I have a high school daughter. She and my husband constantly argue about how long it takes her to complete assignments, and how her texting, facebooking, music, and other “multi-tasking” activities are distractions that are not productive. I’ve been listening to other educators talk about how this is the future, and that our kids are already good at this – that we shouldn’t shut them down! Our old and addled brains just can’t understand… I did some research and found this recent article about Facebook use during studying: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39038581/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
At my recent PLP (Powerful Learning Practice) Kick-Off in Dallas, Will Richardson whipped off the title phrase above (you’d be impressed by how quickly he can say it!). My question is this… Is this the SAME as what we know to be multi-tasking? During the kick-off, I was watching Will’s PowerPoint presentation, listening to him speak, participating in a TodaysMeet (http://todaysmeet.com/), and taking notes in a Google Document. I had my TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com) open, as well as my Facebook to entertain me when someone was asking a question I already knew the answer to and I got bored. Even now as I type, I have 12 tabs open in my browser (including Skype in case my college daughter wants to call and talk) and I’m struggling to listen to my husband behind me… Yes, I’m struggling. Although I LIKE having all this going on, I will admit that I’m not terribly good at it. I’ll also admit that I missed chunks of what Will was saying while I was “backchanneling”.
Here’s what TodaysMeet says about the backchannel: “The backchannel is everything going on in the room that isn’t coming from the presenter. The backchannel is where people ask each other questions, pass notes, get distracted, and give you the most immediate feedback you’ll ever get. Instead of ignoring the backchannel, TodaysMeet helps you leverage its power. Tapping into the backchannel lets you tailor and direct your presentation to the audience in front of you, and unifying the backchannel means the audience can share insights, questions and answers like never before.
Lots to think about… Is it ok to be partially tuned in to six different things, or are we cheating ourselves? Many of the studies I’ve read say that we CAN’T actually multi-task – but that our brains can switch from one thing to an other with amazing speed. This I believe. I also believe that to “Manage, Analyze and Synthesize Multiple Streams of Simultaneous Information” may not really be multi-tasking. It might just be the way we learn to organize and prioritize the vast amount of information that comes at us at once in this wonderfully digital age as we truly become 21st century learners.
My daughter is not likely to give up her ways. Thanks to the way the world is, she gets restless when “single-tasking” and has difficulty focusing (is this why we are labeling more kids ADD each year?). My job as a parent, and our job as educators, is to guide and teach our children how to Manage, Analyze and Synthesize Multiple Streams of Simultaneous Information (and sometimes that might mean knowing when to turn off a few things to effectively study for that big exam tomorrow, or reducing distractions when grades are dropping). But to do this, we must learn ourselves – We must stop dragging our feet and become 21st century learners.
