Trying to Multitask Well? Just Focus on One Thing

One of the myths of modern life is that we can multitask, that we can perform multiple tasks simultaneously and competently. According to research by Stanford Professor Clifford Nass (otherwise known as the multitasking scholar), people learn and perform much better when they focus on one thing at a time. The reasoning is that when we multitask, we merely jump from one task to another, rather than focusing our attention, effort, and energy on one task from inception to completion. Human attention follows certain wavelengths; when interrupted or demanded to perform many tasks all at once, Professor Nass’s research suggests that our attention malfunctions.

However, as a college student, I observe that multitasking is a ubiquitous practice among my peers. We seemingly do not have enough time in the day to finish our assignments, so we find the benefits of multitasking alluring, and we delude ourselves in the process. Most of us grew up in the era of technology so we do not even know how to take notes in the traditional way of pen and paper, and we are married to our devices as if technological progress is always conducive to human flourishing. It isn’t. According to University of Pennsylvania Professor Daniel Wagner, with whom I have the privilege of studying, the most important question to ask about technology and education is simple: “What educational problem can this technology solve?” I wonder if surfing Facebook during lectures is designed to facilitate learning because it often inhabits it.

What is annoying in college classrooms is when other students are browsing Facebook or Instagram during lectures, thereby distracting students sitting nearby. Research published in Computers & Education shows that students are less likely to learn when sitting next to a student whose computer windows are active and therefore distracting. Professors who are aware of this literature ban students from using a laptop or electronic devices during class because individual behavior can distract the attention of other students in the class. However, in large lecture halls, it is often hard for professors to simply prevent students from using devices because students sitting in the back might not see the visual aids displayed on the big screen.

When Professor Nass was a dorm advisor at Stanford University, he noted the impact of social media on hampering our social and emotional growth, especially on how we empathize with people. We need to learn the complexity of navigating in-person human communication because that is essential to how we connect as a species. College is indeed the time when students can be exposed not only to new ideas but to different people—especially in U.S. colleges and universities that attract the best talent from across the world.

Unfortunately, according to a survey, many college students are keeping to themselves socially, and not interacting with new students, which hinders their ability to develop intercultural communication skills. Colleges and universities are not only responsible for providing cognitive learning materials for students; they are also entrusted with the emotional and social development of the future of tomorrow. This indeed posed a complex issue for leaders in higher education during Covid-19 where they had to make tough decisions on whether to open or close campus.

In conclusion, technology can help when and if properly used. But when we use technology indiscriminately, it may hamper our ability to learn. Technology cannot replace the messiness of face-to-face communication. It cannot change the nature of human attention to solely focus on one task at a time. We certainly have a choice to make as we continue to engage with new technologies that are produced with stunning rapidity. We can either ask: “What educational problems does this technology solve?” Or we can blindly consume technology at the detriment of our progress as individuals and as a society.