Although the new digital age we live in brings many new tools which help the classroom, there are also many new distractions. In The Distracted Classroom, James Lang goes over one such distraction that is present in the every day classroom. That distraction being cellphones and the many other additions that come with them. In this weeks reading, Lang has many good personal examples of how phones operate and distract in the classroom.
I realized that she was gazing inside her purse, where her phone had been carefully positioned to allow her to see any texts that arrived during class.-Lang
This statement by Lang stuck out to me for a simple key reason, I have been in this situation before. I did this tactic a whole lot in community college, but instead of using a perse I positioned my phone just right on my bookbag. Checking my messages until I got one from someone I needed to respond to. The student in question Lang talks about does not even respond to her messages, but they still distract her with her phone being in just perfect view. Most classes I have had at App while not being fans of phones, have no penalties for people being on their phones. This is not the case for the community college I attended with many teachers penalizing class participation, or in some cases removing people from class altogether. To me, students should not be penalized for being on their phones, as it is their decision to take their focus off of class.
They diminish our ability to direct and sustain our attention, to remember things, and to switch back and forth between tasks.-Lang
This statement stuck out to me with how it once again relates to me. I am quite the distracted school student. A friend of mine once stating “Luke I cant imagine how you get anything done at all” after I procrastinated on thirty minutes of math homework. When I do school work, I have to put my phone in another room. If I don’t ill get the urge to “look at one thing” then thirty minutes later I’ll finally be getting back to work. Some people I know are able to work with their phones, to mostly play music but I cannot do this either. If music starts playing I’ll then get the urge to either change songs, or look up background info regarding the song or artist in question. Overall, me and phones do not do well together when doing school work. This isn’t just me though, as I asked my roommates on their opinions regarding phones and school work and they each had a separate answer. One said he could do it no problem, the other said that he can do his school work if he doesn’t go on YouTube (thanks YouTube shorts), and finally my last roommate said he needs to turn his phone off to do work. Overall, phone distraction affects everyone in different ways.
Most of us can shut out distractions when we are pursuing something that really matters to us.-Lang
This final quote is important not only to educators, but it can honestly apply to anyone. While distractions to many can be an honestly tough opponent, with it hindering school work or any other types of work in general. When it comes to something you are very passionate about, distractions many times seem to be weakened. The biggest help distractions get is when you are doing a task you do not want to do, this is why it and school goes hand in hand. As I mentioned previously, I was extremely distracted when it came to my math homework. I have never been a math guy so it is my least favorite subject. On the other hand, when it comes to history classes I am extremely focused. My passion and love for history helps me get through the distractions. While the distractions still exist, they are not as rough as when I am doing a topic I am not interested in at all.
