Technology, despite being widely used and incorporated into everyday use, is not as worth the side-effects as we think. Many writers who use computers often cite the perks of social media as a writer’s downfall. They lose hours to doom scrolling, just as I lose hours to YouTube or Tumblr.
This is not a new phenomenon, though it is only recently that I have come to have a negative view of technology for writers. As John Warner noted in “Rethinking My Cell Phone/Computer Policy” and Travis Bradberry found in “Multitasking Damages Your Brain and Career, New Studies Suggest” technology and the habits it creates do far more harm than good.
Warner
Warner, as a professor, walks the tightrope between wanting engagement in his classroom and treating his students like the adults they are. He also makes a point to admit to his own shortcomings when it comes to technology use. “I tell myself that I am banning laptops and phones for the students’ own good, which is true, but I can’t deny that the policy is also for me.”, he declares, a veneer of guilt overlying the words. It’s heavy with a rather ungenerous assumption. After all, when a professor can get distracted easily, how can we expect students to fare better?
Bradberry
Meanwhile, Bradberry falls back onto published data to make his point about what ills technology brings. Multitasking, that all important skill college students know well, is damaging and harmful. A writer’s downfall, it seems, is in the very tool we’ve welcomed into classrooms. “So every time you multitask you aren’t just harming your performance in the moment; you may very well be damaging an area of your brain that’s critical to your future success at work.” Bradberry asserts, and it’s this that gets attention. In order to use technology in classrooms, we always contend with multitasking. Is it any wonder, then, that our focus seems to get worse as time goes on? The effects of harmful patterns do, unfortunately, show themselves.
An Opinion from a Writing Tutor
It’s literally my job to help students with their academic writing. While I never claim to be an expert, I have enough experience dealing with students to add to the discussion. Students are less able to write and get less done due to trying to multitask while writing. Often in sessions a student who is writing or researching will pull out their phone and check social media. If a friend calls, they answer. It’s done without a thought to the writing session, that they’re there because they need help.
It impacts their writing quality as well, leading to rushed work. My students bring up many issues during their writing sessions with me. To them, I tell them I try not to check my phone and leave it on vibrate. I recognize this is an old-fashioned and hypocritical take on technology. I myself am guilty of needing consistent and constant noise, even when I write.
Yet, I dedicate time to review my work without it, to see what happens if I free up my brain space. Warner says he won’t change his classroom policy, and I agree with him. That ability, that need for focus is becoming a rapidly dwindling skill. Bradberry all but begs people to stop multitasking while they work-I find this a harder ask, but one that I’m becoming willing to try all the same.
For further discussion on technology and writing, visit our class blog.
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