Some students were wanting to listen to their iPods in class today so I directed them to my ‘iPods in class’ post. It sparked up the whole multitasking thing and the cry went up “but females can!” I tried to explain the research vs the myth thing but myths are very strong and the appreciation (and willingness?) of twelve year olds for the intricacies of scientific research were, well, limited. It did get me thinking though. Sometimes in a desire to simplify a message to make it easier to to communicate it ends up being distorted. It is said there is beauty in simplicity but in my opinion it is more often found in the complexity.

See, the brain can’t multitask period. Check out the Brain Rules or the many other places this is discussed. So when you are “multitasking” your brain is actually switching between tasks very quickly. In effect it puts one thing on autopilot while it pays attention to another and then repeats the cycle. If the things you are doing are relatively mundane and well practiced the performance hit you suffer is often not noticeable (e.g. walking slowly to the couch while watching TV and sipping that hot chocolate you just made.) But if you add some unpredictability (e.g. 2 year old racing down the hall trying to beat you to the couch) it becomes quite obvious. There’s a reason why it’s illegal to talk on a phone while driving. From a teaching and learning perspective recall and creativity suffer similar performance hits. Go figure.

Another iPhone Desktop Wallpaper

Originally uploaded by Sigalakos

Student asked me if she should get an iPhone. Her Uncle has offered to buy her one. I told her if it was that or nothing get it. What are you nuts?!
But seriously, she said she uses her phone a fair bit and loves listening to her iPod. She currently has a Touch which she likes a lot and figures if she can slim down to one device it’s a bonus. I agreed. But who’s paying for the plan GF?
I was asked the inevitable question “Would you get one?” and I got to thinking.
Probably not.
Biggest obstacle at the moment would be cost. I can’t justify the expense (although salary sacrifice would be an option) and would find it hard to give up my Treo. I know a lot of people rag out on Palm and think the Treo is outdated etc but I quite like it. (I go into this in more detail here) I guess I don’t make or receive many calls and primarily use the PDA functions on my Treo680 so the iPhone doesn’t register for me at the minute. The ActivSync plugin might change that somewhat if I could get my email anywhere on campus easily but I still have my laptop and don’t really like to be contacted that much…
Besides, I need the Palm platform to run Turbostats so I can take stats on my basketball games.
Deal-breaker right there people.

These experts have some basic advice. Check e-mail messages once an hour, at most. Listening to soothing background music while studying may improve concentration. But other distractions — most songs with lyrics, instant messaging, television shows — hamper performance. Driving while talking on a cellphone, even with a hands-free headset, is a bad idea.

Now this may not be news to some. Franklin-Covey, Merlin Mann, David Allen and other productivity experts have been saying this for some time.
“The human brain can only do one thing at a time with excellence” or something like that.
The key here is “with excellence”. Menial or “automated” tasks are a different kettle of fish.

Teens Can Multitask, But What Are Costs? – washingtonpost.com

Poldrack said imaging showed that different parts of the brain were active depending on whether the subjects did single or multiple tasks. When subjects were focused on sorting, the hippocampus — the part of the brain responsible for storing and recalling information — was engaged. But when they were multitasking, that part of the brain was quiet and the part of the brain used to master repetitive skills — the striatum — was active.

If we’re talking any form of higher order thinking then multitasking is a myth.
The Multitasking Mess – Departments – UCLA Magazine Online

In other words, if you or your kids want to learn something permanently and usefully, do something very old school: Shut up, sit still, and pay attention.

Consider it debunked as of now.
Next!