Distraction, Distraction, Distrac...

Note: This post is in response to ESC407 Week 11 Module 9 Blog 3

One of the biggest threats to the use of technology in the classroom is the belief that students will be distracted by their devices and learning outcomes will be affected. This results in the banning of devices in the classroom (Johnson, 2012). Is technology a distraction? I would certainly argue that it can be, and that there are certainly times when it is appropriate that its use be banned but I would most definitely argue against a blanket ban via a school policy or similar. And what counts as technology anyway? Should we ban the use of a pencil or pen as well? Again, there are times and places where we should. Would you allow a student to sit down in a sports lesson and write an essay?

When we teach, we use different tools in different ways for each lesson. We might ask students to open a textbook or a novel, take notes, watch a video or paint a picture. Technology can be thought of in the same way – just another tool (or indeed an incredible array of tools) for the teacher’s toolbelt. Just as you can say “pens down” you can say “close devices” for one lesson and ask students to use their devices to interact with each other during another. Johnson (2012) suggests that technology is not going to go away so rather than banning it, we use its potential to enhance lessons, even going so far as to say that we should not ban the use of the internet at school for non-academic purposes. We must still use classroom management skills to ensure that learning is taking place when it needs to which Johnson suggests may be as simple as walking around the classroom. I do think that, as teachers it is our job to manage the use of technology with our students. There is some evidence that at a university level, laptop use negatively affects results (Ravizza, Uitvlugt, & Fenn, 2016) so I feel it is important to teach students the skill of “switching off” when necessary and about the impacts technology could have on their lives.

Ultimately students have always had the potential to be distracted from what they’re supposed to be doing. As educators it is our job to engage students in lessons such that they want to be there and they’re keen to learn.

References

Johnson, D. (2012). Managing disruptive technologies in the classroom The classroom teacher's technology survival guide (pp. 137-148). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ravizza, S. M., Uitvlugt, M. G., & Fenn, K. M. (2016). Logged in and zoned out. Psychological Science, 28(2), 171-180. doi:10.1177/0956797616677314