Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Dear Auntie Siobhan: My Students Won't Put Away Their Phones

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Siobhan Curious (an obvious pseudonym of someone who claims to be a teacher from Montreal) argues in Change.org (for pay?) that "today's young people - and adults, for that matter, myself included - need to learn to STOP multitasking, and to focus on one task, with concentration, for an extended period of time... By forcing them to put their phones and laptops away, I am giving them the opportunity to stop the random, jittery stimulation and instant information that surrounds them at all times." You would think that a teacher, of all people, would know that a forced behaviour does not reliably become a learned behaviour. Outside the coercive environment, a student is just as likely (if not more so) to engage in the contrary behaviour. So what is Siobhan Curious, really? Not a teacher, evidently. Via Education week, which makes me think Curious is a plant.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 8:05 p.m.

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