“How often have you heard someone say ?kids today learn differently-they multitask constantly.? The implication often drawn is that kids ?need? to multitask in order to be engaged, or perhaps we should even say that that?s how they think best.”

I also have read,  the brains of today kids are different due to their ability of multi-tasking. Implying that they process information different from others who do not multi-task. Some going further by stating it is a permanent change.

It is best to stay on one task, such as doing homework, so it can be done right in the first place.

All of us know that when concentrating, distraction be it noise (music or television) or doing something else at the same time can cause errors, or slow down learning. 
So again this idea that multi-tasking is how young kids function is just nonsense that gullible people will buy into…
Also, child-centred learning means that classrooms are noisey.  How are children supposed to grasp a new idea with all the noise?
It’s actually surprising that 58% of the children do learn to read!

The WaPo item doesn’t mention Willingham’s source, but last summer a study from a Stanford University task force published some preliminary findings on multitasking. It found that multitasking diminished cognitive capacity, and that quality of performance was inversely related to the amount of “multitasking” engaged in.  It has also been shown that people who think they are “multitaskng” are fooling themselves: the brain processes only one cognitive task at a time, and when people think they are doing several things at once, they are actually switching back anf forth,  with loss of focus, attention and cognitive performance.

Some links to the Stanford study:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112334449 (you can listen to the interview)
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8219212.stm
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/21/0903620106.abstract
http://multitasking.stanford.edu/MM_FinalReport_030510.pdf
http://multitasking.stanford.edu/MultitaskingBackgroundPaper.pdf

This also goes back to perception/cognitive studies dating back to the 1950s on the “cocktail party” effect—where you can only concentrate on one conversation at time when you are in a mix of people.  It’s the same reason why you can’t make out what people are saying on TV or radio when they all talk at the same time.

I’m glad that some picked up on the effects of a noisy, active classroom.  The distractions can certainly cause serious learning problems:
http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2009/11/dyslexia_cocktail_party_effect.php

“Earlier behavioural studies suggested that a core deficit of developmental dyslexia is the inability to exclude background noise from the incoming stream of auditory information. The new work confirms this, and shows that the inability arises because neurons in the auditory brainstem do not fine-tune their responses to speech cues. As a result, dyslexic children apparently cannot filter out background noise, and so have difficulty paying attention in the noisy classroom environment.”

I can confirm that my child, has trouble filtering out background noise and has difficulty in doing her work, and even in listening inside a class. Through the psycho-educational assessment, this problem can be tested for. For my child, it is the third major problem. The number one accommodation, is having a quiet room to do tests, so they are not distracted by the classroom noises. Children like my child, always do much better in a quiet room, in terms of higher grades, compare to tests inside the classroom, and that is providing they have studied for the tests.

An accommodation that has been denied is the use of ear phones or ear plugs to block out the noise of the classroom, when doing work in the classroom.  Yet, the school will permit the use of MP3 players and i-pods, listening to music while the student is doing their work. That drives my child around the bend, listening to bits and pieces of music noise, especially if the students are near her.

At IEP meetings, often it becomes an issue because of the lack of understanding and knowledge on the teachers’ part, that noise of the classroom can seriously impact a child’s learning.

I read your comments, Nancy.  Your daughter is not the exception, but the rule:  no one can concentrate when distracted, but I guess some are better than others at concentrating.  Why teachers don’t understand common sense is beyond me, and if they can’t figure this out, I often wonder if they have ever been challenged in the academia themselves!  I have accepted that here, in Ontario at least, educrats’ goal is not to teach children—they seem to be focused elsewhere.  The whole system does not appear to be about teaching children, so it shows in their work; decisions made; choices in texts (if any); etc.  Consequently, taxpayers pay big bucks for a system that does a lousy job, and children are the victims.

There is effective measures that can be taken, without costs to the schools or even the classroom. It would be no skin off the noses of the educators, yet parents are handed excuses as to why. One excuse that is used often, is the real world does not work this way, and students should adjust to the noises and distractions that is outside of the classroom. House noise is very much different than class room noise. I much prefer the comfort of home noise, over any other environment. When I want my child to learn something at home, the noise of the TV or radio is turned down, or off, too concentrate on the task at hand. This way, I seldom ever have to repeat the lesson again.

The high school teachers are now listening to it, and they know if my child is not getting something, nine times out of ten, it is the noise factor getting in the way. Now they have taken measures when going over a concept with my child, to make sure it is face to face, and the annoying distractions are kept down to a dull roar. Some annoying distractions are the kids around her, tapping a pencil, or a foot, or whispering to each other. This year, the teachers are doing a great job with my child, and the outcome is, I am doing far less re-teaching of the day’s lessons. I hope it does continue, in grade 10.

But I still want the ear plugs for tests, and public exams. It is allowed in university but not in the high schools. It was allowed when I took exams in the gym of the high school. I have no idea how one can cheat with ear plugs in one’s ears, or a pair of ear phones that are not attached to any device in any shape or form. One cannot change a pair of ordinary ear phones into wireless ear phones.

I really like those tennis ball thingies you see on the feet of kids’ chairs in some classrooms.  I’ve always wondered, though, why someone didn’t decide a long time ago to put them on the feet of all classroom chairs as a matter of procedure.

Perhaps we have to gather scientific evidence on tennis ball thingies first ....

Good one, Dave!
Thanks Nancy, as usual, your input is good reading.

It is true that kids today multitask a lot, usually with media. That is, they have music or videos on while they do other things. It?s also true that kids are better at multitasking than older people. Student Accommodation