Higher education institutions must develop dexterity for adapting teaching and learning to meet their students’ needs in the rapidly changing digital landscape. With the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology on the rise, educators are finding it increasingly challenging to sustain their students’ attention.
In fact, attention spans are rapidly declining among students, averaging just 47 seconds on any screen, according to Gloria Mark, PhD. The excessive use of AI has the potential to exacerbate these challenges, altering once cognitively demanding tasks into something that can be achieved almost instantaneously. Sustained attention has become a taxing obstacle for many, hindering the learning process.
In response, student engagement has been a topic of discussion in higher education for decades and leaders in the field have long deliberated best practices and strategies to enhance students’ learning experience and strengthen their cognitive capabilities. Educators are urged to implement technology and edtech tools to redesign courses and programs to better engage their students.
To address the challenges of engagement, retain students’ attention, and build a toolkit for educators and students to use in the classroom, Swivl, a future-ready edtech company with a suite of reflective tools, created Engageable, a real-time attention management tool with embedded mindfulness.
“AI’s impact on education will be 10x larger and faster than the internet, ” said Brian Lamb, CEO and co-founder of Swivl. “We believe that creating an intentional process for how students manage their attention is a necessary part of the education community's response to AI.”
The new edtech tool helps students manage attentional resistance of learning new content in a mindful and measured way. In the classroom, when a student starts the Pulse timer, they are prompted to take a deep breath and constructively recommit their attention in short intervals. When doing this, the tool tracks the time spent on each activity, inadvertently helping students track their attention throughout the learning process.
“In the age we live, time to pause, breathe and really understand what is competing for our attention is key,” said one teacher in Nova Scotia. “Turning down the noise of constant messages pulling us in all directions is a much-needed break. The guided breathing and settling exercises rejuvenate both body and mind. I am then ready to begin again with refreshed clarity. When the world is spinning too fast to think, engageable hits the reset button."
By engaging with the tool, students build awareness of their attention and how they are developing interests and progressing their learning. Engageable also provides options to Recharge whenever stress or anxiety develop, or to Record actions and reflections when it makes sense.
“AI has the potential to lift us to new heights if we manage this transition well.” continued Lamb. “We know from our work observing thousands of classrooms that human capacity depends on how you manage attention before natural interest develops instead of just after. It’s teaching the ability to engage, not just be engaged; that makes the difference.”