How is everyone doing? I know the semester is getting long and we still have alot of assignments due (I had a dream about my text analysis last night - yikes!). Hang in there and stay strong. We have almost made it through our second semester of the MAC program!
In my last blog entry, I mentioned the edublogger Joel's site. I have been looking around that site more this past month and he has an interesting post called "Multitasking Virus In Our Classrooms". The link is
http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/multitasking-virus-in-our-classrooms/
I found this article fascinating and thought provoking having witnessed the plethora of multitasking that goes on in our MAC classes alone. Take a peek when you get the chance and see what you think...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
But do you think any of these forms of multitasking can compare to the demands of being a mom? Just wondering...I've had people tell me being a teacher is good practice. Almost Thanksgiving!!!! Enjoy.
That's really interesting, Cristi, and is right on one of the topics we addressed in yesterday's class. I share Joel's perspective...when talking about myself. My mind tends to jump around, and if I'm not careful I can have four e-mails going even as I'm ostensibly reading two different articles. I need to shut the machine down.
But I'm not so sure about this generation...my daughter seems to thrive on juggling multiple tasks. How about your kids? What do you think??
I tend to agree with this study. In my school students always want to listen to music while they study, but I am not really sure this is helpful. I have to tell the students they cannot have it so loud that I can hear the lyrics because then I cannot think to teach. However, I am always trying to do two things at once now that I have a laptop. In addition, while I take notes on my laptop I don't read over them like I do with my paper notes. I think this may be a generational thing.
Hi Cristi
Great post! Lost of food for thought. After reading the blog post, I wonder if the Multitasking virus means teachers need to change the approach that they are taking? Maybe lecturing everyday day while students are idle is not the best options for 21st Century students? I wonder if there is a way we can embrace the multitasking mind and put them to good use? One idea could be creating more interactive lectures and activities (such as having a running chat with questions,polls, surveys, and other activities).
There are some other studies that dispute the one cited in the article. One is a major study by the Kaiser Family Foundation where they found that multi-tasking did not have any effect on student achievement, and in some cases had a positive effect. I tend to think that everyone has their own unique learning style. For myself, I need lots of activity/noise to focus (so I would never study in a library, rather I go to malls and busy places). While my husband needs absolute silence to focus.
Great article! Ironically, I read it while on my laptop in my psych cognate, and realized that while I was reading I was not picking up anything from the professor. In my opinion, which is not backed up by any credible studies, multi-tasking has its place. Like Liz and Jeff already commented, people now can do five things at once and not break a sweat, or they need busy (non-classroom-like) surroundings to concentrate. But I feel that those other tasks should take a back seat when an individual's first priority is learning or absorbing information - one of those tasks is going to suffer, and for some reason I expect it to be the academics.
Post a Comment