8/9/2019 Is Technology and the Internet Reducing Pupils

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DOCUMENTED OPINION ESSAY- ENL 110- Fall 2014

Article 1: Is technology and the internet reducing pupils' attention spans?

Duncan Jeffries

Monday 11 March 2013 – Published in The Guardian newspaper online

Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-

blog/2013/mar/11/technology-internet-pupil-attention-teaching

1- Is technology affecting pupils' concentration? Some schools think so and have banned the use of

mobile phones and other hardware in the classroom A growing number of books, including The

Shallows, argue that the internet and digital gadgets are making it harder for us to concentrate. The

Pew Research Centre in America recently surveyed almost 2,500 teachers and found that 77%

thought that the internet had a "mostly positive" impact on students' research work, while 87% felt

modern technologies were creating an "easily distracted generation with short attention spans".

2- But could this simply be the latest variation of 'the Elvis Hypothesis' – because something is

new, popular with young people, and challenges existing hierarchies and traditions, it must be bad?Although some UK teachers might be inclined to agree with their American counterparts when

faced with a class of restless smartphone-enabled year 10s, there appears to be no conclusive

evidence that pupil attention spans are declining.

3- Sue Honoré, an independent learning consultant who co-authored the 2009 report 'Generation Y:

Inside Out' with Dr. Carina Paine Schofield, feels that there is still "a big question about how

technology is impacting on the way we behave". She studied the behaviours of people born between

1982 and 2002 – particularly how they learn and work – and found "mixed results" in terms of

attention spans.

While young people are "undoubtedly capable of long periods of concentration", those who spend a

lot of time alone using technology "tend to have less in the way of communication skills, self-

awareness and emotional intelligence." She adds: "That's not because they don't have thecapabilities. But because they are spending so much time communicating remotely with people

rather than face-to-face, when they come into situations where they have to work with others, they

appear not to concentrate on people."

Article 2: Social Media: Why This Matters To Everyone InEducation

By Daniel Clark. August 1! "1 in #olu$e %Copri!"t # 2010-2014$ T"e I%ter%atio%al &ETL A''ociatio%$ &etrieved 'ro$: https://www.hetl.org/opinion-

articles/social-media-why-it-matters-to-everyone-in-education/ 

1- Any major change in the way people communicate is bound to have major implications for

education. Consider the impact of the printing press, which made near-universal education feasible

for the first time. It took centuries for the impact of the printing press to be fully felt and, while the

impact of social media will no doubt be felt more quickly, it still has many years to run. However, it

is possible at this stage to discern the outline of three distinct phases of its impact. These are

http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781848872271http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781848872271http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research.aspxhttp://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Generation%20Y:%20Inside%20Out.%20A%20multi-generational%20view%20of%20Generation%20Y%20-%20learning%20and%20working/$file/GenerationYInsideOut.pdfhttp://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Generation%20Y:%20Inside%20Out.%20A%20multi-generational%20view%20of%20Generation%20Y%20-%20learning%20and%20working/$file/GenerationYInsideOut.pdfhttp://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Generation%20Y:%20Inside%20Out.%20A%20multi-generational%20view%20of%20Generation%20Y%20-%20learning%20and%20working/$file/GenerationYInsideOut.pdfhttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research.aspxhttp://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Generation%20Y:%20Inside%20Out.%20A%20multi-generational%20view%20of%20Generation%20Y%20-%20learning%20and%20working/$file/GenerationYInsideOut.pdfhttp://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Generation%20Y:%20Inside%20Out.%20A%20multi-generational%20view%20of%20Generation%20Y%20-%20learning%20and%20working/$file/GenerationYInsideOut.pdfhttp://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781848872271http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781848872271

8/9/2019 Is Technology and the Internet Reducing Pupils

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DOCUMENTED OPINION ESSAY- ENL 110- Fall 2014

running in parallel, but each began later than the previous one, and they may be distinguished by the

main originators of content and the main “target audience” of the content.

2- Phase one was when faculty started to use the potential of social media to support each other and

for their personal and professional development. In phase two, faculty began using social media

tools to provide educational content, in one form or another, to students. Phase three, which began

recently, is when students start to originate educational content.

3- The key conclusions of this article may by now be fairly clear:

• Social media are now used throughout society and by educators at all levels. This is a radical

change in the way we communicate with each other. It will have profound implications on any

 business that involves communication, certainly including education.

• espite increasing use of social media by educators, the approach of most educational

institutions still seems very !industrial media", with timetabled classes, an emphasis on learning

delivery in person and by printed books, transmission from educator to students and much

assessment being by written e#ams. $o doubt this will take time to change, but we can begin withsmall steps and small-scale e#periments.

• %s with all new technologies, it is impossible to predict what those implications will be in any

detail. &owever, they are likely to include greater transparency, more involvement from students,

including opportunities for live collaboration and learning in small, on-demand pieces rather than ina logical, se'uential structure.

• Specific actions for educational bodies can be grouped around the three phases described

above. (elating to phase one, all faculty should be provided with support and encouragement to use

social media as part of their professional development, and to use social media tools to improve

communication and sharing of knowledge. (elating to phase two, universities should look at howthey can share their educational content more widely using tools such as )ouTube and iTunes. This

will build valuable e#pertise, fulfil their social mission and promote their brand. The development

of phase three is unclear as yet, but the key here is to e#periment with ways of increasing student participation, such as discussions on Twitter and blogging.

*- +hanges in the education sector will probably include the rise of new participants and the demise

of some e#isting ones. The most successful organisations are likely to be those who embrace ande#periment with the new technologies and gain e#perience in them, rather than those who hang

 back. ngagement with social media needs to be seen as a strategic priority for all institutions and

individuals involved in education.