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Christina Ring
Dr. Reid
English 101
October 18, 2015
The Negative Association Between Media Multitasking and Learning

As technology becomes more readily accessible and mobile, media use has increased
dramatically. The effects of technology innovations create major impacts on society in the past,
present, and future. As a group of researchers explain, the use of media multitasking involves
individuals of all ages and occupations. This rise has created concern about the impact that media
multitasking is having on students academic performance, attention span, messaging and social
media. The authors specifically use the example of multitasking to explain the cons of the everchanging improvements in technology used on our everyday lives. In all five of the articles The
Effect of Multitasking to Faculty Members Academic Works, The Association Between
Media Multitasking, Task-Switching, and Dual-Task Performance, Make Learning Matter for
the Multitasking Generation, Is Google Making Us Stupid and Digital Devices, Distraction,
and Student Performance: Does In-Class Cell Phone Use Reduce Learning? the authors argue
that multitasking is negatively impacting students academic performance and the world as a
whole. In fact, all the researchers noted, multitasking could lead to a decline in quality of
work.
Multitasking can influence performance and alter visual attention process. While many
may argue that the ability to multitask is a strength, the five journal articles raise an interesting
question. Does multitasking increase or decrease the probability of problems? They explain how

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the media and technologies have a direct effect in shaping the neural circuits of our brains. In all
five persuasive articles, the authors effectively provide insight to the issue of media multitasking
and the impact of heavy media use on the brains psychosocial functioning.

Adams, Jill. "Make Learning Matter for the Multitasking Generation. Middle School Journal
43.3 (2012): 6-12. National Middle School Association. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

This journal article addresses how teachers should consider implementing strategies to
help multitasking teens slow down and think critically. It investigates the ways in which most
young people media multitask in their everyday lives and researches the quality of students work
when attending to more than one task at a time. The articles topics covered include: what teens
say about multitasking, new literacies at the middle level, virtual reality, blogs and
wikis, inline discussions, multitasking and middle level instruction, socratic seminars,
graphic novels, critiquing websites and multigenre writing.
This article was semi useful because it shows how todays youth has a big impact in
media multitasking and will continue to in the future. The author argues Teachers have the
opportunity to bring the outside world to students fingertips and challenge them to critically
contemplate the images, messages, and texts they encounter and produce. This source is
different from the others I chose because it points out the pros of media multitasking instead of
the cons. However, the information is not as reliable because the author does not use a
significant amount scientific data to back up her points and uses bias to support media usage in
school. The goal of this source is to enlighten teachers as to why media usage in classrooms is
beneficial to students and how it will help them tune in better in class.

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This source fits well into my research because it argues the other side of my thesis
statement. It will help shape the argument of my paper because it will help me better form a
stance against the use of media in classrooms and argue how media multitasking is negative.
After reading this article it also changed the way I think about my argument because it provided
me with many examples of ways that students positively multitask in the classroom. Overall, the
source was helpful to me because it provide insight as to why teenagers may be more
accustomed to multitasking because they practice it so often.

Alzahabi, Reem, and Mark W. Becker. "The Association between Media Multitasking, Taskswitching, and Dual-task Performance." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Perception and Performance 39.5 (2013): 1485-495. American Psychological
Association. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

This journal article address how recent rise in media use has prompted researchers to
investigate its influence on users basic cognitive process, such as attention and cognitive
control. It points out that the rise in media use has been followed by a rise in media multitasking.
The author specifically investigates how ones ability to switch between two tasks and to
perform two tasks simultaneously is associated with media multitasking experience. The topics
covered include: Media, Multitasking, cognitive control, task switching, and dual-tasks.
After summarizing this source I can conclude that it was useful because it conducted two
different experiments on media multitasking and included charts, graphs, and statistics to provide
credibility. The information was reliable because it was published less than 2 years ago and can
still be applied today. Authors Reem Alzahabi and Mark W. Becker are from the Department of

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Psychology at Michigan State University and their information is reliable because thought the
article they reference other sources to back up their statements. This source is not biased because
it presents both the pros and cons of media multitasking and uses statistics, not opinion.
This source was helpful to me because it provided information as to why media
multitasking is associated with decreased well-being and impaired psychosocial functioning. I
can effectively incorporate this source into my paper by using the data provided in the
experiments to shape an argument on the cons of media multitasking. It did not change how I
think about my topic because the results of the data proved my thesis statement to be correct.

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Yearbook of the National Society for the Study
of Education 107.2 (2008): 89-94. The Atlantic. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Nicholas Carr points out that as the Internet becomes our primary source of information,
it is negatively affecting our ability to read and think for ourselves. Nicholas states, The
Internet, an immeasurably powerful computing system, is subsuming most of our other
intellectual technologies. Its becoming our map and our clock, our printing press and our
typewriter, our calculator and our telephone, and our radio and TV(Carr par. 17). While many
may argue that Google is positive, Nicholas raises an interesting question. Is supplementing our
brains with artificial intelligence really making humans better off?
This source was useful because it provided insight on what the Internet is doing to our
brains. Nicholas uses specific examples and also states as we come to rely on computers to
mediate our understanding of the world, our own intelligence transforms into artificial
intelligence. Nicholas explains how the media and technologies have a direct effect in shaping

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the neural circuits of our brains. This argument can also be applied to the deep reading that
occurs when we read a sequence of printed pages, and how it is valuable not only for the
knowledge acquired but for the intellectual vibrations the words set off in our minds.
Nicholas Carr, in his persuasive essay Is Google Making Us Stupid, effectively
provides insight to the issue of knowledge being acquired efficiently through technology. This
source was helpful to me because it argues that spending time online affects our abilities to
concentrate and supports my argument that multitasking is not efficient. I can use this source in
my research paper by talking about how media shapes our thought process.

Duncan, Douglas K., Angel R. Hoekstra, and Bethany R. Wilcox. "Digital Devices, Distraction,
and Student Performance: Does In-Class Cell Phone Use Reduce Learning?" Astronomy
Education Review 11.1 (2012): n. pag. The American Astronomical Society. Web. 12
Oct. 2015.

This article assesses the effects of technology use on student attitudes and learning. Data
was gathered in eight different introductory science courses at university. The results show a
significant negative correlation between in-class phone use and final grades. These findings are
consistent with research suggesting students cannot multitask nearly as effectively as they think
they can. The topics include the pros and cons of digital-device use in classrooms and its effect
on the learning process.
This source provided insightful data to support my argument that media multitasking is
ineffective and distracting to student learning. The data collected in the observation, survey, and
interview data is credible because it was conducted by The American Astronomical Society and

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investigated in three large introductory courses over two semesters at a large state university.
This source is not bias because it surveyed students who argued both for and against the ability
to multitask effectively. The authors also reference other sources and state, future studies might
seek to replicate these findings in major and upper level courses where class sizes are smaller
and students may be more committed to doing well.
This source was helpful to me because the survey data points out that student engagement
may play an important role in creating multimedia distraction. It also points out that Cell phone
use is significantly correlated with reduced learning outcomes: students who reported no cell
phone use earned significantly higher grades than those who used their phones during class. I
plan to use the statistics provided in this article to prove my point that media multitasking is not
an effective way to learn in the classroom. It did not change my position on the topic because the
survey outcomes were in favor of my thesis statement.

Maran, Bahar. "The Effect of Multitasking to Faculty Members' Academic Works." Educational
Consultancy and Research Center 13.4 (2013): 2347-353. Educational Sciences: Theory
& Practice. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

This source examines the effect of media multitasking on academic works and proves
that media multitasking may have a negative effect since it is not possible to handle more than
one thing at a time. This study used the correlational research method and surveyed 1033 faculty
members from 70 different universities located in various geographical regions. The data
collection was a survey that included: demographics, frequency of multitasking and frequency of

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academic delay. Topics included in the article are multitasking, higher education, academic
delay, Internet, TV and phone.
This article is a useful source because it effectively presents credible data using Pearson
and logistic regression. The author Bahar Baran is an assistant professor of Computer Education
and Instructional Technology. The researchers conducting the study focused on Faculty
members use of technology and the adaptation of technology use in the classroom. This source
is not biased because it included questions about participants faulty, department, title, age, and
daily Internet connection duration. The second part of the experiment was related with
multitasking frequencies and its negative effect on academic work. The goal of this source was
to show the relationship between Academic Delay and Multitasking and the results of logistic
regression.
This source was helpful because it provided statistics as to why multitasking while doing
schoolwork was negatively impacting students. It proved that learners have split attention when
information is presented in the same modality an so, their cognitive load increased. I will us the
statics presented in this source to back up my argument that multitasking while using the Internet
has a negative effect on students academic work. After reading the article it did not change the
way I think about my topic because multitasking while using the Internet, talking on the phone,
and watching TV were statistically related.