Great article! I will say that I too struggle with this idea of whether to have laptops be present in the classroom or not. I struggle because it was only in graduate school did I value typing my notes on my laptop, before then, I was old school and a pen and paper note taker. Now though, I do agree with you, it is up to the student to choose what is best for them.

Nice post! I do agree with you. Sometimes it is easier said than done and I think that applies to multi tasking as a whole and as an idea. It is unfortunate that all the responsibilities we have do not allow us the time to figure out a system that is efficient for our time.

Wonderful! This reminds me of the path I took too with multitasking. I like the idea of focusing on one tasks at a time. It allows you to be more efficient with that particular task. I know I would feel proud of myself if I used this approach.

This is one of the most beautiful posts I’ve read. Today is a day when I really needed to think about processes rather than outcomes. And reading this reflection reminded me to breathe and let go of some things. So thank you for sharing this with us. And I’m ever so envious of the students who will be experiencing your diversity statement in the years to come.

Hi Kathryn! I can relate to the challenges of writing a statement like this… I am working on one, but I am by no means ready to share it! (Which is why I wrote on multitasking this week! Ha!) You may be critical of yourself because we tend to be harsh on ourselves by nature– but I am impressed, as always, with your ability to articulate your thoughts in such a beautiful way. Your statement was concise and lovely. You point directly to the issues and then offer yourself in a humble way. It is obvious that you love people, that you are an educator, and that you are a philosopher. It is so genuine. I can’t help but admire you more when I read this. Thank you for sharing your work.

There is a line of thinking in educational psychology and in pedagogy studies that teaching students to focus on what they know and do well will be more productive than focusing on correcting errors or deficiencies. In my classrooms, I have often used this line of reasoning with students who tend to dwell on their inabilities rather than capitalize on their strengths.
After reading your post – and about Bezos’ philosophy about focusing on strengths – it reminded me of a man I once heard talk about his learning math conceptually when in middle school. He talked about not having to ‘worry’ about arithmetic and instead focusing on the ‘way’ mathematical concepts worked and how it seemed to liberate everyone from always thinking about how to get the right answer, and instead focus on what understanding the concept(s) could help them do/figure out.
I wonder: if we (humans) had a perception of what access to the technology could help them do better or learn more of, instead of thinking how it could fill their immediate needs for attention and gratification if we could improve productivity overall?
Thanks for the rundown, Sofia. It is illuminating.

Digital distractions are like double-edge sword, even myself will constantly check my phone for incoming emails and/or messages. Still, I prefer keeping the classroom setting simple and trying not to use too many technologies except PPT slides, if I’m the instructor. I took the communicating science class, and any digital devices were not allowed. The instructor just let us sit in one circle and talked to us in person without PPT slides. The class environment was quite inviting, and we were all engaged in this class actively throughout the 3 hours.

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I feel you’ve hit the hammer right on the head. I will argue that being engaged with the “outside world” is a great thing, but I feel that a line has to be drawn somewhere. Did we not have distractions before cell phones? We clearly did. Did some of us (including me) not phase out in our classrooms? I definitely did. But I would always constrain myself beyond a certain point. If I phased out in the last class, I would try to make it a point to listen to atleast half of the lecture before I allowed my attention to wander away. Maybe we are simply losing self control.

It is interesting that people spend an hour or more watching a movie but seem to have a hard time doing the same thing in a class. I guess my thoughts would be that I can’t really compete with movies – their high budget lighting, stunts, plots, aesthetics. I’m also not sure I want to be a performer so students will listen to me. Perhaps some teachers are good performers but they probably don’t see themselves as performers. They probably are passionate and knowledgeable about what they teach and it shows in their presentation.

Hey Zhulin! Thanks for reading and commenting on my post this week. I really appreciate the feedback. You make a nice distinction between good and bad interruptions and switching attention. I like to think that when I multitask or break my concentration that it’s not just because I’m unable to hold onto a thought or focus on a task! I agree with you about the aimlessly picking up of a phone–the habit of being tempted away from real life for the sweet fix of a social media check-in. It is a bad habit that even I have had trouble with! I am better about it now, but I have been guilty of the circumstance that you are describing and I’m ashamed of that.

I really appreciate the iPhone tip. I had no idea there was a setting that would do that. I’m definitely going to use that from now on. It seems like a really healthy compromise to the issue. I have long distance connections I would hate to lose (mostly family and loved ones who update with pictures of their children and I really love to see those.) Thank you for sharing! ?