alerted me to a text message. Thinking it was a family member I checked. Bad decision - it was a message about a school issue and subsequently a bad night's sleep.
My brother tells a great story about his early working days. He worked for a governement department. In those days there were pools of stenographers and typists. Letters were dictated to the secretaries, typed up, signed and then posted. This process may have taken a day or more. A return response could take anything up to a week or longer. If something important needed attention a request to send a telegram could be made and was granted sometimes. On rare occasions, when the matter was urgent, special permission was given to make a toll call. My brother describes the slow pace of work during this time. Then faxes came on the scene followed by the first cell phones and with each technology change the pace of work increased. The amount of work, the fast turn around and the expectation now that a response will be instantaneous has created the intensity we work at. The constant 'on' we experience is a stress that is harmful, and no matter how hard we try, it is often diffcult to avoid.