Moderating Role of Attention Control in the Relationship Between Academic Distraction and Performance

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of social media engagement, which includes frequency of using social media platforms (FSMP) and social media involvement, on the academic distraction and academic performance of the student. The study further tests the moderating role of attention control on the relationship between academic distraction and academic performance. Method: Data were collected from 272 students studying in universities in India. Students answered questions on the frequency of visiting social media platforms and social media involvement, components of academic distraction, and attention control. AMOS software was used to test the structural model. Results: FSMP does not contribute to academic distraction; however, consistent social media involvement does predict academic distraction. Unlike previous studies, academic distraction does not influence the academic performance of students born in the digital era, who have accessed social media throughout their childhood. Attention control moderates the relationship between academic distraction and academic performance. Conclusions: The study challenges past research that claims social media engagement has a negative effect on student academic performance. Social media involvement, such as texting, commenting, and sharing updates, causes academic distraction but may not affect student academic performance. A novel finding is that the strength and direction of the relationship between academic distraction on academic performance vary with attention control. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: The study can be useful for educators and policy makers to build strategies for developing digital citizenship behaviours among students and thereby leverage social media for improved academic achievements of students. In particular, the potential moderating role of attention control in the interaction between academic distraction and academic performance has implications for educators and researchers

Introduction to location-based mobile learning

[About the book] The report follows on from a 2-day workshop funded by the STELLAR Network of Excellence as part of their 2009 Alpine Rendez-Vous workshop series and is edited by Elizabeth Brown with a foreword from Mike Sharples. Contributors have provided examples of innovative and exciting research projects and practical applications for mobile learning in a location-sensitive setting, including the sharing of good practice and the key findings that have resulted from this work. There is also a debate about whether location-based and contextual learning results in shallower learning strategies and a section detailing the future challenges for location-based learning

Augmenting the field experience: a student-led comparison of techniques and technologies

In this study we report on our experiences of creating and running a student fieldtrip exercise which allowed students to compare a range of approaches to the design of technologies for augmenting landscape scenes. The main study site is around Keswick in the English Lake District, Cumbria, UK, an attractive upland environment popular with tourists and walkers. The aim of the exercise for the students was to assess the effectiveness of various forms of geographic information in augmenting real landscape scenes, as mediated through a range of techniques and technologies. These techniques were: computer-generated acetate overlays showing annotated wireframe views from certain key points; a custom-designed application running on a PDA; a mediascape running on the mScape software on a GPS-enabled mobile phone; Google Earth on a tablet PC; and a head-mounted in-field Virtual Reality system. Each group of students had all five techniques available to them, and were tasked with comparing them in the context of creating a visitor guide to the area centred on the field centre. Here we summarise their findings and reflect upon some of the broader research questions emerging from the project

Mind over matter: testing the efficacy of an online randomized controlled trial to reduce distraction from smartphone use

Evidence suggests a growing call for the prevention of excessive smartphone and social media use and the ensuing distraction that arises affecting academic achievement and productivity. A ten-day online randomized controlled trial with the use of smartphone apps, engaging participants in mindfulness exercises, self-monitoring and mood tracking, was implemented amongst UK university students (n = 143). Participants were asked to complete online pre-and post-intervention assessments. Results indicated high effect sizes in reduction of smartphone distraction and improvement scores on a number of self-reported secondary psychological outcomes. The intervention was not effective in reducing habitual behaviours, nomophobia, or time spent on social media. Mediation analyses demonstrated that: (i) emotional self-awareness but not mindful attention mediated the relationship between intervention effects and smartphone distraction, and (ii) online vigilance mediated the relationship between smartphone distraction and problematic social media use. The present study provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy of an intervention for decreased smartphone distraction and highlights psychological processes involved in this emergent phenomenon in the smartphone literature. Online interventions may serve as complementary strategies to reduce distraction levels and promote insight into online engagement. More research is required to elucidate the mechanisms of digital distraction and assess its implications in problematic use

Online Homework Distraction Scale: un estudio de validación

Background: Increasingly, postsecondary students enroll in distance learning courses and complete homework online, which extends their learning opportunities regardless of where they are. Online homework requires self-control from students to cope with conventional and tech-related distractors, however research on this topic is scarce. There is a need to develop an instrument to assess online homework distractions in higher education. Method: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Online Homework Distraction Scale (OHDS) based on 612 undergraduates in China. After randomly dividing the sample into two groups, we carried out a principal component analysis (PCA) with one group and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with another group. Results: Both PCA and CFA findings indicated that tech-related distraction and conventional distraction were empirically indistinguishable for college students. Given acceptable measurement invariance, the latent factor mean was examined over gender for all participants and found that men were more distracted while doing online homework. Concerning validity evidence, in line with theoretical predictions, the OHDS was negatively related to online homework expectancy, value, effort, and time management. Conclusions: Our study provides strong evidence that the OHDS is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring online homework distraction.Antecedentes: el aprendizaje online requiere del autocontrol para hacer frente a los distractores convencionales y los relacionados con las nuevas tecnologías. En la Educación Superior, existe la necesidad de desarrollar un instrumento para evaluar los distractores a la hora de realizar las tareas para casa en modo online. Método: el estudio examinó las propiedades psicométricas de la Online Homework Distraction Scale (OHDS). Participaron 612 estudiantes universitarios de China. La muestra fue dividida aleatoriamente en dos grupos. Se realizó Análisis de Componentes Principales (ACP) con un grupo y Análisis Factorial Confi rmatorio (AFC) con el otro grupo. Resultados: los resultados del ACP y del AFC indicaron que la distracción relacionada con la tecnología y la distracción convencional eran empíricamente indistinguibles. Constatada una invariancia de medida aceptable, se examinó la media del factor latente sobre el género para todos los participantes. Los hombres se distraen más que las mujeres mientras realizan las tareas online. Con respecto a la evidencia de validez, el OHDS se relacionó negativamente con la expectativa, el valor, el esfuerzo y la gestión del tiempo. Conclusiones: hay evidencia sólida de que el OHDS es un instrumento válido y fi able para medir el nivel de distracción en tareas online.- (undefined

Prevention priorities for online challenges and harms in adolescence and assessment of smartphone distraction: an emotive-cognitive perspective

Evidence suggests that problematic use of gaming, the internet and social media among adolescents is on the rise and developing into global growing issues affecting multiple cognitive, emotional and behavioural domains. How are these experienced and conceptualized among students, parents and teachers? The first part of this thesis comprised two systematic literature reviews on school-based interventions for internet addiction and excessive screen time. Findings indicated the need to focus prevention beyond time spent into harms and challenges faced in adolescence through mental health literacy and skill development and by incorporating parent and teacher media literacy training. Five qualitative studies followed as a qualitative needs assessment investigation. The frst analyzed key adolescent motivations for online engagement and highlighted control as a new motivational factor driving engagement. This study led to the development of the control model of social media engagement, proposing individual, social and environmental pathways from normative to potentially problematic online behaviours. Additionally, adolescent online harms were conceptualised by stakeholders as running on a severity continuum from benefits to harms beyond addiction. Parent and teacher perspectives informed key recommendations for media literacy education. The second part of the present thesis involved two quantitative studies, addressed smartphone distraction impacting students' academic performance through the design of the first psychometric instrument within smartphone use. The final study encompassed the assessment of a brief online randomized controlled trial to curb smartphone distraction and findings indicated the efficacy of the intervention and the reduction of potentially probematic smartphone-related psychological constructs. The present thesis addresses critical priorities and recommendations for online harm reduction in adolescence. Dissemination of findings are timely for media literacy in schools in the UK and other countries with policy intentions to safeguard for young people's emotional health. Assessing smartphone distraction contributes to the understanding of this emergent disruptive construct contributing to initiatives to enhance students' academic performance and well-being within higher education and work environments

How do Arts Programs Facilitate Emotion Regulation in the Prison Setting?

Reentry and prison arts programs provide an opportunity for rehabilitation that facilitates healthier emotion regulation (ER), relationship building, and self-esteem. To measure the effects of arts-based interventions on ER, formerly incarcerated people completed a questionnaire that included three different measures: the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Short-Form (CERQ-Short), the Emotion Regulation Strategies for Artistic Creative Activities (ERS-ACA), and the Self-expression and Emotion Regulation in Art Therapy Scale (SERATS). Results showed that there were significant differences between males and females on their scores on ER subscales, where women more often than men employed positive ER strategies. In support of my hypotheses, higher scores on positive ER strategies on the CERQ-Short, predicted higher scores on positive ER strategies measured by the ERS-ACA. Conversely, the tendency of a participant to utilize maladaptive ER strategies measured by the CERQ-Short led to lower scores on measures of positive ER strategies measured by the ERS-ACA. Furthermore, all arts participants were found to more often utilize positive reappraisal, an ER strategy believed to foster long-term cognitive benefits, over positive refocusing (distraction). Finally, there was no significant difference found between the more years spent in a prison arts program, and higher scores on positive ER measures. The study suggests that there are promising effects of arts programs of ER for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations. Further research can hopefully determine whether positive ER strategies can reduce recidivism rates

A Study of Preferred Learning Time of Online Learner in Multimedia Microlearning in Higher Education Context

This study aims to explore when would online learners prefer to interact with multimedia microlearning†in higher education context. Although microlearning is an emerging topic, most of the previous studies were focus on reporting the application results of microlearning, only very few of previous works were specifically conducted on discussing when would online learners prefer to interact with multimedia microlearning. Total population sampling approach was adopted and questionnaire was used to collect primary data. In total, 77 participants attempted the survey, the response rate is 32.6%. The findings from this study indicate that more learners prefer to study during morning or afternoon time rather than evening or midnight time (H2) (p<0.05). On the other hand, there is no significant difference on when to attempt assessment (H1) and on gender issue (H3, H4). The findings from this study generates knowledge to fill the research gap in the field of microlearning. According to the researcher’s best knowledge, this is the first time that a study like this had been conducted to review and discuss the online learners’ preferences on interacting multimedia learning. Hopefully, this study could shed some lights on future directions of the development of microlearning

Exploring the dimensions of smartphone distraction: development, validation, measurement invariance, and latent mean differences of the smartphone distraction scale (SDS)

Background: Distraction is a functional emotion regulation strategy utilized to relieve emotional distress. Within the attention economy perspective, distraction is increasingly associated with digital technology use, performance impairments and interference with higher-order cognitive processes. Research on smartphone distraction and its association with problematic smartphone use is still scarce and there is no available psychometric assessment tool to assess this cognitive and emotive process parsimoniously. Method: The present study reports the development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS) through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, construct validity, gender invariance, and latent mean differences. The study was conducted in a sample of British university students (N = 1,001; M = 21.10 years, SD = 2.77). Results: The 16-item SDS was best conceptualized in a four-factor model solution comprising attention impulsiveness, online vigilance, emotion regulation, and multitasking. Construct validity was established using relevant psychosocial and mental health measures, with SDS scores being moderately associated with deficient self-regulation and problematic social media use. Gender measurement invariance was achieved at the configural, metric, and scalar levels, and latent mean differences indicated that females had significantly higher means than males across all four SDS latent factors. Discussion: The SDS presents with several strengths, including its theoretical grounding, relatively short length, and sound psychometric properties. The SDS enables the assessment of distraction, which appears to be one of the pathways to problematic smartphone use facilitating overuse and overreliance on smartphones for emotion regulation processes. The assessment of distraction in relation to problematic use in vulnerable populations may facilitate interventions that could encourage metacognition and benefit these groups by allowing sustained productivity in an increasingly disrupted work and social environment