For my final project in ETEC 531: Curriculum Issues in Cultural and New Media Studies I created a video essay on problematic cell phone use. It was an opportunity to further develop my video editing skills and to explore a topic that interests me. At the time it seemed like articles warning of the risks of cell phone addiction were constantly finding their way into my news feed. I wanted to find out if there was any actual research to back up these claims.
What I discovered was that there was a growing body of research on the problematic use off mobile phones. This has serious implications for education. As we move more of our learning to mobile friendly formats we also are also starting to create content and activities that require the use of mobile phones. Learners are being bombarded with a constant flurry of distracting notifications that break their concentration and make it difficult to focus.
Ultimately my exploration of the topic left me a bit worried and with the resolution to use my own mobile phone less. I’m not quite ready to abandon mobile technology in design but helping learners find balance is more important than ever to me. I do this in my designs by respecting the learner/users time.