Wherever the eyes look, one`s attention follows.

– The Secret of the Golden Flower, 3:14

… motivation processes allow organisms to regulate their internal and external environment, seeking access to some stimuli and avoiding others.

– The Motivated Brain: Improving Student Attention, Motivation and Perseverance

Physical presence does not equate to actual presence. Anyone who has tried dining with someone who is constantly on the phone would be able to attest to this. What students need from themselves, peers and teachers is presence. This will make the difference between learning and merely attending. If presence is achieved, online classes can be effective.

Online learning is a catch-all term which refers to various modalities. It can be “asynchronous and synchronous” (Hamzeh, 2021).

Synchronous learning refers to learning with the teacher present. If done online, this can be achieved through a video-conferencing software. Asynchronous learning refers to the times when students engage in independent work online either to watch a recorded lecture, practise or research. Both synchronous and asynchronous learning have their role. Indeed, it is not impossible to learn something in an entirely self-directed way. Compared to traditional courses which require mastery of prescribed content some of which may not be relevant or of interest to a learner, self-directed learning is a form of perfect customization. Of course, things can be easier with someone else around especially for younger learners. This is so for various reasons, not least of which is that self-directed learning requires the ability to self-monitor progress and initiate remediation strategies.

One worry in relation to online learning is that a student’s social and emotional needs may not be met.

As Hassan (2021) puts it, “In an online learning scenario, students are distant from the teacher, and they use technology for accessing learning materials, to interact with the teacher, and for peer interaction”. He also writes about the relationship between “physical distance” and “emotional closeness” and suggests that students need “relatedness” which is a “feeling wherein learners feel connected or affiliated to their educators and learning environment” to learn effectively.

We already know physical proximity need not translate to emotional closeness. The question is, can emotional closeness be achieved at a physical distance? One area where emotional availability is a prerequisite is the field of emotional and mental well-being. A quick Google search would reveal several companies which offer therapy and counselling services entirely online.

Therapists and counsellors work on emotional wounds, false beliefs and other forms of psychosocial knots. This would require intense and heightened presence arguably more so than for regular teaching. If physical proximity is a prerequisite for such intense presence, there will be no business case for online therapy and counselling outfits. This though is not the case; demand for such services is healthy.

How do therapists help their clients heal without being in the same room? They listen, ask questions and respond to questions both verbalised and those which they intuit which clients for various reasons do not articulate. This is to be present. It is to hold nothing else in the mind except for what the client is saying, not saying and yet feeling. It is to have eye contact. It is to be able to process emotions in showing empathy. The therapist or counsellor also has to be able to think quickly and logically to unravel the root causes of a client’s distress and work out a way to help the client have better insight. These may not be achieved face-to-face and can also be achieved through a video conferencing tool if the therapist has the skill and intention to do so.

Teachers too require the aforementioned characteristics, only perhaps to a lesser degree because ordinarily they would not be engaging in cognitive behavioural therapy (which sounds technical and like something only for the wounded but really is nothing more than right believing through correcting and replacing misconceptions).

Imagine being a student. You hear something in the classroom or a video conference. You see something on the whiteboard or on a screen. You don’t want to remain seated and passive be it in the classroom or in your room facing a screen for long. You want to do. When you do, you don’t know if you are doing it correctly. You need feedback. Being in a classroom is fun because you can reach across and engage the friend next to you and see if you are on the right track. If the friend is also unsure and even if he is sure, you cannot be sure he is right, you will need the teacher to evaluate your performance. This the teacher would do at some point and you will now either correct what needs correcting or move on to something else with the confidence that you were correct. Indeed, as Hassan (2021) points out, “competence” is another key factor which determines “intrinsic motivation” which in turn determines engagement and learning.

There is no reason why the very same process cannot be replicated online. Online conferencing tools have annotation and chat functions and students are free to ask questions as and when they want, perhaps even more frequently than when in the classroom because, they can type out their questions for a teacher or peers to address whoever becomes available first.

The teacher of course is one part of the equation. There are those who for various reasons would prefer to spend their time on something else, for instance another webpage or some game while the lesson is ongoing. It may also be slightly more difficult to remain seated when the bed is next to you or when there are other distractions such as curious siblings or pets.

We have dealt with the kind of presence teachers need to be effective online or offline. We will now look at how students too can achieve presence. Presence for students means there is nowhere else they would rather be than that very place at that very time doing exactly what they are doing.

Essentially, the basic requirement for presence is attention. If this was some esoteric art say a thousand years ago, taught by some reclusive master to a select group of students who had to fight tooth and nail to be considered worthy – think Pai Mei teaching Beatrix the Five-Point-Palm-Exploding-Heart Technique at Gao Miao, or a novice Zen monk performing niwa-dzume, a student would be very attentive primarily because he himself sees the value of what is being taught. Indeed, as it is written in The Training of the Zen Buddhist Monk, “For the Zen truth is something which must be snatched away”.

A student who has a goal and fully intends to achieve such goal, would direct attention to the lesson during video conferencing. This means listening and thinking about what is being said and asking questions as they pop up. Even if a student intends to be attentive, attention could wane for a number of reasons including the following.

The connection is not stable. Having been through such lessons from time to time since last year, experience shows such connectivity issues are typically resolved quickly and without much intervention. The lesson content is pitched at an inappropriate level. This can be dealt with through communication with the teacher.

The student has wandering thoughts because there are stimuli in the environment capable of diverting attention. This is another main concern with regards to online learning. This issue is not peculiar to any mode of learning or to learning only.

In The Secret of the Golden Flower which is said to be teachings of one of the Eight Immortals, Lu Dongbin, a way called Stopping and Observing or Reversal is taught as an antidote to a wandering mind.

This entails what psychologists call metacognition. It is be self-aware of thoughts and emotions. When someone is lost in thoughts, the eyes might be glazed. The ancient manual suggests two physical ways to gain control of mental processes. These are firstly, to try and look at and be cognizant of something in the immediate vicinity. The second is to bring attention or awareness back to one’s breathing. Doing this would disrupt a runaway train of unwelcome or welcome but unproductive thoughts.

Though the manual goes on to elucidate the process of “turning the light around” or allowing the Golden Flower to bloom, it suffices for current purposes to know that students have the power to control their attention. In other words, it is not the case that video conferencing is per se less conducive for attentive states. If attention wanes for reasons which have to do with extraneous or intrinsic factors, awareness would go a long way in increasing attention on what matters.

To sum up, presence is required for learning. A teacher exercises presence by being aware of a student’s state of attention. This can be done by regularly engaging students to monitor understanding and by paying attention to facial expressions and general posture. Students can exercise presence through directing their mind to lesson content by recapitulating to themselves what has just been said or by asking questions. When attention wanes, a student has the ability to come back to the present through metacognition.

Happy home-based learning!

The Brain Dojo