LTEC 642: Week 4

September 22, 2014

Attention, multitasking, authenticity

My thoughts on Multitasking

In the article “You’ll Never Learn!” experts from psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience suggest that when students multitask while doing schoolwork, their learning is far spottier and shallow than if the work had their full attention. (Paul, 2013)

The evidence found would support the notion that I have always entertained, which is it is difficult to listen to a lecture (schoolwork) and e-mail. In my view, one or the other will suffer in the process of multitasking. Listening to a lecture requires “active listening.” For learning to happen while listening to a lecture, active listening is required. However, trying to engage in multiple activities effects the learning process and learning then becomes “spottier and shallow” because of the lack of full attention.

 E-mail too requires attention to content: to scan, read, and/or compose message content. If in the case of e-mail, I do not apply my full and undivided attention, the message content, syntax, and spelling is often at risk of error.

Since I am not a “supertasker” with some rare ability to engage in a series of tasks at once, I am relegated to accept my humble state of being as a “unitasker.”

Reference

Paul, A. M. (2013, May 3). You’ll never learn! Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.single.html

Crap Detection 101

Currency, Reliability, Authority, Purpose/Point of View

The first thing we all need to know about information online is how to detect crap, a technical term I use for information tainted by ignorance, inept communication, or deliberate deception.

(Rheingold, H., 2009).

In reviewing my weekly e-mail, which incidentally is more than two hundred + each week, I would estimate 40% to be substantive and 60% to follow along the lines of unsolicited marketing/advertisement, deliberate deception and e-mail tainted by ignorance and assumptions. Wading through much of it is time consuming, tedious, and cumbersome.

Filters

So, how do I filter the incoming e-mail for currency, reliability, authority and purpose/point of view?

First and foremost, I check how relevant the information being sent is to me. For example, I receive a tremendous sum of invitations to webinars and the like, many of which are hit and miss and not particularly relevant to my life. I first filter for currency. Next, delete.

Reliability, authority, and purpose come next. Much of the e-mail I receive isn’t from reliable sources.

Hence, with an eye for all the elements that make up “CRAP”, I move with a sense of purpose to eliminate all the unnecessary and unsolicited marketing/advertisement and outright deceptive e-mail.

Unfortunately, it is a sign of the times that we now live, which ultimately creates a heightened sense of filtering.

In short, my guard is up as I thwart the constant barrage of information and filter for currency, reliability, authority and purpose. 

Reference

Rheingold, H. (2009, June 30). Crap detection 101. Retrieved from http://blog.sfgate.com/rheingold/2009/06/30/crap-detection-101/