Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Are you distracted?

Distraction: noun

  1. 1.
    a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.
    "the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight"
Growing up in America today is to be a part of a society that is rapidly and constantly changing. The fact is you are surrounded by technology and information and spend a large portion of your time interacting with it. But what is it doing to your brain?

As we saw from the video in class, our brains are not wired for multi-tasking. Some tasks require more concentration than others and when we switch between many tasks we lose focus. 

Specific Instructions:  For this post think about something you do that requires your full attention. Then think about your habits with technology while trying to concentrate. Do you listen to music while doing homework? Is that bad? Do you respond to texts while doing homework? Then go online and find evidence to support  your response. Please include the link to the site you use in your response. -5 points if you respond with no link. Do not copy other people's posts, ideas or links. You will get a 0 for plagiarizing.

If you missed the video in class please watch the first 8:40 minutes of this documentary:


Sample post: 
I like to listen to music while I do homework. It helps me to relax and focus. After reading this article (https://gradeslam.org/blog/does-listening-to-music-help-with-studying) I learned...

4 comments:

  1. When I do my homework, I normally listen to classical music. Listening to the music while I study helps me to stay on task and keeps e from getting frustrated. According to http://elitedaily.com/music/music-news/listening-to-music-while-you-study-makes-you-smarter/ studies show that listening to music stimulates learning and enhances concentration. Clinical Psychologist Dr. Emma Gray concluded that students who listen to music while studying for math, English, drama, art, and language their test score will be higher than students who did not listen to music. Listening to classical music while I study has a positive effect on my grades.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I usually watch television while doing homework, and I enjoy it a lot. I find it extremely distracting to listen to music while I do homework, because I always end up wanting to sing along and not pay attention to what I'm doing. However, as I read on (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/03/AR2006090300592.html), many studies have proven that multitasking, especially as an adolescent trying to do homework, can have many harmful effects. It would probably be a good idea from now on to do my homework with no distractions around me, but personally I find the whole experience very calming, and I don't feel as stressed by the work I have to do when General Hospital is on in the background.

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I do my homework I like to listen to music. It helps me focus and makes homework a little more enjoyable. According to http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2012/10/08/does-music-help-you-study/ an experiment was conducted where a test was taken in a quiet environment and an environment with music. The test scores were higher in a quiet environment. This shows me that my homework should probably be done in a quiet environment. This probably won't change the way I do work but it was interesting to learn that I actually can't do many things at once.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I often listen to instrumental music when I do my homework, as I find that it helps me focus. As shown here (http://education.seattlepi.com/effects-music-students-schoolwork-2153.html) listening to classical/soothing music can actually help you retain knowledge. It's slightly mollifying to know that my study habits are secure.

    ReplyDelete