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Asked by tyrrellt to Victoria, Paul, Mike, Iroise, Gaia on 28 Feb 2018.
Question: Have you found any correlation between time spent online gaming and attention in class?
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Mike Hobbiss answered on 28 Feb 2018:
Hi. So online gaming isn’t something that I collect data on personally (I have collected data on media multitasking – combining different media sources simultaneously, but that’s a little different). What the research seems to show is that there are some specific attention-related tasks that action video players actually do better at (e.g. Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003). Action video game modifies visual selective attention.
On the whole however there has been an association between lots of video gaming and attention problems (e.g. Gentile, D. A., Swing, E. L., Lim, C. G., & Khoo, A. (2012). Video game playing, attention problems, and impulsiveness: Evidence of bidirectional causality. but it is important to say that it is NOT at all clear which causes which – perhaps attention problems lead people to game more
So we can’t really say for certain that it’s a bad thing for attention in school. in general a lot of the very negative predictions about ‘screen time’ etc haven’t really been backed up by research. I would suggest that if there is someone playing a lot of video games who is having trouble concentrating in class, it is more likely due to the fact that they aren’t getting enough sleep than because of the video games themselves!
Comments
tyrrellt commented on :
Thanks. The children in my classes are spending more and more time online but we are seeing an increase in attention problems. Sleep is definitely an issue too though – many of the children said they had their gaming device in their bedroom.
Mike commented on :
Absolutely. I think sleeps an absolute time bomb in schools and for young people generally. A huge undiagnosed problem. I would be very tempted to get your students to keep sleep diaries and do some lessons on good sleep hygiene, and see how that helps!
vmarshall commented on :
There are some sleep charities who run workshops in school. We had a charity come in and run sessions for students during the day and then for parents after school – http://www.thechildrenssleepcharity.org.uk/
ellieerussell commented on :
I like the idea of sleep diaries…maybe form tutors, science teachers or PSHE colleagues could try it…
Mike commented on :
Yes – I got my forms to keep them when I was teaching – it was amazing (and terrifying)