Digital overload may be one of the many things that cause distraction in the lives of students at school or in their homes. As some would label it, today's students are called "digital natives" or "distraction generation". This is because of the conflict created by the use of technology in learning.
Clifford Nass, a Stanford professor who pioneered research into how humans interact with technology, said that people are bad at multitasking or working simultaneously because nothing gets done. On the other hand, a psychologist Joo-Hyun Song said that distraction can actually create better learning. But what are the ways to effectively handle these distractions?
Keep the volume level to a minimum. "If you can take an exam while you have Twitter on, sure, study while you're on Twitter," Dr. Song said. "But you better negotiate with your teacher. By the way, colleagues say I shouldn't even talk about this."
If you are a type of person who easily gets distracted, do something about it, it could be a soft music or something like that. Because according to Dr. Song, if you desperately try to focus on something completely, it might just not work and become bothered with an even bigger distraction.
Learning without the use of gadgets or technology is still way better. According to a Princeton study in 2014, taking down notes by manually writing them instead of using a laptop is more effective, because when people write down notes, even if they only use a few words, they can better retain concepts.
"People who take notes on computers are transcribing, and people taking notes by hand tend to be choosing more," said Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.
Web surfing is contagious. Students who sit next to someone surfing the web can affect their performance, even if they are not the ones who's trying to multitask.
