Category: Midterm

The digital age has built such a foundation of information that society will need to adapt to advanced technology in order to change and overcome communications challenges. Is technology really a benefit to the society? Technology has wiped out completely the way our ancestors used to find information and entertainment, including reading. Technology is now widely spread in the twenty-first century that it is changing our ability to read and communicate. We now are using social media, the Internet, and our smartphones to stay in contact with friends and family. Digital technology has now created distractions in classrooms and home. In order to adapt to the digital age, we need to know how to use it wisely.

Gaining more information really depends on whether you are able to grasp it the moment you first lay your eyes on it. The article “The Reading Brain in The Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens,” by Ferris Jabr, says that reading on paper is better than reading on a screen like a computer, tablet or TV. Furthormore, Jabr said, “Compared with paper, screens may also drain more of our mental resources while we are reading and make it a little harder to remember what we read when we are done” (“The Reading Brain in The Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens”). With that being said, reading on a screen can reduce your brain to not memorize more information than you can possibly remember. You have less chance of gaining new knowledge of information, which will decrease the chance of incorporating it into your daily life. This is important to consider in the classroom because it will affect students’ ability to learn and grasp the information taught in class.

In my life, I have experienced a time where I was able to read on screen but when came to testing, I failed. I was reading and taking sample questions on a computer for my driver’s permit, instead of reading the information in the booklet. I was so confident thinking to myself that I can be able to pass the test the moment I walked into the testing room. While taking the test, I however wasn’t able to remember as much from the reading online, and I started to overthink through the questions. I failed right then and there, missing four questions. Farris Jabr said, “And in a 2003 a study conducted at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, nearly 80 percent of 687 surveyed students preferred to read text on paper as opposed to on a screen in order to “understand it with clarity” (“The Reading Brain in The Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens”). With this study, reading from the booklet I will be able to understand it with clarity and I would then be able to pass my drivers permit test without missing four questions. I then came up with a new method of reading and learning from the driving booklet, and so then I was able to remember most of the material. The advantage that I had reading a booklet was that I was able to highlight it, and take notes, while reading on the screen I was not able to do the same thing. I went and took the test again, and this time, I was able to pass the test, so as you can see reading it on paper reading over reading on screen really makes a huge difference. In the classroom, both paper and technology can be used to benefit students.

With the technology, though we develop new skills, it can also create distractions. According to the article by Jabr, “As digital texts and technologies become more prevalent, we gain new and more mobile ways of reading-…”, (”The Reading Brain In The Digital Age: The Science Of Paper Versus Screens”). So with the amount of technology in society, people develop new ways of reading, for example, reading through the Internet, eBooks, emails, texts, and tablets.  In this generation, smartphones are really popular; they have everything on them. People tend to use their smartphones more frequently. I also own a smartphone, and I tend to do everything on it; it is like my mini-computer. I am able to download different kinds of social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Wassup, and more. Schools can adapt by incorporating some of these programs into their routine.

I communicate using those apps. I tend to text more instead of calling people. This is the new generation, as they say. My grandmother, who is still new to this generation of technology, is learning how to text because that’s the only way she can reach me quickly. But with this technology spreading globally, we are losing the capability of communicating in person with one another. We are so distracted by all this technology and media that we tend to lose some of the skills that were taught in schools. According to the article by Godhill, “And Mark’s research has found that after being frequently interrupted, people often develop a short attention span and begin to self-interrupt” (“Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain”). The problem is that we really do not realize how technology is affecting us physically and mentally, because we have been doing this for so long that using technology has come to second nature to us.

People are not only not focusing on one thing with the presence of technology, but they are tempted to do other things. As LaFarge says, “The internet’s flood of information, together with the distractions of social media, threaten to overwhelm the interior, space of reading…” (The Deep of Digital Reading). Even though the technology provides a lot of information, there can be also distractions, especially in the classroom. For example, while reading online, there could be some ads, links to other tabs, and commercials that would draw your attention away from your reading. It will put your mind to wander off and forget the reason you were there in the first place. This happened to me when I was researching articles that could help me with my papers. I came to a stop when I saw this commercial for a new game that looked very interesting. I clicked on the link and it took me to another link that had the game. I wanted to download it, and when I did, it took a long time to download, and at that moment, I realized that I needed to go back to research articles. As you can see, distractions on the Internet can really take away your attention just like that.

 Technology alone does not create distractions; our brain have been wandering off from the time we were born. According to LaFarge, “The fear of technology is not new. In the fifth century B.C., Socrates worried that writing would weaken human memory, and stifle judgment” (“The Deep of Space of Digital Reading”). Even from a long time ago the Greeks of Socrates’ era were even worried about our ability to write and read, and that it would weaken us to a point where we start to judge different things. I suggest that people use technology not only for school assignments, but also for work wise and communicating with people who are long distance. Also they can use it to have good time management; there’s always a time for everything.

It really falls on how we use technology in our daily lives. The way we use it can be beneficial or not beneficial to us, but as you can see, technology gives us the information that we really need and creates more skills that we can be able to gain from it. It is just the matter of the amount of time we spend on technology and on reading books. Reading a book on-screen really works with some people, and with others not at all. Not all human beings are alike; there are others who can be able to take advantage of technology, for example, being able to use technology to gain full new information, know what’s going on in the world, or even use as a tool for successful communication. There are others who go overboard with technology, for example, spending time on social media, bullying others and tending to lose the skills of communication. Schools need to consider both the beneficial and negative aspects of using technology in the classroom.

Chris Fenzel
Dr. Licastro
Schools Should Be More Digital
In the digital age our lives are being bombarded with new technology and it has affected how we view the world in terms of our surroundings and what we learn in school. What some institutions fail to realize is just how beneficial technology really is. Because of the internet anything a student wants to learn they can type in a google search bar. Although what hinders a student’s ability to learn is the lack of use of the internet. This becomes a problem especially in college because I for one have not physically turned in a single paper to a professor yet, but in high school that is all we did. Starting at the high school level schools should become more tech savvy with the digital age by allowing more to be done online. Some critics do believe that the internet has been making us as a population less intelligent, but in this paper, I will explain why they are wrong.
One published author that believes these critics are wrong is Paul LaFarge. LaFarge uses a study in 2015 to back up his claim that reading online is beneficial by stating in 2015 a German educator Johannes Naumann “ gave a group of high school students a job of tracking down certain pieces of information on a website, he found that students who regularly do research online- in other words, students who expected web pages to yield useful facts-did much better at this task (and at ignoring other information) then the students who use the internet for email, chat, and blog”(LaFarge, The Deep Space Of Digital Reading). He is suggesting that because more information is at one’s disposal that a student will perform better when given a task. That being said, he believes that we should become more adapt to reading online because of the digital age. For example, in schools we should practice reading deeply online more by learning to annotate articles and books online as well as reading socially. Another way we could become more adapt is that all schools should teach students how to properly blog, critique work, and post their own work online to revise and discuss it. This would teach students how to become better peers to one another and prepare students for professional environments. As the benefits will be shown, schools should use the internet for more tasks like reading online, and submitting assignments online to assist students in learning more about a general topic and getting them prepared for college.
Both Ferris Jabr and LaFarge would agree that reading online prepares students for college and the real world. Reading online is quite practical for students who have little information on a topic due to the use of hypertext. Hypertext are the links you find in articles that redirect you to another place online to find background information, definitions, and various other things on a topic. LaFarge states that “The cognitive load imposed by hypertext doesn’t correspond in a s straightforward way to a number of choices presented at a decision point or to the total number of links of hypertext” (LaFarge “The Deep Space Of Digital Reading”). This means there are more hypertexts then needed but who is to say that it is a bad a thing. There could always be something that some people may not know because they are unfamiliar with a topic. Information would be harder to find in paper text because a word you may not know is not a click away. Also, to help students comprehend more information instructors should teach students how to annotate online. This is beneficial because by breaking down a text piece by piece students have a better chance at understanding what is being read. Therefore, if more deep reading was done online students would have a better chance at comprehending material and could perform better thus preparing them for higher level education.
Following the benefits of reading online, imagine the benefits on the brain if work was submitted online. There would be much more ease on the brain and especially in the environment. By not having to print thousands of copies of assignments think of all the trees that would be saved. Not to mention how much easier on the brain it would be to have to remember to print something out and turn it in at a specific time 7:17 every day before school. Back to the original benefit of assignments and reading online, as stated before I have not turned in a single paper copy of any assignment in my short time in college. Therefore, collegiate institutions have already taken the step to become more digital. This should really begin in high school since its entire premise is to prepare students for college. In my experience I would say high school did not prepare me for college due to all the online assignments I have done. This would also help student’s grades by having extreme amounts of information at hand. If this started in high school it would lead to more students going to more prestigious universities. Although there is the factor of the amount of students that want to go to college, have the money, and have the drive to go to college. Examples of online assignments could be blogging, posting lab reports and papers, and critiquing those same works. Assignments like these online would also prepare students for the workplace. There is a myriad of jobs that require reports to be done online and then revising others so by doing this, students already know how to do all these tasks rather than having to learn on the fly. Nicolas Carr states that the workplace has become so modernized that “you could be sitting at home on your laptop and in one click you can open up your work email and be working” (Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid). Basically, if you have a report due at work you can spend as much time as you want on it at home and email it to your boss. In an essence if more work was done online starting in high school, we are preparing students for college and the workplace by allowing for more efficiency, and as an extra benefit saving the environment.
However, there are people that claim that reading online has hindered our ability to retain new information that has been given to us. For example, in Nicolas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Carr discussed how reading online has affected him from “being able to soak in many pages of an article at once” to “not even being able to retain a few paragraphs” (Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?). He believes that due to all the distractions such as advertisements, pop ups, and hyperlinks the internet imposes that we are losing are ability to read deeply. On the contrary, Davidsons book -Now You See It- discusses that because of the distractions of the digital age we have conditioned our brains to combat attention blindness multi-task. Attention blindness when you are so focused on one thing that you don’t see what is going on around you. We are multi-tasking whenever we are on the internet so what Carr is saying that when we read online the article or book it does not have our full attention. Although there are studies that show that people can block out information that is not needed due to the brain’s ability to multi-task effectively. Multi-tasking is exhausting to the brain but it uses time more efficiently allowing more time to rest. For example, in the beginning of the week I will do most of my chores such as laundry or cleaning during times I take breaks for homework or studying. By doing so I don’t have to do these tasks later in the week and I can do whatever I would like with my free time. While some claim that being on the internet has affected our to learning, I believe the internet has enhanced our ability to learn by allowing more things to be done at one time.
The education system should become more adapt to the digital age by having students, starting at the high school level, do more readings and assignments online. By doing so it will allow students to better comprehend a single topic by providing enormous amounts of information. Also, it will prepare students for college and the modernizing workplace environment. Tasks high schools should be teaching students is to learn how to edit and post work online to prepare students. Also by teaching students how to annotate online, they have a better chance at understanding an array of information by being able to break things down thus preparing students for higher level education.

Carr, Nicolas. Is Google Making Us Stupid? theatlantic.com, 2008, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2017.
Jabr, Ferris. The Reading Brain In the Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens. thescientificamerican.com, 2013, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2017.
LaFarge, Paul. The Deep Space Of Digital Reading. nautil.us, 2016, nautil.us/issue/32/space/the-deep-space-of-digital-reading. Accessed 13 Oct. 2017.

In our time of the 21st century, we are in the digital age. We base everything on our lives off of technology; work, school, communication, even just relaxing we still use technology. Schools have yet to catch up to the full extent of digitalized life, and maybe they should not. Technology has very much impacted our lives, both positively and negatively. For schools though, the negatives outweigh the positives.

Technology can do many things at once, and for us and our brains, that may not be such a good thing. Doing too many things at once can be very draining on the brain and make us more tired more easily. Author Olivia Goldhill claims, “When we attempt to multitask, we don’t actually do more than one activity at once, but quickly switch between them. And this switching is exhausting,” (“Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain”). Trying to do more than one bigger task is tiring for the brain. You have to go from one mind set of one thing to a different mindset for the other. This switching typically takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to your work, (Goldhill, “Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserve of your brain”). We usually do things that involve multitasking with our technology. Whether it be watching tv and doing homework or reading an online article and then doing your math homework. We cannot fully focus on one task and all the switching just makes it that much more difficult. This takes up more time and makes you less productive. You may think you are getting more done but you are actually not.

Online reading is much more difficult than a paper book where it is harder to navigate through a text and recall what you just read. Ferris Jabr writes, “Compared with paper, screens may also drain more of our mental resources while reading and make it a little harder to remember what we read when we are done,” (“The Reading in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens”). Personally, reading online textbooks are hard for me because I don’t fully pick up all information I need to and I constantly need to go back and re-read multiple times versus when I read paper texts, I read the paper text once and I can remember what I just read. It is also easier to navigate through a paper book. Our brains make a mental map of the book to make it easier to navigate through. Jabr states, “A reader can focus on a single page of a paper book without losing sight of the whole text,” (“The Reading in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screen”). With online reading, it’s just scrolling, it’s a single virtual page and then its gone. There’s also a study that had 72 tenth-grade students with similar reading ability read a narrative and an expository text. Half of the students read the paper and the other half read a pdf file. They then had to take a reading comprehension test where they had access to the texts. Manger, the person who created the study thinks that the students with the pdf files had a more difficult time finding the information needed to complete the questions, (qtd. in Jabr). This study shows that paper does better for navigation of information.

One thing about technology is that it has made some big improvements in our lives, but also has made some things worse; reading online has made it harder for some to read and focus. Carr speaks from personal experience, “Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages,” (“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”). As someone who goes to school in the digital age, we read a lot of stuff online. Most of our textbooks are online and makes it harder to focus and concentrate on the reading. We also get many assignments and readings to do on the internet. Carr writes about a new problem that he has with reading online, “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle,” (“Is Google Making us Stupid?”). As someone who enjoys reading for fun, I can get very into my books and can read for hours. When I go to read online, I get distracted very easily and I don’t actually retain what I am reading, I have to constantly go back and re-read the same paragraph. Reading online articles for classes is difficult, there‘s all the ads, hyperlinks and pictures to click on. The pop up ads make it even harder to focus because they pop up with music or words and take forever to fully load to delete, you lose you train of thought. Reading online articles is too distracting for school work.

Reading online has taught some to not fully read but to only skim the reading. Also, with only skimming can slightly change our way of thinking. A forensic pathologist tells Carr, “His thinking, he said, has taken on a ‘staccato’ quality, reflecting the way he quickly scans short passages of texts from many online sources,” (“Is Google Making us Stupid?”). Speaking from my own experience, skimming has become a way of reading for me when I am online. When I am doing research for a project or paper, I will skim the article to find the information that I need. A study from University College London had a fiver year research program where the examined computer logs to look at the visitors behavior on two popular sites. From examining the behaviors, they deducted that new forms of skimming activity were present, (qtd. in Carr). Due to this new way of reading, it changes our thinking as well. Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist from Tufts University says, “We are not only what we read, we are how we read,” (qtd. in Carr). By this, she means that since the way we read has changed, our thinking has changed along with it. She also goes on to say how this changing in our thinking is not a good thing, as this is weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when the printing press mad long and complex works of prose commonplace, (qtd. in Carr). Not only has reading online changed our way of reading, it has made it go downhill along with our thinking capabilities.

Technology is very useful in our lives. It has helped us make a lot of advancements in our modern life. They make our daily routines very easy, but when it comes to school, they make it a little more complicated. As teenagers to young adults in this age, we surround ourselves with technology. Our textbooks are online and we do our homework online. We are given articles to read online, but everything being online just makes focusing and getting things done a lot harder. All together, bringing technology into schooling would not be very beneficial.

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 27 Apr. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/.

Jabr, Ferris. “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens.” Scientific American, www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/.

Goldhill, Olivia. “Neuroscientists Say Multitasking Literally Drains the Energy Reserves of Your Brain.” Quartz, Quartz, 3 July 2016, qz.com/722661/neuroscientists-say-multitasking-literally-drains-the-energy-reserves-of-your-brain/.

The invention of technology could be used to benefit the education systems around the country.  The increase of technology in daily life has changed significantly since the 20^th century.  The use of technology has the potential to increase the learning environment for many students, especially in middle school.  There are many benefits of using computers and tablets in the classroom.  Through my personal experiences, I support the idea of incorporating electronic devices into daily lessons for teachers.  When I was in 7^th grade, my math teacher was one of my first teachers to use tablets in the classroom.  He used videos and games that we played on the iPads to help make learning more fun.  I would always get excited when I walked into the classroom and the iPad cart was sitting there.  It was a more enjoyable way of learning for me.  I feel that what I learned, I could remember better than if I learned it by taking notes.  It increased my ability to learn and remember the information.  Technology has increased humans’ mental capabilities, because it is easier to use, children are more familiar with technology, and it will be used in all future careers.

There are many people who do not agree that technology is a beneficial tool to use in the classroom, because they believe it is distracting, expensive, and breakable.  Some say that it causes major interruptions that take away from the students’ ability to concentrate and recall the information.  La Farge, the author of a persuasive article about digital use, feels that social media is such a major distraction when using the Internet, that it does not allow for focused reading (“The Deep Space of Digital Reading”).  Although it may be true that there are more distractions when using technology, these items can be avoided if necessary.  From personal experience, it is very beneficial to put my phone on “do not disturb,” so that I can get just as much work done if I was not working with technology.  Another disadvantage of technology is that it is breakable.  It is very frustrating when the technology does not work he way it is supposed to, however the problems usually can be fixed easily.   I can understand why teachers would not want to have to rely on technology for their daily lesson plans, but the simplicity of having everything in one spot is worth the risk.  The last disadvantage of using electronics in schools, is that they can be expensive.  This may be true, but when the cost of paper and books for many years is added up, the cost of a tablet or computer is not much more. This is something that many people do not think about, even though it should be a major factor in deciding whether to go “paperless” or not.   Granted that many of these claims are valid, there is another side to the argument that many people do not consider, and that is the endless amount of advantages that go along with using technology in middle school classrooms.

Students in middle school would prefer using technology over paper, because it is more entertaining and they know how to use something that is advanced.  Many children are familiar with technology, such as smart phones and tablets, because they see other people using them every day.  Children also think of electronics as fun, because they have games, called “apps,” on them.  Jabr, the author of an article about reading digitally, shares an example of a young girl who thinks that the magazine is a touch screen.  He states that, “…she appears to pinch, swipe, and prod the pages of paper magazines as though they too were screens” (“The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens”).  When considering if technology should be implemented in schools, it is important to reflect on moments like these.  This provides evidence to show that children are very familiar with using technology, so it will not make learning more difficult, if technology was to be used in educational environments. In addition to the ease of use, technology appears to be more fun than plain paper and books.   Jabr states that it is becoming more common for people to read informative, as well as fun, articles digitally in his article “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper Versus Screens.”  Most people will not print the paper version of the book, because it is more convenient to read it online, as well as the benefit of saving paper.  From personal experience, I think it is equally as challenging to comprehend a difficult reading on a screen versus as on paper.  In addition, there are strategies that can be beneficial to readers digitally, that are not available on the paper version of a text.  For example, highlighting and note-taking can be done online, so they can be shared between multiple people.  I also feel as though the colors that are used on an online source are more entertaining to read and thus, keep me engaged for a longer period of time.  This can be very helpful for students who are not interested in learning about topics they are not interested in, especially teenagers in middle school.  Teachers should consider switching from paper teaching methods to more appealing, online methods.

Applying technological devices in schools will allow for faster results when looking up information, such as search results and even daily lesson plans from other teachers.  Google provides an endless world of answers to many possible questions.  As soon as I see something that I am unfamiliar with, I immediately do a “Google search” to find more information about that topic.  Without any type of internet-based search function, research would be very inefficient and may not be up-to-date.  The author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Nicholas Carr, states the simplicity of doing research by saying, “A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after” (“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”).  Carr explains that research that used to take many days of searching for, now only take a few short moments, with the use of technology.  Middle school teachers should use Google to their students’ advantage and teach them how to find reliable sources that can be helpful to them, as well as how to evaluate search results. This is also a great way for teachers to look up new teaching methods to better their classroom environment.   For example, educational games and activities can be shared among groups of teachers to enhance the learning experience for children in middle school.  The simplicity of the internet in this century can be used to expand the education systems for the future.

Technology is not going away any time soon.  Many careers have already started using new devices to make life easier.  For example, when you get to college, almost every student uses a laptop of one kind or another.  This is a great reason to begin the use of technology in middle schools today.  Students who are well-prepared for their future, will know how to properly use technology in everyday life.  Careers, such as nursing and marketing, are using technology to their advantage, to simplify difficult tasks.  There will not be many career paths in the future where knowing how to use technology will not be necessary.  Students who do not get accustomed to working digitally, at a young age, will be at a disadvantage when looking for a job.  Teachers should begin experimenting with using tablets and computers in middle school lesson plans.  This will make the kids excited and can improve the classroom setting.  Technology has greatly increased education systems in the schools that have already began using tablets and computers in the classrooms.  Although some feel that the invention of technology has decreased humans’ mental capabilities, the reality is, it is just the beginning of a smarter future.

Education is a serious term in our lives, especially at the college level. There is constant information flowing into our minds every day. Sadly though, not all of that can be processed and/ or handled. When it comes to the education system, professors as well as students need to adapt to the idea of multitasking a better way. Multitasking is the idea that people are better off by doing two or more things at once but in reality, “we don’t actually do more than one activity at once, but quickly switch between them.” (Goldhill, “Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain”). When students are crammed with constant assignments from every class, they’ll tend to multitask resulting in some success rates, but other times leading to total failure. The whole school system needs to compromise and adapt to the good of multitasking and not the evil of it.

Students should learn to adapt to their schedules. Multitasking is never the right option when it comes to cramming everything the last minute. Students should learn how to schedule their workload in order retract as much information as needed while multitasking. For me, I have Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD for short, and I multitask every second I have the chance without me even noticing. It has begun to create a problem, as I am getting older and advancing through college, I used to be able to be on the honor roll in high school by procrastinating till the last minute and then cram all of it out in one night, switching from an English essay to math homework every other minute. Now, I had to teach myself not to do that and stay focus on one thing at a time, as I’ll get so worked up that I’ll have an anxiety attack. I still multitask of course, as right now I am, by writing this essay and listening to music. I think that we should teach students that multitasking is okay to a point. We should teach the students in a college to use multitasking as an autopilot instead of switching to other things. What does it mean to be on “autopilot” in multitasking? Hal Pasler, a psychology professor at UC San Diego suggested it to be something like reading a book while doing laundry (Goldhill, paragraph 5, “Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain”). You’re not going to look at the laundry machine for an hour and a half while your clothes are being washed. That’s a total waste of time, but if you were to read while checking on your laundry, aka “autopilot,” it’s not as daunting of a task as switching between two large tasks. With autopilot multitasking, we will be able to focus on two things at once but still be successful and not suffer from attention blindness.

People who argue that not multitasking can lead to attention blindness. Cathy Davidson expressed that attention blindness is considered the, “fundamental structuring principle of the brain… it presents us with a tremendous opportunity” (Davidson, “Now You See It”). With attention blindness, we will focus on one thing or scenario and fail to look for other details around us. There’s positives and negatives towards attention blindness that should be addressed as well. By focusing on one task at hand, we’ll be able to gather more information from that one task then when we focus on two or more tasks. The only problem about attention blindness though is that we won’t get the big picture of everything we should do or see. If we were to teach the students still to keep on an autopilot multitask, they wouldn’t necessarily suffer from attention blindness and will be multitasking. It’s a win-win situation!
Multitasking has also become a huge part of our lives, even when we don’t notice it. For example, you will be reading a paper online and a massive advertisement selling, “The next best thing since sliced bread,” appears across your screen. Well, now your mind is curious and will jump to that page and switch transition into something far beyond what you originally intended to see. Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, explains that when people will be interrupted, it will usually take twenty-three minutes and fifteen seconds to return to their first task (Godhill, paragraph four, “Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain”). College Students should learn to find ways to not click on the advertisement, while college professors should provide strategies to make the students realize. In my English class, the professor, Dr. Licastro, made the whole class tally up every time they would get distracted while reading online for a brief ten-minute period. This little exercise gave the realization to us, the students, that we need to learn to adapt to the pop ups and the distractions around us to pay attention to what we must read.

Now, multitasking can be a blessing in disguise for most people, but for others, it can result in doom. For me, I see both sides in this argument, but when it comes to our education, we should take advantage of multitasking. I strongly urge colleges and their professors, in the future, to learn with the students of multitasking and create a lesson for the students to adapt to this term effectively. I also feel that when a student reads something online for a class, that student should turn off their social life for a little bit, at least until that article is fully read. By turning off their social life, there will be less distractions that can take place and leave the student to wonder off. Last, we should all learn our limits. Multitasking is used differently by everyone, as whether it’s cramming in three college essays all at once or doing math homework while listening to music, multitasking always varies. I feel that if each student figure out their best solutions that gives them success, they should use their most comfortable route. Professors can help show these routes that students take in multitasking, by using lessons centered around the various levels and see where students feel comfortable and where others don’t. The learning to multitask to a point will take some time though, but the future with education is bright and always willing to adapt.

Work Cited:

Davidson, Cathy N. Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. Viking, 2011. (pages 1-21)

Goldhill, Olivia. “Neuroscientists Say Multitasking Literally Drains the Energy Reserves of Your Brain.” Quartz, Quartz, 3 July 2016, qz.com/722661/neuroscientists-say-multitasking-literally-drains-the-energy-reserves-of-your-brain/. Accessed 12 October 2017.

Nowotoj~commonswiki. “Blue Tally Sheet Containing Six Tally Marks.” File:Tally b06.Svg – Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia, 15 May 2007, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tally_b06.svg.  Accessed 13 October 2017.

Ritchie, Ryan. “Caffeinating, Calculating, Computerating.” Flickr.com, 21, Mar.2010 www.flickr.com/photos/ryantron/4453018910. Accessed 13 October 2017.

Take a minute and ask yourself, how often do you find yourself multitasking. Most likely, you’re doing it, right now. In the digital age, humans multitask everyday of our lives. Even though we may not realize it, we do actively participate in multitasking. Relating to high school and colleges, multitasking is not always used in good ways or as productive as it should be. Multitasking brings fourth many distractions and causes negative effects on humans. As we know, when in high school or college, most students tend to cramp two projects or homework into one night because either they have forgotten about it or simply just kept pushing it off. In order for our educational system to adapt to the digital age, we should avoid multitasking all together, particularly in high schools and colleges, because we tend to miss the most important information, focus on the less important, and increase our lack of time-managing skills.

Multitasking causes you to miss the most important information because you’re trying to do too many things at one time. Students develop a short attention span when multitasking. For example, when I try to do Math and English homework at the same time, I tend to miss key components that need to be in my paper because I’m thinking about what equations I should be using. Also, I tend to lose interest as I try to focus on both activities. The point is, when you are trying to do two activities at once, switching between the two, you’ll find yourself thinking about one more than the other, missing important information. In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Carr says, “The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing…” (Carr paragraph 5). This quote explains that the more one tries to use the web and read at the same time, the harder it is to focus and keep a larger attention span. Trying to multitask in schools is just as worst because it is harder to concentrate due to how many students are in the classroom. Students tend to get bored when undertaking numerous activities, such as reading an article and taking notes, or reading an article and highlighting. In the article, “Neuroscientists Say Multitasking Literally Drains the Energy Reserves of Your Brain”, Levitin says, “…people who take 15-minute break every couple of hours end up more productive…” (qtd by Goldhill). This quote illustrates that when you multitask, taking breaks makes you more productive. However, it is obvious to say that when you multitask and not take breaks, you end up losing all focus and miss all valuable information. Not only does multitasking cause you to miss crucial components and lose more focus, but it also forces you to pay more attention to the less important things.

When multitasking, you spend time on the less important things rather than what you really are supposed to be doing. In the twenty-first century, everyone has social media and actively participates on the Internet. As we know, in high school and college, the Internet is heavily depended on. The “advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many” (Carr paragraph 4). However, when multitasking as stated above, we need breaks in order to be productive, so students turn to the internet during these breaks. Even though, the internet is a great source, when multitasking it is not used in a positive fashion, causing unnecessary distractions. For me personally, I’m in college and when I need to take a break in class or from doing homework, I scroll the web or get on social media. However, I begin to focus more on what’s happening on Twitter then what is most important, particular classwork or homework. In the article, “Neuroscientists say Multitasking Literally Drains the Energy Reserves of Your Brain”, Goldhill says, “…online notifications deliver ever more distractions” (Goldhill paragraph 7). Goldhill states that the internet brings on even more distractions. In fact, a student will use the internet as a “get away”, only causing them to become even more distracted, in a sense. However, when surfing the web, one does not realize that they are spending more time on the internet and at the same time, bringing on more distractions. Not only when multitasking do you concentrate on less significant things, it also aids in lack of time-managing skills.

In high school and college, managing your time is an essential. Do you find yourself waiting till the last minute, thinking you can do two projects at once? According to, “Time Management”, 90% of college students procrastinate. Twenty-five percent of these become chronic procrastinators, many who end up dropping out of college” (“College Resources” paragraph 2). Avoiding multitasking, helps students better their time-managing skills. I think this because when students multitask, they tend to think they can squeeze two things into one chunk of time, when in fact they can’t, only worsening their time-management skills. According to Goldhill, “…give up on multitasking and set aside dedicated chunks of time for each separate activity” (“Neuroscientists say Multitasking Literally Drains the Energy Reserves of Your Brain”). This quote proves that in order to be successful in high school and college, you need to know how to manage your time wisely. This means, setting assigned set chunks of time for each activity, avoiding all multitasking. From past experiences, I have cramped two projects into one night and did not get any sleep because of doing so. However, I have learned that when I plan my projects and homework into their own time slots, I complete the work a hundred times better than before. Instead of avoiding multitasking all together, why not come up with solutions to fix the problem.

It’s time to make a change! We should start integrating technology in high schools and colleges in order be able to adapt to the digital age. We should start multitasking in a positive manner by planning ahead, finishing one task before we start a new one. We should keep focus by putting all our time into one activity at a time. In all schools, all students should create to-do lists in order to stay organized. When you are not doing anything, take time to do some of a task in that period of time. In schools, we should also emphasis reading books online and reading from a physical in hand. However, as our society get more and more advanced, it’s very important that schools adapt to the digital age. Not only should we adapt in schools, but our world is running by the evolution of technology. We need to expand ourselves by adapting to the digital age and not limiting ourselves to just our phones or computers because the world has a lot more to offer.

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company. 27 Apr. 2017. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/.

Goldhill, Olivia. “Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain.” Neuroscientists say multitasking literally drains the energy reserves of your brain. Quartz. 3 July 2016. qz.com/722661/neuroscientists-say-multitasking-literally-drains-the-energy-reserves-of-your-brain/.

Schools are Inhibiting the Introduction of Digital Technology

            Technology has been quickly improving as we progress into the digital age. The digital age has introduced many new ideas and more convenient ways of retrieving information. This is leading people to spend lots of time online, whether it be for the purpose of fun or for the need of information for work or school related purposes. However, schools and workplaces have failed to adapt to these changes. Therefore, they are still using teaching methods from many years ago when our great grandparents attended school which is inhibiting children’s adjustment to the digital age we currently live in (Davidson 12). However, many argue that introducing kids to this new technology will cause them to get caught into the trap of multi-tasking which can cause various distractions. When taught properly in an environment such as schools, the introduction and use of digital technology will be very beneficial for students. It is evident that the school system needs to adapt to the digital age as it is a very beneficial source, it is a convenient way to obtain information, and it therefore allows us to see the world differently by avoiding attention blindness.

Multitasking is an obstacle that we deal with in our everyday lives. Within the digital age multitasking is very important in order to avoid attention blindness. Attention blindness is missing out on certain details because you are so focused on a given object or task, multitasking avoids this by allowing you to see everything going on and perceive the world in a different way (Davidson 4). Technology allows us to multitask in an efficient manner limiting various distractions, this should be transferred over to schools so students can learn to multitask properly. Cathy Davidson, who is a distinguished scholar of the history of technology, states in her book, Now You See It, that since attention blindness occurs so often people are unable to see each other’s sides because they are so focused on a certain topic. However, if people learned to properly multitask it would get rid of attention blindness. Technology has helped people to properly multitask and therefore it should be taught in schools (Davidson 13). Personally, I multitask frequently especially when doing homework, I find that switching between subjects when doing homework helps me to stay attentive as I am not solely doing one task. Technology has provided me an easy way of transitioning from one subject to another as they are all listed on the same website.

However, many people claim that technology is a burden to us and causes our minds to wander. Technology has distractions but everything around us is a distraction, everyone experiences distractions with every task they do each day. The digital age has not presented us with new distractions but rather the same distractions we experience already. For example, Paul La Farge, an American novelist, explains that online reading is not the only thing that makes our mind wander but rather reading itself causes the mind to space out. In the article, “The Deep Space of Digital Reading”, La Farge states, “The Internet may cause our minds to wander off, and yet a quick look at the history of books suggests that we have been wandering off all along. When we read, the eye does not progress steadily along the line of text; it alternates between saccades—little jumps—and brief stops, not unlike the movement of the mouse’s cursor across a screen of hypertext” (La Farge). Therefore, those who argue that reading online is a distraction and causes our minds to go off topic are not correct, rather reading itself is causing our minds to go off topic. However, this not only applies to reading but using the internet as a whole, there’s distractions all around us not just on the internet. For example, when I am reading a paperback book I am easily distracted by anything, whether my dog brushes past my feet or there is a lawn mower running outside I look away from the book in front of me and lose my page. We live in a world full of distractions, so the internet is not the only source distracting us.

In the current age kids already use technology on a daily basis whether its watching T.V., using social media or just simply searching the web. Hence, schools should also be providing them with technology is schools in order to succeed. Teachers, especially in high schools, should be providing their students lessons on using library databases, online tools to help students annotate and lessons on using office 365 as it is commonly used around the country. These are just a few of the many tools that should be introduced in high schools so students can use them in college and in their careers. Schools are holding their students back by not keeping them up to date with what’s going on around them. If schools introduced digital technology in their teaching methods it would help to get everyone on the same page. It would allow the world to adjust to the new age more easily and transfer it into the various career fields. From personal experience, I was never introduced to digital technology in high school, therefore within my first month of college I struggled on learning the new technology tools I was already expected to know.

Introducing the digital age to students with in schools is very beneficial as it allows them to adapt and continue to use it throughout their careers and in everyday life. It also allows them to learn the important skill of multitasking in order to get rid of attention blindness. Since schools have failed to adapt and continued the same teaching styles they’ve had for decades, students are unable to adjust to the world around them. The digital age has introduced various new technology that will help students to succeed and find the information they need in a quicker manner. Schools need to adjust because the digital age is not just going to go away rather it is going to keep improving and become a larger part of our lives. Davidson states, “The digital age is not going anywhere. It’s not going to end and it’s not going away. So, its long past due that we turn out attention to the institutions of school and work to see how we can remake them so they help us, rather than hold us back” (Davidson 13). Therefore, it’s essential for schools to adapt to technology or they are going to fall behind which will hold students back from learning.

Works Cited

Davidson, Cathy N. “Introduction.” Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will

            Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn, Viking, 2011.

Farge, Paul La. “The Deep Space of Digital Reading.” Nautilus, 7 Jan. 2016,

nautil.us/issue/32/space/the-deep-space-of-digital-reading.