Competing for Student Attention: What is the Real Issue and How Do We Address It?
Start Date
November 2025
End Date
November 2025
Keywords
Instruction, Adult Learning, Attention span, Social Media, Digital Presence, Technology, Student Retention, Communication, Learning
Abstract
Students in multiple allied health profession programs are bombarded with information from their professors and from their digital lifestyles. The reliance on smartphones and tablets to communicate has led to a general deterioration of attention spans as well as the ability to process information effectively. Not all students seem impacted, but most students seem distracted. Do we eliminate technology from classrooms, or do we adapt to compete for our students’ attention? Compounding this epidemic of inattention is the apparent drop in effective communication skills, leading to misunderstandings and misinterpretations of verbal communication. Assertive statements are misinterpreted as “shouting” and constructive criticism may be interpreted as attempts to humiliate students are one of several examples. The way students communicate with each other, based on similarities in age and culture, may also result in failure to effectively communicate and emote with their future patients. This lecture addresses these issues and proposes ways of teaching students how to process information better and tap into empathy to demonstrate the need to reconnect with people and not rely on technology.
Learning Outcomes
The audience will recognize the challenges associated in keeping the attention of young adult learners.
Audience members will also learn about challenges neurodivergent students face that could hinder their learning process.
Attendees will learn about potential strategies to help retain student focus during instruction.
Attendees will also learn how to communicate clear expectations to students to promote favorable professional behavior outcomes.
Track
Learning Design
Session Type
25-Minute Session
Competing for Student Attention: What is the Real Issue and How Do We Address It?
Students in multiple allied health profession programs are bombarded with information from their professors and from their digital lifestyles. The reliance on smartphones and tablets to communicate has led to a general deterioration of attention spans as well as the ability to process information effectively. Not all students seem impacted, but most students seem distracted. Do we eliminate technology from classrooms, or do we adapt to compete for our students’ attention? Compounding this epidemic of inattention is the apparent drop in effective communication skills, leading to misunderstandings and misinterpretations of verbal communication. Assertive statements are misinterpreted as “shouting” and constructive criticism may be interpreted as attempts to humiliate students are one of several examples. The way students communicate with each other, based on similarities in age and culture, may also result in failure to effectively communicate and emote with their future patients. This lecture addresses these issues and proposes ways of teaching students how to process information better and tap into empathy to demonstrate the need to reconnect with people and not rely on technology.