By LEX DROZD and CHRISTINA FRASHER
“Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About it” (2020) by James Lang examines the phenomenon of distraction and discusses the larger considerations of what attention embodies in our current times. Lang argues that our constant access to digital devices and information can lead not only to distraction but also to anxiety and a lack of critical thinking skills. But he says banning technology is not the answer.
Lang contends that this trend is not only a threat to our individual well-being but also to the well-being of society as a whole. Lang’s book, however, argues that we may not necessarily be more distracted than in the past. rather we are just noticing it more. This increased awareness can inspire us to make different pedagogical adjustments to nourish learning.
While the book was completed just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lang’s analysis of attention and suggested means to improve our instructional approaches to fostering attention are even more relevant now, including in our online and asynchronous environments.
At the onset of the book, Lang discusses the historical and philosophical underpinnings of attention and distraction, and how our modern society has contributed to the changing nature of attention. The more valuable aspects of the text are further in, where he offers a variety of attention-building and attention-sustaining practices.
Lang closes with suggestions for attracting attention and integrating contemplative-based activities to foster attention. As we wind down during the spring semester and begin to reflect on our teaching over the past semester and academic year, Lang offers three key themes that are of value for our pedagogical growth. These themes include intentional methods to cultivate attention, creating boundaries around and assessing attention, and reflective methods to attract our attention.
Community-building and cultivating curiosity
The bigger idea of “Distracted” is Lang’s guidance that we “need to turn our heads away from distraction and toward attention.” As the text shares, we commonly believe that the more extroverted our personality the more we can grab our student’s attention. Lang contradicts this idea and instead supports the claim that building community and connection in our classrooms is the key to attracting our student’s attention. Whether we are building community at the beginning of our courses or reviving that community at the beginning of a class in which we may need our students to be more connected to each other, building those learning relationships with each other fosters a deeper ability to be attentive to our learning.
Ways we can build community include packing in multiple opportunities for students to engage with each other early in the semester. These can be multiple ice-breakers, games and creating opportunities for students to work in pairs and small groups.
Lang’s simple suggestion of using student names supports increased student attention and it demonstrates that we value that student’s specific presence in the learning environment and want them to participate.
In the virtual Zoom environment, rename yourself and include pronouns if you are comfortable and encourage your students to do the same. In Canvas, use your pronouns if you’re comfortable, and share how to do so, so your students can identify themselves if they wish.
When you contribute to the discussion board, or during weekly announcements, call out students who did well or made positive contributions, by name. Creating a space in which students can connect in discussion board posts, written assignments, and creative interactive assignments such as H5P or Perusall you can solicit more interaction as well.
Structuring and assessing attention
Additionally, Lang encourages us to consider ways in which we can structure and assess attention. One reason our attention can waiver even during the most engaging lectures is that our attention needs multiple opportunities for renewal. He discusses a variety of studies on student attention and primarily features suggestions for changing the activities over the course of a class period.
Lang’s in-class strategy of switching, sometimes back and forth, from passive techniques like lectures to active techniques like discussions and demonstrations supports students’ engagement. These activities encourage instructors to be present to the learning processes of their students and engage moment-to-moment with students.
This type of change in activities is possible and even expected in asynchronous online environments though the specific activities will naturally differ. It is easy to shift students from watching videos, even ones you record yourself, to reading articles, to discussion, and then to quizzes and tests. Zoom provides the opportunity for polls and breakout rooms, while Canvas offers surveys, quizzes, and discussions.
To increase group interaction and feedback, you can hold peer reviews in Zoom breakout rooms, and Canvas offers peer reviews on discussions and assignments. Canvas also offers the ability to put students into groups for collaboration, and these groups have their own announcements, discussion boards, pages, collaborations and files.
When varying the activities and moving from one to another, it is important to keep a consistent organization and structure. In all learning environments, we can consider engagement best practices to help structure our attention-building activities. You can do this by using modules and repeating elements. Familiarity and predictability make it easier to navigate the online format and reduce anxiety and cognitive load.
Consistency enables students to know what to expect and stay engaged, and a consistent layout and design make your course more accessible and enhance your communication with students. Consistent structure across modules aids in facilitated learning transfer, where students draw connections between different modules. Finally, consistency in course design makes it easier for students to process and retain information and enables instructors to create more effective and engaging online experiences, and having a clear organizational structure helps frame the course and highlight important information, resources and tools.
Lang makes a number of suggestions about slideshow presentations that are valid for video and lecture presentations. He highlights the attention-grabbing power of visual elements such as images and graphic design, stressing the importance of making the images and graphics instructive instead of seductive or decorative. This is particularly important in synchronous and asynchronous online environments, where images can easily distract. Lang recommends decluttering slides of text and adding images and graphics to captivate the interest of our visually-oriented minds.
Contemplation and compassion
A third theme of the book encourages a mindful and compassionate approach to our teaching, one which fosters the “mindful attitudes and actions of the teacher.” We can do this by utilizing mindful or contemplative practices to attract both our own and our student’s attention to the tasks or materials at hand. Mindful or contemplative practices encourage a holistic experience of our teaching and learning processes and encourage us to connect meaningfully to our courses. Considering a mindful or contemplative approach to our teaching not only facilitates a deepened attentiveness to our learning but also supports our well-being as instructors.
We can cultivate attention in the online classroom by inviting reflection in the instructional activities we create. One helpful method for creating introspection and reflection is the use of journals. Students can engage in reflective journal assignments in both in-person and online learning environments.
Additionally, it is important to consider a compassionate approach to both our own processes and those of our students and to remember there are many factors at work in facilitating attention. Some of these factors may include our students’ well-being or the acknowledgment that students may be coping with trauma and therefore struggling with emotional overwhelm that inhibits their learning. We are all beings with distractible minds and it’s natural to seek a more comfortable response when we have a lot on our plates. What our students need is our support as instructors to manage the direction and structure of their attention so that they may be successful in offering their unique ideas and abilities to our collective learning environments.
“Distracted” offers a valuable opportunity to reexamine our pedagogical strategies across different learning environments. Lang’s imperative that our approach to attention should be to focus on cultivating it rather than being preoccupied with preventative strategies can serve as motivation for all of our teaching practices. Finally, having compassion for ourselves and our students during these continually changing times will support our attention-seeking endeavors as a compassionate response will encourage us to try again whenever we’ve lost our focus.
Lex Drozd is a senior instructional designer and Christina Frasher is a teaching consultant in the University Center for Teaching and Learning.