Driving Question 1: Is it sustainable that we continue on our current path of technological development? 

Description: 

The Stolen Focus podcast explored how the development of technology, particularly of mobile phones and social media, is impacting our attention spans and brain activity. It argued that our attention is being pulled in too many directions too quickly, hurting our ability to focus on any one thing or think deeply. This caused me to reflect on the impacts of technological development on us as individuals and as a collective

Feelings: 

The podcast and my reflections on our current path of technological development triggered a sense of clarity at trends of declining attention and deep thinking I have noticed in my own life. I felt relief that my own issues were widespread and had clear structural causes, rather than being purely a personal failure. It left me feeling hardened and determined through its discussion of different ways in which people can reclaim their focus, attention, and thinking abilities.

Evaluation:

Our current path of technological development seems to be unsustainable, as it is severely inhibiting our wellbeing as a species. While technology has increased our access to art, knowledge, and each other, the overload of stimuli has so severely reduced our attention span that many can’t engage properly anymore, trading the quality of our minds for the supposed scope of its attention.

Analysis

Hari’s argument that we have not adapted to technology and are instead cannibalising our cognitive abilities goes strongly against the idea of the digital native, made famous by Perensky (2001). The idea purports that the digital landscape is a language, only understood and spoken effectively by the generation which grew up on it. However, despite the influence of the idea, the evidence is weak. Kirschner and De Bruyckere (2017) argue that the scientific evidence is strongly against the idea that humans can multitask effectively. My own experience of trying to plan or send messages while listening to content aligns seems to demonstrate that you simply end up tuning one of the two tasks out, only to realise once you complete the other that you have missed information.

Conclusion

Overall, I find that I agree with Hari’s perspective on how technology is impacting our attention, focus, and thinking ability. My own experience suggests to me that attempting to absorb information while multitasking either reduces the quality of learning, or prevents it from occurring at all. I found that the literature and research supports Hari’s idea that constant distractions are killing our ability to think deeply on single topics, or spend energy on longer endeavours which require continued focus, regardless of how meaningful they may be.

Action Plan

My actions as a future teacher will be influenced by these findings. Instead of assuming that all students are equally capable and willing to use technology to effectively supplement their learning, I will structure lessons so that there is one clear focus at a time. When delivering content I plan on having students use pen and paper to take notes and actively foster class discussions to improve retention of information and foster deep and critical thinking about the topic. When tasks requiring technology come up, I will advise students of practices to use in order to be effective in their research, and actively move around the classroom to track whether or not they are on task, rather than assuming that they are singularly focused.

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive/johann-hari-stolen-focus/13719046

References:

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816

Kirschner, P. A., & De Bruyckere, P. (2017). The myths of the digital native and the multitasker. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.001