Spark-It Week Message October 21, 2020
October 21, 2020: Helping Students Stay Focused
Lost: Concentration. Last seen on or about March 20 on Jayhawk Boulevard. If found, leave in a bag behind the bushes at Wescoe Hall. Big reward.
Wanted: Digital attention extractor, any size. Desperate to bring my favorite people back to the three-dimensional world. Will pay top dollar.
Dear Colleagues,
We recently discovered a site on the dark web that contains nothing but Covid-related classified ads. It’s sort of like a sad-sack Craigslist. We didn’t realize such a thing existed and thought you might enjoy seeing a few of the ads, purely out of cultural curiosity. (The ones above are just the beginning. Click on the image below for more.)
If we got your attention, we’re glad. Attention is in short supply right now. That’s an especially big challenge for our
students. Even in the best of times, an Instagram-infused, Netflix-fixated, web-wrapped world makes keeping students’ attention difficult (here’s more info about students, technology, and distraction). Coat that world in Covid, increase our reliance on technology-based learning environments, and reduce three-dimensional engagement and we face a daunting challenge.
It isn’t impossible, though. Here are a few simple ideas for how you can break through distractions and re-engage students with the world around them and with their learning.
- Use mindfulness. Try a mindfulness exercise to help students bring awareness to and self-regulate their use of devices during class time. For example, suggest that students reflect at the beginning of class on what might distract them, and to choose to set that aside during class.
- Give tech breaks. Students multitask for social and emotional reasons, even when they know it disrupts their learning. Try giving students a break to satisfy the social and emotional motivators of technology use.
- Give students a chance to learn away from their computers. For instance, have them draw a diagram, a concept map, or a picture to represent ideas rather than writing about them. Or have them look in their “natural environments” for examples related to what they are learning and take photos or post about them. Or have students get outside, with or without you (admittedly, a weather-contingent strategy).
- Surprise students. The routine of class can sometimes produce the doldrums. So mix things up. Stop class for a few minutes and have students stand up and stretch. Wear a silly hat or put a stuffed animal on your shoulder and see how long it takes for someone to point it out. (Then use that to talk about attention.) Play a video that seemingly has no connection to course content and ask students to find a connection. Those moments away from the routine can help shake students out of their stupor and redirect their attention back to learning.
Mixing it up to re-energize ourselves and our students is what Spark-It Week is all about. (Don’t forget to go the Spark-It page for many more ideas.)
And remember: The three-dimensional world is still an important learning tool.
Your colleagues in all dimensions,
Dea and Doug