Attention
You can read about the Attention Matters! project in this free e-book:
http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/useoftech
Miller, M. D., & Doherty, J. J. (2018). Online activities for teaching students about technology, distraction, and learning. In R. Harnish (Ed.), The Impact of Technology on How Instructors Teach and How Students Learn. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
It's also described here:
Attention Matters! A freestanding resource to teach students about attention and multitasking
And here:
Miller, M.D., Doherty, J.J., Butler, N., & Coull, W. (2020). Changing counterproductive beliefs about attention, memory, and multitasking: Impacts of a brief, fully online module. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 34, 710-723. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3662
Contact Michelle Miller for more information about Attention Matters! or to get a free copy you can use to build your own version of the module.
Change blindness is a surprising effect that can be used to start discussion about the limitations of attention and how little we remember when we aren't paying full attention. Here are some demonstrations of change blindness:
J.K. O'Regan's change blindness demonstrations
Daniel Simon's visual cognition demonstrations (change blindness, inattentional blindness)
Cell Phone Response Time Demonstration: This is described on page 50 of Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology. To do the demonstration, set up a chain reaction where one student taps their neighbor, that student then taps their neighbor, and so forth until the tap travels all the way around the class. Time this while students are fully focused on it. Then, tell them to pull out their cell phones and text (or call) a friend. Time this. The tap should take a lot longer to travel around the class when students are distracted.
Here is a video that uses the issue of texting while driving to point out the limitations of attention:
And, here is a wonderful book that talks about the scientific basis of illusions that happen due to attention and memory:
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simon
Here are a set of blog posts and articles debating the value of various approaches to managing classroom distractions:
A new replication study revives the question: Is taking notes by hand really better for students?
Laptops are Great, but Not During a Lecture or Meeting
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking
Let’s Ban the Classroom Technology Ban
On Banning Laptops...Again. (Sigh)
Making Disability Part of the Conversation: Combatting Inaccessible Spaces and Logics
Addiction, Accommodation, and Better Solutions to the Laptop Problem
Distracted Classroom Series
Here's an article with another perspective on device bans:
Berry, M. J., Westfall, A., Berry, M. J., & Westfall, A. (2017). Dial D for Distraction : The making and breaking of cell phone policies in the college classroom. College Teaching, 63(2), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2015.1005040
Here is some additional research on technology, attention and distraction, particularly among college students:
Bowman, L. L., Levine, L. E., Waite, B. M., & Gendron, M. (2010). Can students really multitask? An experimental study of instant messaging while reading. Computers & Education, 54(4), 927-931.
Bullen, M., Morgan, T., & Qayyum, A. (2011). Digital learners in higher education: Generation is not the issue. Canadian Journal Of Learning And Technology, 37(1), 1-24.
Duncan, D. K., Hoekstra, A. R., & Wilcox, B. R. (2012). Digital devices, distraction, and student performance: Does in-class cell phone use reduce learning? Astronomy Education Review, 11(1), 010108-1-010108-4.
Finley, J.R., Benjamin, A.S., & McCarley, J.S. (2014). Metacognition of multitasking: How well do we predict the costs of divided attention? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Advance online publication.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xap0000010
Junco, R. (2012). In-class multitasking and academic performance. Computers In Human Behavior, 28(6), 2236-2243. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.031
Junco, R., & Cotten, S. R. (2011). Perceived academic effects of instant messaging use. Computers & Education, 56(2), 370-378.
Junco, R., & Cotten, S. R. (2012). No A 4 U: The relationship between multitasking and academic performance. Computers & Education, 59(2), 505-514.
Koutropoulos, A. (2011). Digital natives: Ten years after. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 7 (4), 525-538.Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education, 6224-31. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.003
Here is a video describing another approach to combatting in-class distraction:
Reducing and Redirecting Mind-Wandering (6:04)