When teachers think that students are not paying attention to class, they are probably right. And that’s true even if instructors force students to put away their smartphones.
This is what Georgetown University professor Janine Turner discovered in her research on how technology has shaped social relationships. Her argument is that internet-connected devices have changed the way people interact with others, even when the devices are temporarily removed.
In his book, Turner, a professor of business administration and director of the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program, outlines a framework for understanding this new landscape of attention.Presence: Manage your social presence to command attention at work (and home).Many of the examples she uses are based on her teaching experience, interviews with university students, and research on the impact of distance learning.
EdSurge connected with Turner to learn more about this new world of fragmented attention and what educators can do to reach increasingly distracted students.
Listen to the episode of apple podcast, cloudy, spotify Listen to podcasts anywhere or use the player on this page. Or read the partial transcript below, edited for clarity.
EdSurge: I was struck by your point in your book that no matter how hard we try to put our smartphones away, we never leave them. What does that mean?
Janine Turner: Some researchers say that simply turning off your cell phone will solve the problem. But the problem is that the asynchronous nature of messaging can cause emails to pile up, so it persists. There may be a text that you need to reply to. And that ability means, in many ways, that we are unable to fully participate in the conversation. Because you’re always thinking about the conversations you’re supposed to be a part of and the expectations of others behind you. of your heart. Or you’re telling me about something and I remember, “Oh, I forgot.” I was planning on replying to the email or getting back to this person. ” That’s why our whole communication is so complicated.
So it’s not even a personal decision anymore, because I might personally decide that I want to talk to you right now, but maybe my boss, maybe a colleague, maybe a team member, maybe a family member needs to contact me. At the moment they want me to be available to them. And I have to make a decision about that. So we can’t think about how to operate in silos.
You use the term “budgeted attention” for this. What does that mean?
It’s because we think of our attention as a resource and think, “So where can we spend that attention to get the most out of the relationships that we really value?” It’s about seeing. This is very helpful in focusing and understanding this resource of social existence and how it should be approached.
With these technologies, most of the time you’re basically in this default state, where you might have your cell phone available or you might be using Zoom, but you might also have other messages coming in. confirm. Having the feeling that you can actually do this and be part of all these conversations at the same time. But what we have to realize is that we actually allocate part of our attention to one thing and part to another. And our brains can’t multitask like that. You can’t do something as complex as managing your relationship with others.
That’s why I use this budget analogy. It’s not only difficult to prioritize in life, especially when it comes to our social existence. But if you want to spend your social existence in the best way for your relationships, you also need to act strategically and intentionally.
I’m interested in the idea that we’re bad at multitasking. But I will admit that I did it while checking my email while participating in a Zoom meeting. Can you do both?
So we do that, but something is lost, both qualitatively and relationally.
If it’s a daily message and I’ve discussed this topic with you 15 times, you might think you can check your email at the same time. But if you think I’m not paying attention to you, it will affect the relationship. They realize that you are not paying attention to them. The study shows that whether you hold your phone face up or face down, it affects what people say to you – how much they’re willing to connect and talk. [they say less] If you don’t think they’re getting attention.
What’s happening is that we’re devaluing listening.
How has this happened in your classroom? You’ve been teaching at Georgetown for over 20 years, and you’ve written that you used to walk into a classroom and everyone would talk, but these days everyone doesn’t talk to each other. I use my cell phone and laptop.
Previously, there were a lot of impromptu and casual questions among students like “Hey?” what are you interested in? how were you? what happened? Are you going to the game this weekend? ‘ All of that.
Nowadays, even students don’t do it anymore. In fact, at the beginning of college he had a two-week grace period and there was a student who said it was okay to say, “Hello, my name is Janine.” I’m from here, where are you from? But after that, you won’t be able to interrupt anyone in class or hang up someone’s phone to talk.
you are coming to university. You are in a completely new place. You don’t know anyone. But since you have all these relationships with your high school friends, you don’t even have to make new friends in person, just keep the conversation going on your own device (Instagram or Snapchat).
And it’s very difficult to make new friends in person. [students] I don’t know what to do now. And everyone is quiet in the classroom, and at first no one interacts or takes any interest. So unless your professor has created a get-to-know-you activity like this in every class (I don’t think he’s used to this, but he should), it’s actually for relationships. It does not mean that you have created an opportunity.
Let’s talk about solutions. What can educational institutions and leaders do?
You are in what I call a “competitive presence” in the classroom. I need to convince you about something. Therefore, you need to seriously think about “why am I interested in this topic?” Why do you need to know about this topic? What is it for you? How can I make it completely relevant to you?
It’s like, “How do I sell this?” I know teachers don’t like to think of themselves as salespeople, but you’re either a salesperson in the classroom, or you’re trying to figure out, “How do we create a space for dialogue?” is. And it has to be intentional.
For example, I will be teaching my first class on Wednesday, and I will be teaching undergraduate students. And I’m seriously thinking, “What am I going to do on Wednesday to create a norm of dialogue in that class?” And that’s not something I can create alone. I ask all students, “What kind of classes would you like to take in the first semester?” “Think about what your favorite class was. What was the energy like in that class?” How did people talk in that class? How did you get to know other people in that class? What can this class do to make that happen?
I do not intend to impose such norms. We have to create those norms together, which seems very strange. Why is that part of the class? But an inviting space, a space where people feel safe to talk, where people feel their opinions are valued, where people feel free to participate and express themselves. If we want to create , it has to be a collaborative conversation about how that happens.
Are you saying that teachers have always had to persuade students to pay attention, but it’s different now?
I think every teacher, every presenter in a business setting, has to know that if you want to get people’s attention, you’re competing for that person’s attention on that phone, and that phone is I absolutely believe that it will continue to resonate. Throughout your conversation, if the other person thinks they don’t need to pay attention to you instead of what you’re doing on the phone, or if you’re repeating the same thing, or if you’re not motivating them enough. If not, why listen to me, then people will choose something else.
Audiences have more agency and choice than ever before in the history of presentations. Now, because of that device, they are choosing in an instant whether to pay attention to you or to pay attention to that device. Therefore, there is never any idea of captivating the audience. You are always competing.
In your book, you say that people think they can multitask in meetings, but that they often miss information, especially when it’s difficult or when the person they’re talking to is someone they don’t agree with. It is pointed out that there are many How will this affect the class discussion?
I conducted this study with colleagues at Georgetown. There, the subject had to listen to this NPR story while managing this inbox activity. And what we found is that when we tested later on the NPR article, they missed the question if the question was about a specific part of that article that happened at the same time as the message arrived this time. It was said that it was. The difficulty is that we don’t actually know what is important, but we are already self-selecting among it.
I believe that universities and classrooms are truly places of learning. And learning is difficult. You may also end up accessing information that makes you feel uncomfortable or uncomfortable. But this is supposed to be a safe place so you can better understand where others are coming from.
We talk a lot about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we think it’s very easy to put these three words together. But if we value diversity and we value inclusion, we need to value conflict. Because if I have diverse opinions and feel included in sharing them, that means you, who have different opinions, are satisfied with the opinions I share. Because it means you won’t. And to share your opinion, you need to feel included. The bottom line is that diversity and inclusion requires conflict, and we need to create safe spaces where we can learn. Otherwise, we’ll just have a diverse environment where no one speaks and no one feels included. And that’s a tragedy.
If it happens in our universities, if it happens in our K-12 schools, if it happens in educational settings where that conduciveness is supposed to be a space for learning, we have failed. Masu.
