Technology and the Role of Attention

A couple of weeks ago while reviewing I think Chapter 7 in class, we had watched a video about cell phones and how they and other new technological advances are causing ineffective encoding of information during school. I hadn't really thought much about this since I often text in class and didn't feel as if my learning was being affected until something happened in a certain class. During class, the teacher was giving a lecture and I quickly looked down at my phone and sent a quick reply back to who had just texted me. However, when I looked back up to pay attention to the teacher again, I had completely forgotten about what he was teaching. In that split second that I checked a text message, my mind had swtiched it's focus. My process of encoding and listening to the information was disrupted and I wasn't able to really catch up on what he was talking about for a while. I'm sure this isn't the first time my focus was interupted and had not processed the information correctly while I was texting, but this was the first time I really noticed how bad it affected me. I always got annoyed with teachers when they told the class to put phones away, but now I kind of realize that it really is important to not disrupt your attention so that you can encode the information correctly.