Multitasking

Chapter eight of John Santrock’s book Educational Psychology focuses on how students learn and the various aspects of learning such as attention and memory. It also touches on the increasing trend of divided attention in adolescents due to the availability of electronic media. While looking for an article for my critical review of a scholarly journal, I stumbled upon one that dealt with this very issue, and in fact used it for my review. The article is entitled “Mastering Multitasking” and is found in the journal Educational Leadership. The journal I found focuses on the distractions students face as a result of technology. A person can be connected to a wealth of information at the press of a button through the Internet as well as through cell phones. As a result, today’s students juggle these various distractions through multitasking. The article claims that multitasking can cause inefficient learning as studies show students require 50% additional time to complete an assignment while performing other tasks such as instant messaging. Studies have also shown that multitasking can lead to superficial learning. It advises that teachers teach students through examples how their learning is affected by multitasking and encourage students to create strategies for more efficient, focused learning.

I found this article extremely interesting as I can relate, myself being a student bombarded with technological distractions. In my own experiences, I have found that I am the most productive and efficient when doing homework in a setting removed from areas with computers, thereby decreasing my temptation to check my e-mail or look things up on the Internet. Through experience and the frustration of several hours spent distractedly trying to complete an assignment that should have taken a fraction of the time, I have devised my own method for decreasing my amount of multitasking.