The study's lead author, Andrew Lepp, was inspired to explore the topic of online-course multitasking when he witnessed a student taking a biology class in his library basement while streaming a Netflix video. Lepp notes that his study's findings have "immediate implications" for undergraduate education, in part because "an abundance of research demonstrates that multitasking during educational activities significantly reduces learning."
On this point, the evidence is quite strong, if not alarming. By nearly every measure, multitasking is bad for the brain—and may even damage it. A University of London study found that students who multitasked experienced a drop in IQ comparable to the mental decline caused by staying up all night or smoking pot. And this drop may be more than temporary. A 2014 study published in PLoS One found that multitasking might permanently diminish the brain's density. Specifically, researchers discovered that people with a high "Media Multitasking Index"—that is, big multitaskers—"had smaller grey matter density" in the anterior cingulate cortex section of the brain. Needless to say, this kind of mental development runs contrary to the most basic mission of higher education.
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| psmag.com For more and more of today's university students, screen time is competing with seat time. According to the most recent statistics (from 2016–17), 33 percent of college students take at least one online class, 17.6 percent mix online and in-class coursework, and 15.4 percent exclusively take online classes. Each statistic represents an increase over the year prior, a trend that has continued ... |
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