One of the core skills Henry Jenkins and a team of researchers identified as necessary for meaningful participation in new media is multitasking. Jenkins, in an introduction to an interview with Linda Stone, recognizes “that many regard multitasking as a form of distraction which fragments the attention” but is necessary for coping with the immense information flow we all face. A key component, according to Jenkins and his findings, is managing attention: “... [S]hifting it as needed between modes which involve scanning their environment for meaningful inputs (like a hunter) and focusing closely on a specific domain (like a farmer).”
Managing attention is one of the focus points of Stone’s research, resulting in the notion of “continuous partial attention” and, more recently, “conscious computing.” Jenkins quotes Stone on the impact of new media on attention: “Attention is the most powerful tool of the human spirit. We can enhance or augment our attention with practices like meditation and exercise, diffuse it with technologies like email and Blackberries, or alter it with phamaceuticals. In the end, though, we are fully responsible for how we choose to use this extraordinary tool.” Stone goes on to eloquently describe continual partial attention as chasing fireflies when she says, “Every stray input was a firefly. And every firefly was examined to determine if it burned more brightly than the one in hand.”
Stone observes that the digital immigrants—the olds, those that used technology solely for productivity and creativity gains—were outgunned by the digital natives, the youngs, who took the technology tools further—into the realm of personal empowerment through communications and networking. Where digital immigrants multitasked by diverting attention between tasks, digital natives were hyper alert and truly attending to several tasks simultaneously.
Now comes Matt Richtel’s “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction” for the New York Times, outlining how young people seem to be using new media and technology as distraction devices. Richtel argues the distraction side of true multitasking, seemingly missing the hyper alertness identified by Stone. “But computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning,” writes Richtel. I suspect this yet another case of a digital immigrant writing about the misunderstood behavior of digital natives, to use Stone’s terminology. Richtel digs the hole even deeper when he writes, “Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks—and less able to sustain attention.”
Recent studies indicate that the brain needs downtime in a manner similar to the way body needs sleep. Imaging studies reveal that the brain becomes very active during downtime. Researchers believe these periods are crucial for allowing the brain to synthesize information by making connections between various ideas. Richtel quotes a Harvard Medical School practitioner as saying, “Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body. But kids are in a constant mode of stimulation.” The solution? Boredom.
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