Week 10s reading of Rewired, tells us that students today do not choose to multi-task, it is something that they must do. The technologically rich environment in which they have been raised has likely encouraged this behavior. Research tells us that work completed while multitasking is slower and contains a greater degree of errors than unitask executed work. Although psychological researchers are not in agreement over the reasons the brain fails to do flawless multitasking, there is a consensus that the brain has … ‘a limited mental resource that cannot be shared across all tasks.’ (p. 79) Reading further, educators are challenged to provide learning activities which takes advantage of our students’ abilities to multitask, bearing in mind the brains ability to do so. To engage students we are encouraged to investigate methods of providing appropriate opportunities for multitasking. In the book Studio Thinking, we embark on our study of ‘Studio Habits of Mind: What the Arts Teach’, examining first the development of craft, and then the development of observation.
Over time, it has been my experience that each successive school year seems to bring students who require more ‘bells and whistles’ to become engaged in the learning process. Luckily, in the art room, we are capable of introducing new media and techniques all of the time, so I am not certain this affects us as much as it does the classroom teacher. As I consider the art room and opportunities for multitasking, am I correct to think that we expect our students to multi-task in simple ways every time they are in our rooms? “Do ______ on your project, while you wait for your turn to ______.” Is it multitasking to create one part, while bearing in mind that there are additional parts, and all must, in the end go together? I do know that most of my students are able to converse with their table-mates without it interfering with their work, a few require redirection to remain on-task, and some prefer to work quietly. I always allow quiet conversation, only taking away the privilege to talk when the noise level interferes with the ability to work, or my own ability to think! As I have been attempting to incorporate greater use of technology into my lessons there have been many occasions, when encountering a technical problem, where I have asked my students to ‘pause’ working on a project and move to a new one. It makes me wonder, is it their ability to multi-task that permits them to readily move to something new?
(A personal side note – Rosen’s information on the development of the frontal lobe was of particular interest to me. Twenty-some years ago my husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. His disease has not followed a traditional course, unlike many others afflicted with MS, he leads a fairly full and active lifestyle. His main disability stems from demyelination in the frontal lobe. So, while Rosen tells us that one of the processes of increased communication efficiency is myelination and the role this serves in the development of the frontal lobe, I have firsthand observation in the reverse of this process. Without a doubt, my husband has lost a great deal of his ability to multitask, it is, in fact, his greatest source of frustration.)
When it comes to the development of craft, I think the elementary art teacher spends a great deal of time stressing the very basics in regard to the use and care of supplies and tools. It’s not very fun to paint with a set of dirty paints, nor end up with a big hole in your paper because you scrubbed your brush too much in one spot. I try to introduce opportunities which allow for experimentation. I am not so much focused on a project, as I am the process.
‘Students in the art studio are taught to look more closely than people ordinarily do.’ (Studio Thinking p. 58) I could not agree more with this statement. Before executing a landscape drawing my students examine examples of landscapes identifying foreground, mid-ground, and background. We often head out to the parking lot or playground to observe that the horizon line is, indeed, off in the distance and should probably be drawn a little higher than a straight line across the bottom of the paper. I know that this type of exercise sinks in when they demonstrate what they have learned in their drawings or when they share stories of personal observations made outside the art room.
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