Online Classes and Multitasking

Did you know that students who take online classes are less likely to learn concepts and benefit from lectures than students in traditional brick and mortar classrooms? Yup! Here’s why: Students in a classroom with a teacher or professor in the front of the room are not going to text their friends, email messages, play videogames, watching YouTube, or check their social media accounts when the teacher is looking right at them. Many teachers have rules against having smart phones, and even laptops or tablets in the classrooms for this reason.

But students taking online classes – even those with cyber lectures — are more inclined to multitask during lectures. They’ll often listen to lectures while playing videogames or texting friends. Because social media and staying connected with their friends and family sucks them into a cyberworld that is disconnected from the class lecture, the student’s focus goes between the class lecture and their multitasking activities. Your brain can’t do both at the same time – it goes back and forth, which means that they’re not hearing, engaging, learning, or retaining information at the depth they need to for the class. 

Studies conducted at Kent State and Purdue Univ found that students are 25% more likely to multitask in online settings than in-person settings. I’ve found that when students are listening to lectures, researching concepts, writing papers, or studying for exams, they are more efficient if they do the work completely without social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, email) and cyber distractions (YouTube, videogames, Netflix, online shopping). In other words, they’ll learn at a deeper level, get better grades, and retain the concepts for tests and finals – and they’ll do it quicker!  Students should take classes and study void of all distractions, and then enjoy all of their social media and gaming when they’re done. 

Parents, set the rules to get homework and studying done first so your child will do better in school and have more time for social media later.

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