Could Checking Facebook in Class Help Students Focus?

It may sound counterintuitive to use technology—the very thing that’s so distracting—to help students focus, but Rosen says his tech break concept “works amazingly.” For every half-hour of focused work, he recommends allowing a 15-minute tech break. Once a students sees that nothing is happening on Facebook or send a friend that critical text message—they’re able to refocus, he says.

The problem is that schools and colleges aren’t set up to accommodate tech breaks, no matter how effective they are. A professor teaching an hour-long economics class isn’t going to tack on two 15-minute breaks for students to play Angry Birds or tweet. Middle and high school schedules are equally inflexible, and they’re further constricted by state-mandated curricula.

But technological distractions aren’t going away any time soon, so it might not be a bad idea for teachers and professors to give students a mini-break—just a minute or two—to text or check their email every once in awhile. It might not be the ideal solution, but if it helps tech-addicted students refocus on what’s going on, it’s worth a shot.

» via GOOD

(Source: infoneer-pulse)