Multitasking Homework, Facebook, & Texting

Consider the following questions:

• Are you “working” on homework right now?
• Is your Facebook page open? How long have you been on there?
• How many times have you opened a new tab outside of your school work in the last hour?
• Is your phone within your reach? How many times have you checked for messages in the last hour? How many messages or phone calls have you sent/made?
• If you are not by your phone, have you felt anxious wondering if you’ve missed any texts or messages?

If you have answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, you are acting no differently than most other college students. On average, it takes college students only ten minutes of on-task work before switching to a new task – and many times this this “new task” involves our phones or favorite websites.

• 75% of college students check their phones for texts at least every hour.
• 35% of college students check sites like Facebook at least once every hour.
• 41% of college students feel anxious if they aren’t able to check their phone.
• 20% of college students feel anxious if they aren’t able to check their Facebook.

Most college students understand that this constant change of attention increases the length of time it takes to complete tasks and detracts from deep analytical thinking and processing. But did you know it can have a negative effect on your overall grades as well? 

Current research suggests that students who spend more time “using information and communication technologies while doing homework” have lower grades. Additionally, students who use Facebook or text during class are more likely to do worse on exams than students who don’t do either of these things. One study found that the overall GPA will drop .12 points for every 93 minutes spent above the normal 1 hour and 45 minutes spent on Facebook each day. 

Take an inventory of your own technology use. Are your multitasking efforts detracting to your overall studies or performance? What is the answer to this – to avoid multitasking all-together?

One study stated, “’The bottom line is that our students are multitasking and we cannot stop them without placing them in a boring, unmotivating environment. The trick is to develop educational models that allow for appropriate multitasking and that improve learning.’ These models include a combination of technology breaks and metacognitive skills that will teach student focus and attention, delayed gratification and knowing when multitasking is appropriate and when it may interfere with the learning process.” 

Set goals or a time limit before you check your Facebook or the score, wait before you send a text, and don’t be afraid to turn off your phone or close your additional tabs. Not only will you finish your homework sooner and comprehend your reading more, but in the end, your grades will be better too!
 

Sources:
Larry D. Rosen, L. Mark Carrier, Nancy A. Cheever, Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 29, Issue 3, May 2013, Pages 948-958, ISSN 0747-5632, 10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.001. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563212003305)