Managing Attention Span in the Digital Age

Todays students are growing up immersed in a digitally-saturated world which places

unprecedented demands on their attention and learning. The sensory stimulation offered by
digital technologies has the potential to distract students and compromise their attention
and learning. This issue of The Link synthesises the latest research in this area and provides
practical strategies to help teachers develop and sustain students attention spans in the
digital age.

CRITICAL POINTS
Students may suffer
from information
overload, colloquially
referred to as info-besity.
This places significant
demands on the cognitive
load and attention spans of
students.

Managing our
attention requires
impulse control which
occurs in the pre-frontal
cortex of the brain.
However, this part of the
brain is the last to develop
completely (typically around
early 20s for females and
late 20s for males).

Many students
believe that they are
capable of multi-tasking.
However, they are engaging
in continuous partial
attention (CPA), also
referred to as taskswitching. CPA can cause
cognitive overload and
hamper student learning.

Attention
management will be
one of the most important
skills for learners to master
in the 21st century.
Educators and parents can
teach todays students how
to manage and direct their
attention to support them to
become successful learners.

IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATORS

Teachers can help
students manage
their attention by explicitly
teaching meta-cognition and
study skills. Strategies such
as mono-tasking rather than
multi-tasking, and utilising
mindfulness techniques can
help students to control
their thoughts and reduce
stress.

Teachers can
minimise digital
distractions in the classroom
by establishing tech-free
zones, encouraging learners
to work off-line and switch
off alerts and notifications,
as well as set limits on their
screen-time pursuits.
Restriction tools on tablets
and computers can be of
assistance.

Captivate and
sustain students
attention by using time
monitoring and
management techniques.
Periodic resting can enhance
task focus and short workcycles can decrease internal
resistance, providing a quick
reward cycle to sustain
motivation. Student-centred
pedagogical approaches are
also recommended.

The Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales Limited

Consider how to
optimise learning
opportunities. Have set
break times from academic
work for technology use.
Balance screen-time with
nature-breaks, and allow
ample green-time for mind
wandering. Implement
engaging learning
experiences to sustain
attention.

The Link Issue 2, 2015

Introduction
There is broad consensus among educators, parents and
researchers that students digital lives are significantly
effecting their learning and development. Many students
live in a perpetual state of distraction which can adversely
impact on their attention and learning. Research suggests
a trend in reduced attention and concentration spans,
especially among adolescents and adults who are heavy
media users (Rosen, 2012). It is likely, given increased
access to technology, that children will also be affected.
While we do not yet have a comprehensive picture,
studies confirm that the attention spans of teenagers and
adults are deteriorating and, anecdotally, teachers report
changes in younger students attention spans. Attention
management is therefore a critical skill for learners to
develop. Teachers are in a good position to support this.

Background
Students are using digital technologies for increasing
amounts of time. The average 818 year-old uses 7.5
hours of media per day, and when media multi-tasking
this increases to nearly 10 hours per day (Rideout, Foehr,
& Roberts, 2010). Students are also using an increasingly
diverse range of mobile technologies such as tablets and
smartphones, which offer a variety of digital distractions.
A recent study found that, in 2010, pre-teens sent 1178
text messages per month and teenagers sent 3705 per
month (Nielsen, 2011).
The Purcell and colleagues (2012) Internet study involving
2,500 teachers found that 87 percent of teachers believe
new technologies are creating an "easily distracted
generation with short attention spans", and 64 percent
agreed that digital technologies "do more to distract
students than to help them academically (p.2). While this
does not prove that technology is the root cause of
changes in attention, it provides evidence that educators
are noticing a deterioration in students attention spans.
Research suggests that digital learners are distracted by
technology in two ways (Rosen, 2010):

Externally: sounds, flashes and notifications can

distract students from what they are doing and
redirect their attention to another task.
Internally: many students are thinking about
technology, even when not using it. Out of sight is not
necessarily out of mind for students.

When considering the nature of internal distractions,

banning the use of technology is not to be an effective
solution. Dumontheil, Gilbert, Burgess and Otten (2010)
found no neurological differences between external task
switching (responding to social media alerts) and internal
switches (thinking about a social media alert). This
suggests that if students are continually internally taskswitching they are not working optimally. This can

compromise their learning due to the impacts of

distraction on short and long-term memory retention.

Demands on student attention

Cognitive overload
There is an information surplus in the digital age, but our
brains have a finite cognitive load. Levitin (2014) notes
that in 2011 we were consuming five times more
information on a daily basis than we were in 1986and
this figure is growing exponentially as technology
develops. Students are bombarded with new information,
which can place them in cognitive overload causing
cognitive fatigue (Juster, McEwen & Lupien, 2010). When
students are fatigued, they cannot manage and direct
attention and learning is impacted.

Attention spans
An examination of the attention spans of secondary and
tertiary students that documented their technology habits
at home revealed that they averaged less than six minutes
on a task before succumbing to other digital distractions
(Rosen, Carrier & Cheever, 2013). They enjoyed taskswitching.
Research on student attention spans is still in its infancy,
with many studies (see reference list) focusing on young
adult and adult users. It is reasonable to extrapolate these
results to digitally embedded young people.

Multi-tasking
Many students believe that they are adept at multitasking, however this can have cognitive costs. Multitasking impairs performance, especially for heavy multitaskers (Ophir, Nass & Wagner, 2009). There is evidence
that task interruptions, particularly digital interruptions,
have cognitive costs: they disrupt attention, result in
increased error rates, and decrease academic
performance (Junco & Cotten, 2012; Levitin, 2014).
Research suggests that interruptions disrupt students
ability to commit information to memory and to later
recall that information.
Multi-tasking also appears to overload our working
memory and divide attentionit can also be a predictor
of depression and social anxiety (Becker, Alzahabi &
Hopwood, 2012; Junco, 2012; Junco & Cotten, 2012). It can
also cause fatigue and shallow, superficial processing of
information. When multi-tasking, students skim the
material preventing them from making intelligent and
lasting associations with the content, resulting in a
shallow understanding. Carr (2011) likens this shallow
processing to being a jet-ski rider, as opposed to a deepsea diver.
Studies have also shown that it is difficult for students to
return to a task once their attention has been captivated
and diverted (Altmann & Trafton, 2004; Parnin & Rugaber,

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The Link Issue 2, 2015

2011; Trafton, Altmann, Brock & Mintz, 2003). Studies with

computer programmers have shown that it can take, on
average, 25 minutes to return to original tasks after
disruptions (Parnin & Rugaber, 2011). Programmers who
were interrupted also reported higher levels of stress
than those who spent more time focusing on a single task.
It is likely that young learners are impacted in similar
ways.

cognitive performance and executive function skills

including impulse control, student learning and general
well-being (Davis, Hayes & Jeffrey, 2012; Diamond & Lee,
2011).

Continuous partial attention (CPA)

When children attempt to multi-task, they engage in rapid

task-switching, which results in CPA (Rose, 2010). This
involves paying attention to multiple streams of
information, but at a superficial level. Students split their
attention between multiple tasks, scanning for
opportunities that pique their interest from the
surrounding sensory seduction. In a digital world, the
seductions are ongoing and multi-modal (i.e. images,
sounds, animations). Students skim the surface,
extrapolate the most important information and then
move onto the next source once their attention has been
aroused. These kinds of interruptions disrupt the
encoding of content and cause difficulty when attempting
to retrieve information (Oulasvirta & Saariluoma, 2006).

Strategies for attention management

Minimise distractions
Teaching students how to maintain their focus by
minimising the impact of external digital distractions is
useful. Strategies include:

Captivate and sustain attention

Techniques and strategies to help students maintain their
attention include the following:

An inability to pay attention taxes cognitive processes and

hampers deeper learning. However, it is possible to
educate students to become more attentive.

Teach meta-cognitive strategies

Teaching meta-cognitive and study strategies to students

can help them deal with the mass of digital content they
experience, so that it does not impede their learning.

Wijekumar and Medinger (2005) showed that students

with study strategies in high-tech learning environments
were more adept at staying on-task than those students
with lower meta-cognitive skill capabilities. This suggests it
is important to teach students how to:

be aware of their mental processes

understand what tasks are easy or difficult
recognise when it is appropriate to take a break
understand the importance of avoiding taskswitching when studying
identify learning tasks that require uninterrupted
attention.

Students can also benefit from learning about the adverse

impact of CPA, and why it is better to mono-task rather
than multi-task. If multi-tasking appeals to students,
educators can guide them to do this when the demands
of the secondary task are low. For example, listening to
soft, familiar background music while writing or reading.
Mindfulness training is also proving to be effective in
helping students manage their attention. It can improve

using apps such as Guided Access (iOS) and Kids

Corner (Android) to prevent multi-tasking and
switching between apps on tablet devices
using website restriction tools such as Self-Control and
If This Then That, which block access to particular
websites at certain times or when academic work is
being performed
turning off unnecessary alerts and notifications
establishing tech-free zones at home and in class
encouraging students to work off-line without
distractions. Alternatively, they can revert to pencil
and paper.

Teach students to use the Pomodoro technique: a

timer is set for 25 minutes and students complete
one task only in that time and then take a break.
Taking regular breaks keeps students attention
sharp.
Use student-directed pedagogies: these approaches
result in more sustained periods of attention (Bunce,
2010).
Implement engaging learning experiences: use stories
and humour, add sensory details to lessons and use
props and relevant examples to involve students in
lessons. This helps to sustain attention throughout
the lesson, so that they are not scanning for other
stimuli to pique their interest. Change the delivery
mode of the lesson every 15 minutes or so (for
example, break up lessons with periods of active
learning).

Optimise learning times

Optimising learning can be encouraged with the following
strategies:

Allow students to take regular technology breaks

throughout lessons. This is beneficial for older
learners who use social media regularlythey can
feel cut off if they are not permitted to use social
media or technologies, which have become part of
their everyday lives. Allow specific and limited
amounts of time to check-in with technology: 15
minute work periods, followed by a two-minute

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The Link Issue 2, 2015

technology break with a gradual increase in work

periods as students adjust (Rosen, 2012).
Provide nature-breakstime in nature has been
shown to help restore cognitive function and
attention, and to re-calibrate and calm students after
they have been digitally stimulated (Berman, Jonides
& Kaplan, 2008).
Screen-free green-time also facilitates mindwandering, which allows for more creative thinking
(Levitin, 2014). When students are constantly tethered
to technology, their sensory system is overstimulated, making it difficult to sustain attention for
long periods of time.

References
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Resumption lag and the role of cues. Proceedings of the
26th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society,
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multitasking is associated with symptoms of depression
and social anxiety. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking, 16(2),
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cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological
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benefits of mindfulness: A wealth of new research has
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Contact details
Dr Kristy Goodwin
Researcher and Director at Every Chance to Learn
and Honorary Associate at Macquarie University.
www.everychancetolearn.com.au

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The Link Issue 2, 2015