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T e c h n o l o g y C h a n g i n g H o w S t u d e n t s
L e a r n , T e a c h e r s S a y
By M att Richtel | O ct. 31st, 2012
Lisa B aldw in, a chem istry teacher, w orks w ith h er students to fight through a cadem ic challenges. N ancy P alm ieri for
The N ew Y ork T im es T h er e is a w id es p rea d b el ief am o n g teach ers th at stu d en ts’ co n stan t u se o f d igital
tec h n o lo gy is h am p er in g th ei r atten tio n sp an s an d ab ility to p ersevere in th e face
o f ch allen gin g task s, acco rd in g to tw o su rveys o f teach ers b ein g released o n
T h u rsd ay.
T h e res ea rch er s n o te th at th ei r fin d in gs rep resen t th e su b jective view s o f
tea ch er s an d sh o u ld n o t b e see n as d efin itive p ro o f th at w id esp read u se o f
co m p u ter s, p h o n es an d vid eo gam es affects stu d en ts’ cap ab ility to fo cu s.
E ven so , th e res ea rch er s w h o p erfo rm ed th e stu d ies, as w ell as sch o lars w h o
stu d y tec h n o lo gy’s im p act o n b eh avio r an d th e b rain , say th e stu d ies are
sign ifican t b ec au se o f th e van tage p o in ts o f teach ers, w h o sp en d h o u rs a d ay
o b ser vin g stu d en ts.
T h e tim in g o f th e stu d ies , fro m tw o w ell-regard ed research o rgan izatio n s,
ap p ea rs to b e co in cid en tal.
O n e w as co n d u cted b y th e P ew In tern et P ro ject, a d ivisio n o f th e P ew R es ea rch
Cen ter th at fo cu ses o n tec h n o lo gy-rel ated research . T h e o th er co m es fro m
Co m m o n Sen se M ed ia, a n o n p ro fit o rgan izatio n in S an F ran cisco th at ad vises
p aren ts o n m ed ia u se b y ch ild ren . It w as co n d u cted b y V ick y R id eo u t, a
res ea rch er w h o h as p rev io u sly sh o w n th at m ed ia u se am o n g ch ild ren an d
teen ager s ages 8 to 18 h as gro w n so fast th at th ey o n average sp en d tw ice as m u ch
tim e w ith screen s ea ch yea r as th ey sp en d in sch o o l. T ea ch er s w h o w er e n o t in vo lved in th e su rveys ech o ed th eir fin d in gs in
in ter view s, sayin g th ey fel t th ey h ad to w o rk h ard er to cap tu re an d h o ld stu d en ts’
atten tio n .
“I’m an en ter tain er . I h ave to d o a so n g an d d an ce to cap tu re th eir atten tio n ,”
said H o p e M o lin a-P o rter , 37 , an E n glish teach er at T ro y H igh S ch o o l in F u llerto n ,
Ca lif., w h o h as tau gh t fo r 14 years. S h e teach es accelerated stu d en ts, b u t h as
n o ted a m ark ed d ec lin e in th e d ep th an d an alysis o f th eir w ritten w o rk .
Sh e said sh e d id n o t w an t to sh rin k fro m th e ch allen ge o f en gagin g th em , n o r d id
o th er tea ch er s in ter view ed , b u t sh e also w o rried th at tech n o lo gy w as cau sin g a
d eep er sh ift in h o w stu d en ts learn ed . S h e also w o n d ered if teach ers w ere ad d in g
to th e p ro b lem b y ad ju stin g th eir lesso n s to acco m m o d ate sh o rter atten tio n
sp an s.
“A re w e co n trib u tin g to th is?” M s. M o lin a-P o rter said . “W h at’s go in g to h ap p en
w h en th ey d o n ’t h ave co n stan t en tertain m en t?”
Sc h o lars w h o stu d y th e ro le o f m ed ia in so ciety say n o lo n g-term stu d ies h ave
b een d o n e th at ad eq u atel y sh o w h o w an d if stu d en t atten tio n sp an h as ch an ged
b ec au se o f th e u se o f d igital tec h n o lo gy. B u t th ere is m o u n tin g in d irect evid en ce
th at co n stan t u se o f tec h n o lo gy can affect b eh avio r, p articu larly in d evelo p in g
b rain s, b ec au se o f h ea vy stim u latio n an d rap id sh ifts in atten tio n . K risten P u rcel l, th e asso ciate d irecto r fo r research at P ew , ack n o w led ged th at th e
fin d in gs co u ld b e view ed fro m an o th er p ersp ective: th at th e ed u catio n system
m u st ad ju st to b et ter acco m m o d ate th e w ay stu d en ts learn , a p o in t th at so m e
tea ch er s b ro u gh t u p in fo cu s gro u p s th em selves.
“Wh at w e’ re lab el in g as ‘d istractio n ,’ so m e see as a failu re o f ad u lts to see h o w
th es e k id s p ro ces s in fo rm atio n ,” M s. P u rcell said . “T h ey’re n o t sayin g d istractio n
is go o d b u t th at th e lab el o f ‘d istractio n ’ is a ju d gm en t o f th is gen eratio n .”
T h e su rvey s also fo u n d th at m an y teach ers said tech n o lo gy co u ld b e a u sefu l
ed u catio n al to o l. In th e P ew su rvey, w h ich w as d o n e in co n ju n ctio n w ith th e
Co lleg e B o ard an d th e N atio n al W ritin g P ro ject, ro u gh ly 75 p ercen t o f 2,462
tea ch er s su rvey ed said th at th e In tern et an d search en gin es h ad a “m o stly
p o sitive” im p act o n stu d en t research sk ills. A n d th ey said su ch to o ls h ad m ad e
stu d en ts m o re sel f-su fficien t research ers.
B u t n ea rly 90 p er cen t said th at d igital tech n o lo gies w ere creatin g “an easily
d istracted gen er atio n w ith sh o rt atten tio n sp an s.” Hope M olina-Porter, a n E nglish teacher in F ullerton, C alif., w orries that technology is d eeply a ltering h ow students
learn. M onica A lm eida/The N ew Y ork T im es
Si m ilarly, o f th e 68 5 tea ch er s su rveyed in th e Co m m o n S en se p ro ject, 71 p ercen t
said th ey th o u gh t tec h n o lo gy w as h u rtin g atten tio n sp an “so m ew h at” o r “a lo t.” A b o u t 60 p er cen t said it h in d er ed stu d en ts’ ab ility to w rite an d co m m u n icate
face to face, an d alm o st h alf said it h u rt critical th in k in g an d th eir ab ility to d o
h o m ew o rk .
T h er e w as little d iffer en ce in h o w yo u n ger an d o ld er teach ers p erceived th e
im p act o f tec h n o lo gy.
“B o y, is th is a clario n call fo r a h ealth y an d b alan ced m ed ia d iet,” said Jim S teyer,
th e ch ief ex ec u tive o f Co m m o n S en se M ed ia. H e ad d ed , “W h at yo u h ave to
u n d er stan d as a p aren t is th at w h at h ap p en s in th e h o m e w ith m ed ia
co n su m p tio n can affec t acad em ic ach ievem en t.”
In in ter view s, tea ch er s d es crib ed w h at m igh t b e called a “W ik ip ed ia p ro b lem ,” in
w h ich stu d en ts h ave gro w n so accu sto m ed to gettin g q u ick an sw ers w ith a few
k ey stro k es th at th ey are m o re lik ely to give u p w h en an easy an sw er elu d es th em .
T h e P ew res ea rch fo u n d th at 76 p ercen t o f teach ers b elieved stu d en ts h ad b een
co n d itio n ed b y th e In ter n et to fin d q u ick an sw ers.
“T h ey n eed sk ills th at are d iffer en t th an ‘S p it, sp it, th ere’s th e an sw er,’ ” said L isa
B ald w in , 48 , a h igh sch o o l tea ch er in G reat B arrin gto n , M ass., w h o said stu d en ts’
ab ility to fo cu s an d figh t th ro u gh acad em ic ch allen ges w as su fferin g an
“ex p o n en tial d ec lin e. ” Sh e said sh e saw th e d eclin e m o st sh arp ly in stu d en ts
w h o se p aren ts allo w ed u n fet ter ed access to televisio n , p h o n es, iP ad s an d vid eo
gam es . F o r h er p art, M s. B ald w in said sh e refu sed to lo w er h er exp ectatio n s o r sh ift h er
tea ch in g style to b e m o re en tertain in g. B u t sh e d o es sp en d m u ch m o re tim e in
in d ivid u al tu to rin g ses sio n s, sh e ad d ed , co ach in g stu d en ts o n h o w to w o rk
th ro u gh ch allen gin g assign m en ts.
O th er tea ch er s said tec h n o lo gy w as as m u ch a so lu tio n as a p ro b lem . D ave
M en d el l, 44, a fo u rth -grad e tea ch er in W allin gfo rd , P a., said th at ed u catio n al
vid eo gam es an d d igital p res en tatio n s w ere excellen t w ays to en gage stu d en ts o n
th ei r ter m s. T ea ch er s also said th ey w ere u sin g m o re d yn am ic an d flexib le
tea ch in g styles .
“I’m tap d an cin g all o ver th e p lace,” M r. M en d ell said . “T h e m o re I stan d in fro n t
o f class, th e ea sier it is to lo se th em .”
H e ad d ed th at it w as to u gh er to en gage stu d en ts, b u t th at o n ce th ey w ere
en gaged , th ey w er e ju st as ab le to so lve p ro b lem s an d b e creative as th ey h ad
b een in th e p ast. H e w o u ld p ref er, h e ad d ed , fo r stu d en ts to u se less
en ter tain m en t m ed ia at h o m e, b u t h e d id n o t b elieve it rep resen ted an
in su rm o u n tab le ch allen ge fo r teach in g th em at sch o o l.
Wh ile th e P ew res ea rch ex p lo red h o w tech n o lo gy h as affected atten tio n sp an , it
also lo o k ed at h o w th e In ter n et h as ch an ged stu d en t research h ab its. B y co n trast,
th e Co m m o n Sen se su rvey fo cu sed largely o n h o w teach ers saw th e im p act o f
en ter tain m en t m ed ia o n a ran ge o f classro o m sk ills. T h e su rvey s in clu d e so m e fin d in gs th at ap p ear co n trad icto ry. In th e C o m m o n
Sen se rep o rt, fo r in stan ce, so m e teach ers said th at even as th ey saw atten tio n
sp an s w an e, stu d en ts w er e im p ro vin g in su b jects lik e m ath , scien ce an d read in g.
B u t res ea rch er s said th e co n flictin g view s co u ld b e th e resu lt o f su b jectivity an d
b ias. F o r ex am p le, tea ch er s m ay p erceive th em selves facin g b o th a m o re d ifficu lt
ch allen ge b u t also b el iev e th at th ey are o verco m in g th e ch allen ge th ro u gh
ef fec tive tea ch in g.
P ew said its res ea rch gave a “co m p lex an d at tim es co n trad icto ry” p ictu re o f
tea ch er s’ view o f tec h n o lo gy’s im p act.
D r. D im itri Ch ristak is, w h o stu d ies th e im p act o f tech n o lo gy o n th e b rain an d is
th e d irec to r o f th e Cen ter fo r Ch ild H ealth , B eh avio r an d D evelo p m en t at S eattle
Ch ild ren ’s H o sp ital, em p h asized th at teach ers’ view s w ere su b jective b u t
n ev er th el es s co u ld b e accu rate in sen sin g d w in d lin g atten tio n sp an s am o n g
stu d en ts.
H is o w n res ea rch sh o w s w h at h ap p en s to atten tio n an d fo cu s in m ice w h en th ey
u n d er go th e eq u ivalen t o f h ea vy d igital stim u latio n . S tu d en ts satu rated b y
en ter tain m en t m ed ia, h e said , w ere exp erien cin g a “su p ern atu ral” stim u latio n
th at tea ch er s m igh t h ave to k ee p u p w ith o r sim u late. T h e h ea vy tec h n o lo gy u se, D r. Ch ristak is said , “m ak es reality b y co m p ariso n
u n in ter es tin g.”
A ver sio n o f th is article ap p ea rs in p rin t o n N o vem b er 1, 20 12, o n P age A 18 o f th e
N ew Y o rk ed itio n w ith th e h ea d lin e: F o r B et ter an d fo r W o rse, T ech n o lo gy Us e
A lter s L ea rn in g St yles , T ea ch ers S ay.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how-students-learn-teachers-say.html
