Multitasking and its Effect on Learning
It is clear from reading Annie Paul's essay "Media multi-taskers are 'deluded'" that the current generation of students is seriously endangered by students' propensity to multitask while learning. Annie demonstrates how, after fifteen minutes of entering the classroom, students today are diverting their focus from crucial coursework tasks to checking their Facebook feeds or sending texts. As a result, pupils focus on academic tasks for around 65 percent of the time they are in class, under supervision. It is also astonishing how well-versed pupils are at multitasking, even when they are aware that someone is monitoring them. In fact, the article reveals that students cannot stay for fifteen minutes without engaging their phones, tablets, or computers.
The Shallow Learning Effect of Multitasking
From the article, it is evident that attending to multiple information flows and entertainment while learning, sitting in class, or doing homework has become a normal behavior among the youth. In fact, the habit has become so common that some students can hardly complete or write the simplest assignment or paper. According to evidence from cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience, when students engage in multitasking while studying, the learning process becomes shallower than if they concentrated fully. That is because multitasking makes students understand little and remember less. Besides, multitasking makes it difficult for students to transfer what they have learned to new contexts.
Difficulty in Distinguishing Approved and Illegal Device Usage
From the article, I think the admission of laptops, cellphones, tablets, and other digital devices into classrooms makes it difficult differentiate between their approved and illegal uses by the students. According to the article, emailing, texting, and posting on Facebook and related social sites form the most common activates students engage in while studying. It, therefore, poses a great problem in the learning process since such operations utilize the same mental resources required by schoolwork.
Detrimental Effects of Multitasking on Learning
In overall, multitasking among students is so detrimental that it may paralyze the learning process in schools if not addressed properly. That is because it is distractive, causes mental fatigue, impairs students' memory, leads to inefficient use of study information, and negatively impacts the students' academic performance.
References
Paul, A. (2013). Media multi-taskers are ‘deluded.’ Winnipeg Free Press, 1-6. Retrieved from https://retsd.mb.ca/school/ra/Documents%20and%20Forms/WFP-MultitaskingAndLearning.pdf
