As I eat a persimmon

The Bell Starts Ringing

At Horyu-ji Temple

– Masaoka Shiki

The bird needs to attend to the berry.

– Story-thinking, computational-thinking, programming and software engineering

Don’t Look Up, like all works of art, might mean different things to different people. It warns of terrible consequences when we cannot stay focused on an issue for as long as necessary. If students have a decreased attention span, how can we engage them? The numbers 8 and 6 may or may not have special significance.

There is research which suggests that the attention span of Generation Z is a grand total of 8 seconds. Giray (2022) believes this. His paper is on how students of today are distinct not only in terms of a decreased attention span but also personality, values and learning styles. He concluded his paper with specific ways to engage them meaningfully.

Apart from educators, advertisers also operate on the basis that Generation Z has an attention span of 8 seconds (see for example: The Rise of Short-Form Video & the Gen Z Social Revolution).

This number is not unchallenged. A 2017 BBC article highlights the importance of verifying information obtained online. The writer, Simon Maybin acknowledges that the number has been cited in various news and academic publications which many people would accept as credible but wonders where exactly that number came from.

Regardless of what the exact number is, the larger point which is relevant and difficult to disagree with, is that, students today, like Giray (2022) points out, have “access to all world knowledge at their fingertips”, “many forms of information” and “a diversity of information … being blasted” at them.

If we are what we eat and how we eat, this continuous stream of information and “Constant stimulation” must have an effect on who students become. Indeed Giray (2022) highlights that what students experience “especially during their juvenility” would have a profound and lasting impact. He adds that, “environmental, educational, technological, and familial aspects” would determine identity and personality.

Among other observations evidenced by research, he identifies this generation of students in the following ways. They “are very straightforward about who they are, who they want to be, and how they want people to see them.” They are aware of social problems near and far. They want to make a difference by “helping those in need and contributing to the well-being of humanity and the world in general”.

At the same time, he cites the American Psychological Association’s 2018 pronouncement that they are “the most probable of all generations to have poor mental health” because of a “never-ending influx of negative news” and perhaps because of this, they have “a lot of negative perspectives on things”.

They want to do good and be good. They want to stand up and have their voice heard. The classroom is a great place to help them achieve their aims.

Giray (2022) shares a few ways how students can be prepared to become active and concerned contributors of their communities. First, the relevance of any lesson to their daily lives must be highlighted before the lesson proper begins. Second, lessons must involve active student participation where every student in the class gets to talk and do. Third, online resources such as YouTube can be utilised.

There are concerns, though, that constant exposure to the online environment has, as mentioned earlier, led to a sharp decrease in attention span and a corresponding decline in the quality and quantity of reading and writing (Whig, 2022).

This does not necessarily have to be the case. Online tools can be used to help students sustain focus to read sufficiently.

One example of how this can be done was shared in Using a Blog to Facilitate Extensive Reading: An Exploratory Study (Chew & Lee, 2013). The researchers wanted to know how to get students to read extensively because, “extensive reading has been found to improve reading skills, vocabulary, spelling and writing” (Krashen, 1993 as cited in Chew & Lee, 2013).

They decided to use the blog to get students to read extensively. They did their own research before designing their extensive reading programme. Part of this research led them to the 10 principles of Extensive Reading (ER). These principles address “the characteristics of ER and the conditions and methodology needed for its success”.

For example, Principle 6 reads, Reading is its own reward. This means that students would not be required to do anything other than just read for their own pleasure and knowledge. Principle 8 reads, Reading is individual and silent. This means that students can read “at their own pace and leisure”.

Students were then asked to create a class blog, select articles from the internet and post these on the blog for their classmates to read over 8 weeks. The instructor was planning to “stay invisible and passive” so as to not influence what the students could or could not read but had to eventually play “a more active role” after interest in the blog appeared to dwindle.  Along with complete freedom of choice (Principle 3), the students were given only two “must nots”. These were: You must not post material with sensitive content. You must not post pictures without text.

Students reported that they enjoyed reading and that their language improved. Some expressed a preference for structured activities based on the articles which were shared, some said rewards would be motivating and some wanted their instructor to be more visible, “initiating discussion of what was posted”. When asked if blogs helped them “read more… read carefully and purposefully”, they all said yes. One student explained why: We are the Y Gen. Content flows faster on the Net and so better captures interest. I cannot see people needing books any more.

Whig (2022) laments exactly this. She says this generation has no patience to read high literature and wonders if we can then expect them to produce great works like we had in the past. She points to the emergence of a new genre of literary art “in the form of short digital stories such as flash fiction …”. In essence whole stories are written in the length of a tweet or less. She believes this “brevity mars the beauty of expression” and prevents the reader from fully appreciating the whole story because the text is without context.

While words (and pictures) can mean anything and everything without context as Rainer and Menon (2022) have pointed out, there are those who believe the opposite to be true about brevity. One example is Achilles who in Troy (the movie) explains that human life is precious and beautiful precisely because it is transient. Another example is that of Japanese monks who invented the tradition of the haiku which according to Asano (2017) “emphasises being in the moment, with the shortness of the poem”.

Flash fiction – 6-word stories have also been used by medical students “to explore their reasons for pursuing a career in medicine” (Sarah et al., 2022). One example of such a story is, Continue a legacy, honour the oath.

The context will always be king.

The Brain Dojo