This week, we had fun reading cell phone policies and the effects of multitasking with critical writing. Regarding cell phone policies, even John Warner states, “When at a faculty meeting, and I have my laptop open, no one is ordering me to close it. I am trusted to pay attention to what needs paying attention to.” This is how all teachers should proceed, regardless of whether the student is paying attention. That is on the student, as we are all adults. There are moments you, as a teacher, want to text your partner or kid, and it’s human. Now, I have a teacher who enforces this policy – a psych professor. He believes taking notes on your computer doesn’t work, and multitasking on your phone distracts you. So what he does is we have a total of two essays due a week. You don’t have to do the essay if you come on time and hand in your phone. The whole class hands in their phone because it’s a win/ win situation. It’s honestly the longest, most boring class of my life. Our brains need a break, and we are constantly overstimulated. It is what it is, even if you’re checking the time. Regarding the cell phone policy, I would tell teachers to go with what they feel is best for their students and come up with ways if they’d like, whatever floats the boat!
Flowing from cellphones to multitasking, which is why I believe the teachers are trying to ban computers from the classroom because students believe they can be on their computers while listening to lectures. Research states that multitasking contributes to cognitive overload through too much information on supply and demand, interruptions, and inadequate infrastructure, thus increasing the need for planning, monitoring, reminding, and reclassifying information. I like to look at it energetically; you see when we channel all our energy on one thing – imagine yourself having 3 cups of water and only a gallon. If you fill one cup, you’ll have a full cup. However, if you try to disperse one gallon to three cups, you’ll have less than 1/3 of the cup. The same thing goes with multitasking; it will be awful when you aren’t putting 100% of your energy into listening, doing an assignment, or writing a piece. Why? Because you were watching TV while writing, you left your flow state. Now, you are writing simply to write and give 50% of your energy instead of 100%. Yet, I believe multitasking for school doesn’t work in certain environments, and I’ve found myself flying. When I used to work as a bartender, I had the bar and tables all by myself. So I would come from taking orders, taking drinks, making drinks, serving food, and speaking to customers at the same time and ended up burnt out by the end of the night, haha. In the end, at our age, this is the perfect time to explore all the craziness and see what works and what doesn’t 🙂
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