Educators Wage Battle for Students' Attention

Publication: MediaShift
Date: September 23, 2011

Summary: Greg Graham, a teacher-consultant with the Little Rock Writing Project, draws attention to the rising concern of easily distracted students and advises educators on finding ways to help them concentrate on important matters in the classroom.

Excerpt from Article

In the battle for the hearts and minds of students, the front line for educators has changed over the last couple of decades. Rather than the age-old struggle for access, the foremost concern today is one of attention.

Sure, there will always be issues of access, but for the most part that battle has been won. We're no longer suffering from an information deficit; we're suffering from an attention deficit.

The shift from access deficit to attention deficit has some very practical ramifications for schools. Certainly it gives perspective on the question of whether to allow cell phones in the classroom.

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Read Cell Phones in Classrooms? No! Students Need to Pay Attention in the MediaShift.