It’s 11:55 p.m. and you have a final paper due at midnight. You sat down to write it four hours ago, but you’ve only produced a page of solid written work. About 75 percent of the night passed looking at Facebook, Twitter and email or reading articles on BuzzFeed.
This might seem extreme, but it’s not uncommon among undergraduates today preparing to study for finals. Technological distractions are causing people to become bigger procrastinators than they ever were before.
“I think technology gives people more creative ways to procrastinate,” said Sean O’Malley, manager of information technology communications. “With a good wireless connection, you have a lot of great, easy ways to dispose of your time.”
In a 2001 study at Cumhuriyet University in Turkey, it was found that between high school, undergraduate and graduate students, undergraduates are more likely to procrastinate, particularly when it comes to papers and studying for exams.
“It is way easier to procrastinate now with technology, but I notice that whenever my roommate needs to do something and doesn’t want to, she’ll take a shower or clean the house,” said Kelly Schlabach, a junior studying social work. “I think technology helps with procrastinating, but I feel that students will do it regardless.”
Professors such as Loren Goldman, visiting assistant professor of political science, don’t allow cellphones or laptops in the classroom.
“You wouldn’t have an iPhone in a business meeting and I feel the same way about the classroom,” Goldman said. “I think there is something really important about being in the classroom and being present and having your attention focused directly on what is being taught.”
Whether or not technology is the biggest culprit, some believe technology and procrastination are not so much about falling into the trappings, but rather losing control. Ted Welser, associate professor in the department of sociology and anthropology, said students will succeed by being aware of what needs to be done and finding the determination to do it.
But as technology continues to advance, especially in the classroom, Welser believes technology can progressively be used to not only connect students to what is being taught, but also to engage them in ways they were not able to before.
“I can see a greater communication with growing technology and to have participation on a larger scale,” Welser said. “What’s exciting is not teaching this technology, but knowing that attitudes towards technology are going to be much more advanced in three or four years.”
With an increase in cutting-edge technology such as Google Glass, a pair of glasses that displays the information in front of the user’s eyes, the desire to become distracted by technology is overwhelming.
“You can’t tell students to take their glasses off in class, and I see that presenting a huge problem if they are choosing to look at the Internet and get their focus away from what is being taught in class,” Goldman said. “The classroom is a sacred place. It requires you to be there and taking in what is being taught, and I feel laptops restrict that."
wa054010@ohiou.edu
@thewillofash
This article appeared in print under the headline "Technology worsens procrastination, presents threat to work ethic"
