One of the challenges with university teaching in the 21st century is that the students all have laptops and phones. Laptops, especially, can be invaluable tools for study. Yet, they can also be major distractions. Try and have a discussion when students have their laptops up. It often is pretty disheartening. Occasionally students will tell you they need their laptops, and they are great multitaskers. But do computers distract us? Of course they do. Students may be great multitaskers, but they aren’t learning much if they are multitasking between Tik-Tok and texting their friends.
Do Computers Distract Us? Of Course They Do
It is very possible that I am just being an old man trying to keep things like they were when I was in my prime. One way of rejecting this argument is that I’m not sure I ever had a prime. The advantage of not being athletic is that there isn’t far to fall as you get older. Another point is that I wasn’t a fan of the old ways. Let’s just say the fact that fountain pens were clearly stupid encouraged me to refuse to learn to hold one the right way and ink mess was a defining feature of my childhood.
More importantly there is research which looks at the topic of whether computers distract. Kaitlyn May and Anastasia Elder reviewed the literature on the topic. It is relatively simple to summarize. Students demonstrate less learning when they have their laptops up.
Because most technological mediums serve as a gateway to both productive and unproductive tasks, students are likely to engage in both over the course of a class period and struggle to resist temptation. These distractions prevent processing and learning of material.
May and Elder, 2018, page 7
Do Computers Distract Other Students? Of Course They Do
You can make the argument that students hindering their own education is up to them. That said, a major advantage of a classroom, as opposed to an asynchronous set of videos or similar, is the interaction. When a student comes to class they should ideally be aiding the learning of their colleagues. They do this positively by joining in discussions.
Students can also harm their peers’ learning. This is especially serious as the peers whose learning is being reduced don’t get a choice in the matter.
Distractions due to movement of images and laptop screen lighting, as well as multitasking activities, may cause involuntary shifts of attention among students in close proximity to laptop users. Thus, proximity to a multitasker—and not solely active multitasking—can be detrimental to academic performance.
May and Elder, 2018, page 8
It isn’t just the students with the laptops whose performance is impacted. That matters a lot to me. You don’t have the right to distract others.
We Don’t Have Perfect Self Control
Students often seem to know their multitasking habits are bad for them.
Although students recognize potential negative impact of multitasking with media, they continue to do it.
May and Elder, 2018, page 10
Simple Conclusion
Do computers distract us? Of course they do. The problem isn’t just one we can let students make their own choices on. This is because A) sometimes humans need help to focus, and B) students who use their laptops in class hurt their colleagues.
For more on universities see University Pricing, Cancel Culture And Being Better, Academic Life In The 18th Century, Signaling And Education, Credit Hours, Outcomes, Academic Missions And School Brand, Curse Of Knowledge: Academic Edition, Education Technology: The Blackboard, and Why Would You Go Test Optional?
Read: Kaitlyn E. May and Anastasia D. Elder (2018) “Efficient, helpful, or distracting? A literature review of media multitasking in relation to academic performance.” International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education 15 (1) 1-17.
