From Alfred's Mind

Multitasking... Fact or Fiction?

2009-06-30T18:24:00.001-04:00

How many times have we been speaking to someone and that person receives a text message or an email and our conversation is put in the back-burner – better yet, how many times have we done that ourselves? In today’s technological society, we are all connected at all times through our phones – be it a smart phone or not – there is always the possibility of a real-time conversation be interrupted by a virtual one. Commonly, the response to my comment of the conversation being interrupted is, “I don’t have a problem doing more that one thing… I can multitask”.

I remember clearly my mother telling me that she used to study while listening to music – this, as an excuse to get me to study while I performed the more important task as a teenager, watch TV. Well, it seems that my mother had hit the nail on its head and now more and more people are following her advice. Grown-ups and students alike have embraced the commonly accepted notion that they can perform two or more tasks perfectly because they “can multitask”. These tasks may include reading/writing an email or text, driving, talking, and watching TV, reading a book on Kindle or many of the other tasks that fill our day. Students may actually have more complex tasks as, reading/writing a text, watching the latest upload on YouTube, having a conversation on IM, listening to their favorite music and finally studying for tomorrow’s test – and yes, that is the last of the tasks, because lets face it, it is the last on their list of priorities.

For a long time I have been struggling with the concept of multitasking – more specifically, with the notion of someone actually doing so. My problem is not in the process, but is the actuality that some people use this concept as a blanket in order to say that they are paying attention to something, when in reality, they are not. The reason why I use a strong phrase such as - using a blanket - is because although the process of multitasking is wonderful and sometimes a necessity in the work place, I believe it has no place in a social or learning environment and people in general use it to cover the fact that they are not paying full attention.

What is Multitasking?

By definition, multitasking is the performance of multiple tasks – which is a very nice definition, but what does it entail? Are the tasks concurrent or are they performed over a given period of time? To perform multiple tasks is not something that we are new to, as our society has become more and more demanding, we all have to perform various tasks; the real question is what is the difference between multitasking, and just doing everything that you have to do?

While researching the concept, I found that wiseGEEK gave me a clearer picture of what current multitasking and the multitasker is like. Based on computer’s ability to perform various tasks all at once, the concept has been translated to the work environment. Being able to answer phones, read/respond to emails, write reports and edit letters are the examples given of the tasks performed by a secretary, in many cases all at once. This is the true nature of the multitasker, a person that is able to juggle and complete multiple tasks, in the smallest amount of time.

This is the reality of our new work and life environment – although not a job requirement, most employers will ask of a new hire how well are his/her time management skills. When entering college, some students have to go through time management courses, or if they are having problems at the primary or secondary levels, the first question asked is if the student is managing his/her time correctly. We can all manage time well, if we set priorities and complete our tasks in the time given. The reality is, that what employers and educators want is that the hire/students use time more efficiently.

Efficiency is the real root of the situation – the more efficient a worker is regarding a particular task, the more time they have to complete other tasks. For students, the more efficient they are in their studies, the more material, or more complex subjects, can be introduced. Thus, multitasking is the answer to the more efficient necessities of the work and studying environments.

Is Multitasking more efficient?

If multitasking is more efficient or not, I have to be honest and say that the jury is still out on that particular. I do have to say that the side that provides evidence discrediting multitasking as an efficient way of working has more on their side. Most of the controversy is on the side of “not really paying attention” or that when we do more than one thing at the time, we are not putting forth the full potential. But why is this? Is there a correlation between our attention and brain functions?

The central idea behind the fact that multitasking may not be efficient is that an executive control prioritizes tasks in our brain. Studies suggest that the executive control determines two major stages: goal shifting and rule activation. Basically, the executive control determines the set of brain functions that are going to be used (rule activation) and regarding what (goal shifting). This study also determined that there is an actual waiting period that the brain does, when shifting goals – thus, wasting time.

Outside of scientific data and concepts, we may be able to understand the executive control as a filter or a task manager. Like the switch that lets us use certain speakers in our home or activate the speakers in another room or backyard. As the tasks reach our brain, they are prioritized – now it is the function of this control to determine the attention which we give that particular task. If we switch from task to task, that time that our brain takes to relocate the functions necessary for that particular task is in effect lost.

Now the key question that arises from the previous study is, if we are switching attention and brain function from one task to another, while multitasking – then are we really multitasking or just doing a task at a time?

Multitasking… really?

In an article by NPR using a short-order cook as an example, it presents the idea that multitasking is a human delusion. The article states that in reality what we are doing is switching attention from one task to another – following the model of the executive control. When we have our brain perform functions like talking and writing, which use same resources from the brain, Miller a Picower professor of neuroscience at MIT, calls it “interference between the two tasks”.

Have you ever tried to inhale, while talking? How about swallow and breathe at the same time? The reason why the two tasks may not be done simultaneously is because they are connected, and one function inhibits the other – the same thing happens with regards to brain function. Things like reading, writing and speaking use the similar cognitive pathways, thus the use of one, inhibits the use of another. Thus, the idea that we may be writing an email, while having a conversation, is not really possible. What is really happening is that the brain is switching from reading to speaking and in other cases to writing all in small amounts of time. This is where the studies mentioned before determine that there is loss in time and for this reason, lowered efficiency in multitasking.

So, if we cannot perform related tasks at the same time, and we cannot pay attention to two or more things at the same time, where is the infamous multitasking ability that many confess to posses?

The real use of Multitasking.

Although you may not be able to sing and write a letter at the same time, or read a book and listen to music – many of us are able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Here lies the true nature and use of the multitasking process.

Multitasking is a technique that many of us use in the work area; we clean our desks while talking to a co-worker about what we think lunch should be, we teach while cleaning the board, we watch a ball game while setting the table. All of these tasks are tasks that are not related in the cognitive level. Most of these are combinations of mechanical and cognitive tasks. In other cases, we may be able to combine things like having a conversation and preparing food, the reason why we can combine these two cognitive tasks is because one is second nature to us.

When the real multitasking begins is when the person can minimize the time it takes to switch from particular tasks. If the task is something that the individual knows very well, it is very easy to switch to another function. In reality, the first task never had the full attention of the individual, and this second task may be easier to switch to because it has more priority as determined by our executive control.

Regarding education, multitasking should be considered in aspects of using various cognitive levels. Using different methods of reaching the student are important in today’s differentiated instruction. The important thing always to remember is that the student has to be able to pay attention to what is being presented to him/her. Visual stimulus in combination with hearing; tactile motivation combined with visual and hearing – these are certain examples of multitasking. We are asking the brain to pay attention to various stimuli at the same time, and in many cases, one of those stimuli, if not all, are a way of reaching the student.

Multitasking is not a sin, but it should not be a way of life. Many of us live very stressful lives, but that should not mean that everything should be done at the same high speed, or while doing various other tasks. There are certain things that do deserve the full attention of an individual, especially if those things are the ones meant to relax.

The Primary Education experience vs. the College experience

2009-06-23T12:11:00.003-04:00

I have had the great opportunity to teach not only in the United Stated, but also in Puerto Rico, and I have noticed the same feeling at the end of the teaching cycle - once I have to include grades into the system a part of me feels like something is never going to be the same. As the school year comes to an end, I find myself not looking forward to that end date or the closure of another great year of academic achievements by students, but feeling a little melancholic.

I have always felt comfortable in the academic environment to the point that I look at a year not from January to December, but from August to May and summer is that time in the middle. That begging of the year has always brought great joy to my life, while the end has been a time of closure and looking forward to the next big challenge. Probably that is the reason why I feel like I do at this point, but what calls my attention is not how I feel, but why do I feel differently towards the closing of the year in college education vs. primary education.

While relief is the best adjective I can use to describe the end of the school year, wonder and wanting more best describe the end of the college semester. This has been the first time that I have had the opportunity to teach both levels at the same time and thus, the first time I can really compare the end in both settings. Never before I had the chance to notice, but looking back I know that this is not the first time.

From an educator’s point of view, teaching should be teaching and students should be students - so why then the end of a cycle comes with full of different of emotion?

The primary education experience:

Who ever said that teaching is an easy job, should become a substitute teacher for a week and then tell me what they think. Most people I talk to tell me the same thing, it must be hard dealing with children the whole day. To those that think that teaching middle school or high school students is hard, would be amazed at the ease which the job comes sometime.

Teaching at the primary level is much like an office job - the week starts on Monday and you come in with a plan for the day or the week. You do the best you can to keep to that plan, but as many teachers will tell you, staying on the planned schedule is not easy. The same is true for any other work environment, Monday rolls around and although you may come with a plan for the week, that plan is usually pushed to the back because you have to deal with things that come up during the day. As Friday rolls around, in both settings, you just want the week to be over and get a couple of days off to listen to the sound of quietness.

Teaching primary level students is not just about teaching. In a given day, you have to deal with many personalities in a brief period of time every day. Those personalities change as much as the weather and they bring with them the baggage not only from their homes, but from their last 30 minutes and that is sometimes hard to deal with. Add to those personalities, the personalities of all the other people - the administration trying to control and make it a better work environment, the other teachers trying to get their material through to the students and finally the parents trying to look after the best interests of their children. If you have never been inside a classroom or you forgot what it used to be like, you probably think is sounds just like any office - that is my point, teaching at the primary level is just like any other job, with a few more perks.

A week off here and two months off there would be the first thing that calls attention to any person as a great perk of being a teacher. To me, that week off goes by too fast and those two months sometimes get annoying without anything to do - sometimes that lovely summer vacation that teachers look forward to, becomes another job and at the end, a vacation is needed from the vacation. The real perk of teaching these students is when connections are made - when a student opens their eyes for the first time to a subject and realizes that what they thought was simple and just there, is a complex process now they truly comprehend. When a teacher becomes a guide and they can actually talk to them and get advice. When the problems that they thought would bring their world to pieces, is easily laid down before them.

I would not change my experience teaching students from 7th to 12th grade for anything in the world. What I have learned from them and the joy that it has brought to my days in not comparable with any thing that any other profession has to offer - but like many jobs, after a year of doing the same thing and dealing with the same people, sometimes you want a break. That is why the closing of the year comes as a great relief to many including myself. Although I wonder what could be done, I know that at the time I did the best I could and that next year - if I teach the same thing - I will make the necessary changes, but that is next year.

The college education experience:

I have taught so many different classes at the college level, that sometimes I wonder how could do I do it? At first as a Teaching Assistant in charge of classes or lecture and now as an Adjunct Professor, I have found myself filling in gaps and teaching what other do not want to teach. For this reason, my courses have changed depending on the needs of the Institution hiring me and the availability of classes depending on my free time.

Teaching a college course is nothing like a 9 to 5 - although the actual class time might be and hour and thirty minutes or three hours of lecture, the work that is behind the scenes is more like a 24-7. Preparing a class for a semester course takes time - class calendar, class syllabus, reviewing the material, lecture presentation, assessment preparation and grading, finally grade input.

With all the teaching resources now available to educators from publishing companies, most would think that you just go there and talk - I have to admit that I was one of them for a good 2 months and then pride and ambition kicked in. While it is true that publishers now facilitate the actual lecture time, the educator then has more time to come-up with other teaching tools to make the process of the student better - set-up a website and update it, record and edit classes to create podcasts, assess student performance and modify assessment according to class material and when the class preparation is done, study and research the next big thing to try in the course and see if it valid to incorporate to the class.

To the college professional, the work never ends in the classroom. Besides the mentioned work done before and after the class, then come in the other more personal things. Interaction with other professionals in the field is important, it not only helps to learn from others, but it is never bad to be known and recognized in the community. For this reason, a professor has to become part of various committees and faculty functions - to be known and respected means to have a job next semester. Opening doors and facilitating the student’s college experience through the knowledge attained by the professor is also a goal for many. The creation of programs and submitting proposals to create programs to be tested, is something most people outside the academic world do not know about, yet somehow becomes an every-day thing for a professional in the field of higher education.

The real interaction time between student-teacher is usually limited to once or twice a week - then you have people like me that have opened new channels for students to communicate through Tweeter accounts and chat-rooms. When all the time is added-up, the work done for a single class is overwhelming at times and the work done besides the class becomes a way of life.

The end of the academic cycle:

For a person not involved in the academic world, it might just come down to teaching a class to a bunch of students - to a professional, it is what we do and we try to do it at best of our capacities. So at the end of the cycle, the question still lingers, why feel different at the end of the school year?

I think I have answered my own question while I set down my thought to write this. While many would argue that a job is something you do to get paid and continue with your life, there are others that embrace work and make it part of their life. It comes down to what the educator does and how he feels about the work they are doing.

Many of my colleagues in both fields of education might tell me that I have missed many aspects of the day-to-day, and I agree. As I write I have remembered many other things that other teachers are doing in their classrooms, at the same time I have also remembered professors that do not necessarily do the things mentioned above for their normal day.

When it all comes down to it, I feel melancholic about the end of my academic year in college because I know that the next round starts in a week or two. Maybe it is the short semester that permits closure after six months of teaching a class and gives you a fresh start half-way through the year. Maybe I feel relief regarding my primary education students, because I know that I have taken them by the hand and helped them be ready to go to the next level.

In the end, primary education is like a marathon - you take your time and elaborate, you have the next day to fix any problems you saw in the day’s lesson, you plan ahead and wait to see what the students bring to the table. The college education environment is like a sprint - you put all your energy into short semesters and look back to see what you did and fix it for the next race, you make adjustments before it starts and hope that the preparation you put into the class results in the desired goal.

As many education professionals will say to anyone that asks, teaching is a joyful endeavor full of twist and turns, but in the end you know that you are helping students achieve their full potential and be productive members of society and that is a feeling that cannot be beat.

Hyperlinks within online text.

2009-06-23T12:06:00.003-04:00

Recently I read a blog entry or an article that mentioned how the use of hyperlinks within a text furthered the information to the reader and helped as a source of reference. The main purpose of the article was to highlight and call attention to important point that a presentation should have and how these hyperlinks gave the reader more information as well as validating the information the text made reference to.

Although the article made much sense and I have incorporated this practice to some of my online writing, I do have to say that sometimes the hyperlinks are more than a source for further knowledge but in reality, a distraction to the reader. The practice of using hyperlinks within text is a great tool when referencing other works from the author or when referencing specific published information that the author would like to bring into their text - it is the modern footnote.

I do not consider myself to be a reader with a short attention span, on the contrary, I think that the more I know the better informed I am. Taking this into account, the presence of these hyperlinks are like bait for a thirsty mind. While reading a particular article, I have found myself clicking on the hyperlinks and what I find at the other side of the rainbow is not a pot of gold, but another article with hyperlinks throughout the first couple of words.

So I set out to read an important article about the economy - in the first sentence, the author is already referencing another article he/she wrote last week and then the question is raised, should I read it? If you are anything like me, you will find that the answer to that question is obvious - you have to click on that link, because to understand what you are reading you need to read the information that is being referenced to make an educated decision. So you read the previous article and feel ready to read this week’s, and return with a smile to your original point. Once the first sentence is completed, the second sentence not only has one, but three or four hyperlinks to other articles by different sources and the biography of a person that is mentioned. So once again you click and read all the back-stories to those important events. By the time that a reader has completed the first paragraph, he or she has read five or six articles, two biographies and somehow found your way into Wikipedia more than you would like - nothing wrong with Wikipedia, but that was not the original intention.

How and when to use hyperlinks:

At first I thought it was a great tool, I could read a particular article and if I wanted anymore information it was just a click away using hyperlinks. The problem is that it becomes a vicious cycle - like pop-ups from unnecessary sources that just call for attention.

A reader sometimes just wants to be informed of a particular subject and a small summary of the back story would do. For a writer, the use of hyperlinks permits them to focus mainly in the task at hand and let the reader take advantage of other information available in the Internet - the problem is that the Internet is full of information and sometimes a person may drown while cyber-surfing in the ocean of information.

Hyperlinks should be used lightly, there is no need to hyperlink every word a particular author is using. Yes, references are important to validate the work being published - on the flip side, if the author is going to reference most of the work, what is the point of reading that particular author, might as well make a list and read all the others. I remember books full of footnotes, they were extremely thick and difficult to read at times - not because of the language or the material written, but because they were annotated to such a degree that the actual work by the author only covered a third of the page. Things like these are the ones that turn off a reader.

Links should be done to make navigating the Internet a simple task - if mentioning a site, make a link so that if the reader is interested he/she can visit the site. If using a complex concept, link the word to an explanation.
When using a hyperlink, the author should pick a specific reading that is relevant to that point. Although sometimes writers would like to cover all the bases and back-up what is being said with relevant information, there are writers that make literary reviews and compendiums of information. Hyperlinks should be directed to these sites, if what is being written is relevant, then there should be enough information out there to go and get it - not to make a hyperlink to the first thing that came up in a search just to have a reference.

Tools are meant to make a specific task easier for an individual, thus if the individual has to commence a Grail Quest for information, how is the tool being useful?

Hyperlinks and Education:

The tools that an educator uses to get a point across are as varied as the species alive on Earth. Sometimes, we choose to make co-relations that if not present in a discussion, there is no way another individual could reach that same point. Hyperlinks within presentations help achieve those connections without the educator having to “stop and discuss” or “stop and let me think” moments.

One aspect in which hyperlinks help education is in the incorporation of glossaries to presentations. While sometimes not useful in a class setting - because it takes you back to the “stop and...” situation - an educator can inform students that the definitions to particular concepts are hyperlinked. While a student is reviewing a class presentation, the option to review the meaning of a concept or the visualization/picture/graphic of that particular word is available by clicking on the link and taken into another slide designed by the educator. With the option of returning to the original point, the student now reviewed a concept without the need to make a particular search and taking attention away from the main document.

Hyperlinks also help students feed their curiosity. If a particular concept is of their interest, the student will click on the link that would take them into the Internet and from that point, open a world of possibilities to further their research. By linking specific words within a presentation, the student would be able to know that the material is available and at their disposition.

To link or not to link? That is the question:

It is really not a question if to make a hyperlink or not - when it comes down to it, hyperlinks are tools that facilitate the reading as well as the learning experience. They connect information without breaking the flow of the original intention. Make a link within a presentation without hesitating, but think what is being linked.

Hyperlinks serve a purpose and that is to help or direct the reader in a particular direction. If making a hyperlink, have the hyperlink be full of the information you want the reader to have in a precise and concise manner. Consider that hyperlinks in many cases are web-pages - some web-pages are full of images or adds and in some instances, may take a while to open. The time it takes to open a link is time that is wasted from one page to another, that is time that could be spent reading.

An author should be aware that in many cases, the attention of the reader is not a 100% invested in what their reading. No matter how interesting, if an article or presentation is full of hyperlinks in the first moments of the reader comes across it, that original article is put in the back burner. While surfing through the hyperlinks that were meant to be informational, the reader will focus on these instead of the original article. Rather than including hyperlinks every three or four words, captivate the reader, make him want to read the work that is presented to them and have them want to finish what they began to read, before they read the back story - if their interested, they will look for it themselves.

Why start a Blog?

2009-06-23T12:04:00.002-04:00

Being a person that has enjoyed technology and the internet since its beginning, I was troubled with the idea to start a blog for a while - and I do mean a long while - but the reality is that I could never put my finger on what I wanted to do, or really why do it.

Like many out there I tried the generic blog and looked for information on how to do it. My first stumble on the subject was with Blogger - which to this day, I have to admit, is a good start for anyone that wants to give it a shot. Once I looked at the pros and cons of starting writing, I found myself asking what do I write about. I thought about doing the “ranting and raving” method, because I thought that was what a blog was - that lasted to the end of my post and it was followed with a delete of the post.

Life continued and I felt that while the information highway was getting stronger and stronger, I was stuck on main road traffic and all the lights were red. So I gave it another shot and thought about doing a personal blog where I would share what I thought about “things” - that was followed by the great question, what “things” do I really want to talk about? Once again, the idea lasted the length of the first post and it ended much the same way as the “ranting and raving” in a very forceful delete.

All the time I was doing this, I still did not know what was the real point of a blog, but I knew that I should be part of it and then after almost giving up on the subject - I saw the light.

The light that I am talking about, as is the case for many religions, has various names for every individual or groups - in my case, the light was called iPhone. I will not endorse any particular technology apparatus here, although I am inclined to Apple products - but I have to admit that the phone was my catalyst as well as the answer to many problems.

I do not know if this is a general problem, but I was having major problems regarding my RSS feeds - I had too many feeds and not enough time to read them all or time to sit in my computer after a long day, so what was the point? In my phone, I tried once again to stay connected and while I could not find an application that would manage my RSS feeds like my computer (an MacBook - by the way), I did find Google Reader. I made my subscriptions, made a link in my phone and from that point, I was able to read my news feeds and my lovely blogs posts.

One thing I have been able to understand after seeing various posts from different sources is that a blog is exactly what I thought it would be - a place where the opinion of a particular individual is set for all those out there to read and openly comment about. So this brought again the great and redundant question, what to blog about?

What is a blog?

I have to put it out there and say that I am an optimist at heart - I will deny this in any conversation, saying that I am a “realist”, but that is just a way to defend myself in a very cynical world that in reality has no place for “wishful thinking”.

By definition a blog or particularly weblog is, a website that displays in chronological order the postings by one or more individuals and usually has links to comments on specific postings (Source). To me a blog is much more than the text-book definition - I consider the blog a place where an individual may actually get his/her point across the boundaries of language, creed, or any of there other things that we know that limit us. It is a way for real writers to inform the mass without having to go through the watchful and probably predisposed eyes and hands of an editor or an entity with other “agendas”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that everything “out there” is right - but we do have to agree that, whoever is putting things “out there” has a right to and we cannot deny it.

So the next logical question would be, who should blog?

Who should blog?

Being who and how I am, to me everyone should have their own space to write and express themselves in the proper manner. To present an idea to a large audience outside the writer’s comfort area is a huge undertaking and what it does, is solidify the possibility of either destroying a totally absurd notion or having enough sense to re-post or link a good idea from the readers point of view. Even in the most simplest of cases, the notion that a post may actually inform and interest the individual who is reading, is a positive aspect of a blog.

Now being realistic, every technology that is being invented has its downside and it is also used for non-advantageous purpose. Not everyone with a blog in the internet has good things to say or say good things, but like everything there is people that should not say everything they think or everything they do - we all know at lease one person that it would be better if they remained quiet.

If your starting a blog, be prepared... Have sources to back your ideas up and do not say something for the purpose of just saying something. There is enough people confused in this world to add more fuel to the fire - not to mention the people that think that since it is published in the internet or any other source, it has to be true.

To me...

The idea of a blog is the next generation of books, it is the gradual progression of having a single individual publish his/her thought and views about a situation or aspect in life to having everyone have the opportunity to speak their mind. Be it for educational purposed, entertainment or “just because”, ideas should be shared and commented on. People have to look for as many options and points of view as possible, before creating their point of view and blogs as well as other tools like it, give the world that chance.

I blog because I want to create... I want to have my voice heard and commented on by people that would like to share my point of view, or tell me how my point of view may not be in agreement with theirs. I want to learn from other people’s perspectives on subjects that may be foreign to me and have them shape and modify my own.

At the end of this journey, I don’t want to look back and think that I could have helped someone but I just did not know they had a problem. I know I’m not alone and the reality of the case is that if I have a question, others might have it too - better yet, someone out there might have the answer.