Paying Attention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f94o3B3csYI •

Question Have you seen this video before today? • A. Yes • B. No •

Question # How many aerial passes did you count? A. 7 B. 8 C. 9 D. • How many aerial passes did you count? • A. 7 B. 8 • C. 9 • D. • • E. 11

Question # How many bounce passes did you count? A. 2 B. 4 C. 5 D. • How many bounce passes did you count? • A. 2 B. 4 • C. 5 • D. • • E. 7

Question # Did you see the gorilla? • A. Yes • B. No •

Question #5 Did you notice the curtain changing color? A. Yes B. No •

Question #6 Did you notice the the player wearing black leaving the game? • A. Yes • B. No •

Question #7 Did you see the moonwalking bear? • A. Yes • B. No •

Bad News: Illusion of Attention • You cannot multitask. Not even you can. I mean you. • NYT interruption • NYT • Everyone suffers from “inattentional blindness.” • Even most people who saw the gorilla missed the curtain changing colors or the player leaving the game • Chabris, Simon, and others have demonstrated this in many experiments. • Source: Christopher Chabris & Daniel Simon. 2010. Gorilla and Other Ways our Intuitions Deceive Us. Publishers.

“Red Gorilla” Test Performed by Yale’s Brian Scholl • Letters moved randomly around a screen, occasionally touching sides. Subjects counted number of “bounces,” where letters hit border. A red cross (+) unexpectedly traversed the display. 30 percent of the subjects missed seeing the red cross when simply doing the counting task. But when Upshot: Never drive while talking on phone No, you are not special. I mean you. • • • • • •

Good News: Flow • The life’s work of psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi Flow is: • • An activity with clear goals requiring challenge and high skills. A high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention. A loss of self-consciousness. Distorted sense of time. Direct and immediate feedback. Balance between ability level and challenge. A sense of personal activity. Effortless action: the activity is rewarding. A lack of awareness of bodily needs. • • • • • • • •

Ideas from Kerk Phillips

What is the problem? Distraction Instant access Email Internet Games C • Distraction • Instant access • Email • Internet • Games • C • Linda Stone: “continuous partial attention.” (see

Benefits of In-Class Media • Quick access to relevant info • In-class online activities • Automation of routine tasks • Note taking • Materials organization • Special software for students with disabilities

Strategies Think through your stance Discuss with students. • Think through your stance • Discuss with students. • Society creating new technology manners • O teach students these new rules

Strategies for Managing and Using Laptops • Create syllabus language and policies for laptop use and for cell phone use (depending upon your class, these may be separate policies). • Ask students to collaboratively create a social contract at the beginning of class. Use this as the basis of your discipline and then encourage students to gently remind each other of the policies. • Create consequences for violating the policies; giving weekly participation points, taking points off a final grade, asking students to leave the class, or having a separate “professionalism” grade that includes such behavior. • Create a “laptop zone” in the back of the room and/or ask student to leave cell phones at the door

Strategies for Managing and Using Laptops Sample policy statement • Use of Technology in the Classroom Access to the Internet can be a valuable aid to the classroom learning environment. Students are encouraged to use laptops, smart phones, and other devices in order to explore concepts related to course discussions and topics. Students are discouraged from using technology in ways that distract from the learning community (e.g. Facebook, texting, work for other classes, etc.) and if found doing so, will be asked to leave the classroom for the day and will not get credit for attendance that class period. •

Strategies for Managing and Using Laptops • Meet individually with students who routinely violate your policies. Point out why this is a problem and suggest ways to help them focus in class. For example, “How can we solve this? Why don’t you try not bringing your laptop for a few weeks and see how it goes?” • Consider what will be appropriate “screen up” time and “screen down” time in your class and share this explicitly with your students. • Set aside time for “screen down” discussion, then allow time afterwards to take notes. • Walk around the classroom as much as possible, look at your students’ laptop screens.

Strategies for Managing and Using Laptops • If laptops are not an integral part of your class, ask students to state what they will be using their laptop for in class and check up on them. • Get feedback from students about laptop/phone use. What do they think is appropriate and why? Ask them to document their own attention during class and how it influences what they’ve learned. • Create Policies or Advice for Students to help teach them appropriate technology use • Allow only a few (rotating) students per class session to take notes to be shared with the entire class. • If students wish to record classes, have them ask you in advance. For special needs requests, ask them to create a contract of how these recordings should be used.