Latest Issue of the MindBrainEd Think Tank + (ISSN 2434-1002) 6 MindBrained Bulletin Think Tank V4i6 Mindfulness | Page 18

deep or detailed manner. The only thing my mind can do, indeed the only thing it
wants to do, is plug back into that distracted frenzied blitz of online information’ (as
quoted in Carr, 2010, p. 226).
This experience of the college senior is especially distressing if we look at the
learning process. As teachers, we know that in order to learn anything, students first
need to pay attention to it. If students are unable to focus, their brain will not receive
or retain the input. Endless interaction with the virtual world reduces capacities of
attention, memory processing, and higher thinking skills. It can lessen students’
ability to learn (Doyle & Zakrajsek, 2013).
As technology use presents significant challenges in many areas
of our life, mindfulness is a practice that can help improve
the capacity to make more conscious decisions for how we
interact with these digital devices in daily life.
Mindfulness is paying attention to what is happening in your
Mindfulness: a form of
experience, in real time, in a curious and open way. The mental
mental training
training of mindfulness asks you to practice focusing your attention,
in the present moment, on your senses (e.g. breathing or hearing) or
your inner world (e.g. thoughts or emotions) for a period of time. Repeated practice
in mindfulness training supports greater attentional control, self-awareness, and
emotional regulation in individuals, leading to an overall increase in self-regulation
(Tang, Hölzel, & Posner, 2015).
Phone notifications:
the intermittent
rewards hook our
attention and can lead
to addictive
behaviors, like a slot
machine does for
gamblers.
For students, exhibiting self-control to not go on an Instagram
feed when studying for an exam is an important skill, as the
pull we all feel to constantly check the dings and buzzes from
our phones is real. And this is whether we have an actual
notification or not. According to Tristan Harris, former
product philosopher at Google, it is the addictive, slot machine
nature of application notifications, and their promise of
unpredictable dopamine rewards, which has us all
unconsciously checking our phones; for some adults, an
average of 150 times a day.
And once a learner has interrupted a focused task like studying
or writing, there is a recovery time tax. A study conducted by
Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine found it can
take up to 23 minutes to regain a focused attention. So each
time you think you’re stopping to respond to a new message for
a quick minute or two, in reality, it could cost a lot more to
return your state of concentration. It’s a heavy price to pay for the limited time
teachers and students have each day; effective multi-tasking is a myth.