25th April 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Can students really revise at the same time as chatting on social media on their phones? That’s the question asked in a recent BBC article about whether having the internet at your fingertips is harming or helping students’ ability to learn, particularly at this time; peak revision time for school students.
Tom Bennett is a parent, teacher, and the government’s advisor on behaviour at school, and he says that’s it’s a myth to suggest that students can multitask between studying and using their phones. Revision needs focus and concentration, and all the evidence points to the fact that online distractions affect the ability to learn. He describes this as a “serious concern” for parents and teachers, and says that teenagers can have an addictive response to their phones and the desire to respond to social media.
One of the issues is that online entertainment and sources of learning can be found in the same place. When students struggling to understand something they often turn to their computers or smartphones, but that’s also where they can chat with friends or view other social media. The lines can become even more blurred when you consider that chatting with a school friend might be a combination of socialising and also discussing their studies.
So what’s the solution? The temptation is for parents simply to tell students to switch off their mobile, but this is unrealistic and may lead to a bad reaction; students will be occupied by the thoughts of what they’re missing. Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, a lecturer in education at UCL says that a better idea is for parents to ask “How are things going online?” in an attempt to persuade students of the importance of focussing, and helping them to realise the dangers of being distracted from their studies.