Focus and attention can be taught in an age of technology

It’s no secret that today’s students must grapple with things that, as adults, we never had to face. The increasingly electronic nature of 21st century life is one of those things.

A recent article by Larry Rosen and published in eSchool News reports that “three-fourths of teens and young adults check their devices every 15 minutes or less, and if not allowed to do so get highly anxious.” I see this behavior every day in the library, where students either have phones in their hands or keep them on their desks or tables, ready to respond at a moment’s notice to that enticing Facebook post, text or tweet.

Unquestionably, an increase not only in electronic devices, but also in the use of electronic means of communication, has changed the way we spend our time. Unfortunately, as many teachers have been noticing in recent years, the increasing prevalence of electronic devices in schools can create some problems.

Electronic device policies in school are problematic. Here at Colony, we try to keep devices out of the classroom in order to increase the amount of time students spend focused on class work. Our policy allows students to text or talk on their phones or listen to music in the commons area at the front of the school before and after school, lunch and during passing time. We try to discourage students from, for example, walking through the halls between classes with earbuds in, as this creates a safety hazard; students who are listening to music at top volume are unable to hear someone in the hall who may be speaking to them and may are not paying attention to where they are walking or what may be happening around them.

At the same time, we recognize that an all-out ban on devices is also not appropriate for our students. As educators, we know that many students prefer to work while listening to music, and within a classroom a teacher may give permission for students to listen to music via iPod or smartphone while they are writing or engaged in an otherwise quiet activity, as long as those around them cannot hear the music.

Additionally, many teachers support the use of electronic devices as a way to enhance our students’ educational experiences. Many teachers use sites such as Edmodo, which is essentially social networking for schools. Students can post assignments, notes and/or ask questions of the teacher or other class members to get help with their work. The school may have insufficient computers in lab settings, so students may use their own devices for research. When the power went out for an extended period of time early in the school year, students and staff used smartphones to tap into the library catalog online so we could find books. Sometimes we lose Internet service for a period of time and often use devices to continue research. The problem, of course, comes in when students may then use that same phone for texting, checking Facebook or doing something else that keeps them from focusing on their work.

In his article, Rosen points out that anxiety is not the only effect in students who are checking those devices every 15 minutes or less. Rosen and a research team, motivated by a survey of more than 2,400 middle and high school teachers of advanced students that concluded “today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans,” conducted observations of 263 middle school, high school and university students studying for a 15-minute period in their homes.

The researchers went to the students’ homes (obviously with their permission and awareness of what was being studied) and noted what the student was doing every minute of the 15-minute period. Results show that the students were only able to remain on task for an average of three to five minutes before becoming distracted, and in every case, the distractions were electronic — phones, text messages or other devices such as an iPad or computer. The most common distractions were texting and checking Facebook. Rosen notes that other studies have given similar results. In an even more startling result, Rosen and his team checked the GPAs of students in their study: those who checked Facebook, even just once in the 15-minute observation period, had lower GPAs than students who did not check Facebook.

Now don’t panic, I’m not going to suggest that Facebook is the root of all evils societal and academic (although I might take that up in another article). If Facebook did not exist there would be another distraction to keep students from focusing. Fortunately, there is some good news: focus and attention can be taught. If we want our students (and ourselves) to improve focus and time on task, we can teach those skills.

One of the most successful tools for improving student behavior — this technique can be used both at school and at home — is what Rosen calls the “technology break.” In a classroom, a teacher can implement this system by having students check their email, Facebook, text messages, etc. for one minute at the beginning of the period. Students are then required to turn the device to silent and place it facedown on the desk in front of them while they focus only on class work for 15 minutes. Having the device visible reminds students that a check-in period will be coming soon, and having it silenced ends the distraction of vibration or flashing lights. After the focus period, the teacher declares another tech break and students can check in again.

The idea is to continually lengthen the amount of time between breaks to teach students to focus and to manage distractions. Rosen reports that the technology break system is being used effectively in schools, homes and offices (it turns out that young people are not the only ones subject to electronic distractions). He does report, however, that the maximum amount of focus time he’s seen anyone (students or adults) achieve is 30 minutes. This represents a significant improvement over the three to five minutes of focus reported by the research time and seems to be worth the small amount of effort it takes.

It’s important to remember that our devices work for us. We need to recognize the value and the possibilities they bring to our students and our classrooms while maintaining focus on the truly important part of education: the development of our students into strong, capable adults.

Prudence Plunkett is the librarian at Colony High School.