Is iPad the ultimate classroom distraction?
Ever heard of someone say computers, phones, and gaming devices are a distraction to our students while they’re in class? With technology integrating more and more in tho the classroom new challenges and worries are brought to teachers battling for their students attention. The question is, how do we handle these distractions and how is it different from previous distractions? Here is a student perspective on just such a thing.
My point? No matter what is in front of me, if I lose interest in a lecture or don’t feel like paying attention I will find something to entertain me. It is the student’s responsibility to pay attention and giving them access to technology is not going to change a student’s attention span. It will simply replace passing notes, doodling on desks, and playing paper football. It is up to the teachers to keep us engaged and have us using technology like the iPad in a productive way. At least playing solitaire on my iPad doesn’t destroy school property. =P
What distracts you while your in class? I would love to know. Or if you are a teacher, what do you find distracts your students the most? Please leave a comment!
Daydreaming, mostly. Who needs solitaire or even a pencil and tabletop when you can get lost in your own head?
It is true that students with short attention spans become distracted. However, I think you fail to examine the causes rather than simply the results. What are the social and environmental factors that have contributed to retraction of attentiveness? Clearly, computers provide the sort of mental activities that encourage immediate response and attentiveness that have led to this shortened attenuation.
In addition, you completely fail to address issues of the salience and attractiveness of the distractions. People sit at home and play scrabble. I doubt you know anyone who doodles on their desk at home. For the former, solitaire and other games monopolize a much higher degree of attention. Most people can listen to a lecture and doodle while maintaining comparable levels of retention compared to the absence of reinforcing activities like note-taking. However, the same can not be said for most computer games.
The argument that some students choose not to attenuate or are not capable of it does not lead to the natural conclusion that creating attractive nuances is essentially innocuous.
In student life an ipad is a good resource for gain more and more knowledge if they use it in right way.
I find that the ability to network with others is the biggest distraction in my classrooms. Students become obsessed with checking their facebook accounts or texting one another and it distracts them from doing the class assignment. This is a two edged sword, at the least. Students don’t do social networking by themselves.
As somebody who has had the pleasure of sharing with my son, since he was removed from school in 2002, nine years of 24/7 learning at the speed of thought through electronic media, I don’t hesitate to suggest that it’s only schools and people who go to school who refer to digital learning opportunities as “distractions”.
Texting, whether one is a student or an adult, during a presentation will cause you to miss potentially important information! I often do other things while listening to a presentor but I always continuously assess myself to make sure I am listening as well. I know for sure there are many students who are not so careful about that. But I for one am all for iPads in my classroom!