i have invented and re-invented this presentation so many times i'm dizzy. i keep finding out more and changing my focus and then changing the format of the talk. i have until monday night to get my act together. the presentation is thursday, but i have to attend other people's talks on monday and tuesday.
one of the main points/hypotheses that has evolved since i started designing the talk is related to how the youtube generation will or will not learn to develop the patience required to really understand themselves and others. if a simple click of a button brings you to a a new site within moments of becoming bored or confused, how are the synapses formed and eventually hard-wired. Does this kind of high speed information technology actually breed impatience, intolerance, a lack of perseverance?
additionally, i have heard many authorities saying that kids today can multi-task and we need to make allowances for that. but this is not what i have observed. what i see is a sea of kids listening to an ipod with one ear, listening to a friend with the other, surfing youtube or playing a DS or PSP at the same time, etc. but the piece that's missing is that none of them are REALLY listening to anything. i think ultimately they just get used to a high level of internal noise (i'm sure there is some addictive neurotransmitter involved) and they feel bored/irritable when it stops.
so as educators, what do we do? is there a way to use the technology itself to teach them to break their addiction to the technology and just use it as a tool and not a drug? or am i completely wrong, and in fact we are becoming a nation of super multi-taskers able to drive, text, do our nails and our taxes simultaneously? (i certainly have seen some folks make the attempt)
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Time after time it has been shown that multi-tasking is impossible. Meaning that our brains cannot attend to multiple focal points with any clarity of thought. None of the tasks will be done well. With too many things to attend to, we all appear to have attention deficit disorder. What priority do you give to all of the conflicting noises?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever listened to one of those self-hypnosis tapes that has multiple tracks recorded one right over the other? Your brain picks up the dominant track, yet, the underlying message comes through as a subliminal message. You are not cognizant of the fact that you were listening to that "other" message. But, as you were attending to the dominant or what seems to be the obvious information, the "gatekeepers" of your psyche were distracted and the quiet voice was heard behind the scenes.
the hypnosis argument seems to actually validate the idea that we can in fact subconsciously pick up additional information when multi-tasking. so, maybe the question i need to ask is "is it necessary to focus one's attention to learn or communicate effectively?"
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