Quick Tip: Distraction is the Norm: Strategies to Keep Students Focused in Online and In-person Classes

This post was written by Dr. Polly Husmann, Associate Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, who attended a webinar by Dr. James Lang (session recording) in October 2024. 

We must solicit, encourage, and earn attention. Dr. Lang suggested strategies for physical classrooms, like moving around and encouraging interaction. However, many classes have shifted to online lectures with in-class small group activities. How do we capture attention in an online setting? How do we keep students on task during small group activities? Here are a few ideas I plan to try:

Online:

• Use PlayPosit to break up online lecture recordings with interactive elements. 
• Vary question types in PlayPosit, including recall, relevance (why does this matter?), and include external resources, such as youtube videos. 
• Make engagements worthwhile with points. 
• Include pauses in longer lectures for breaks or refocusing.

In-class:

• Ask questions that encourage deeper thinking, especially for groups that get done early. 
• Encourage students to quiz each other, particularly medical students using virtual flashcards. 
• Recognize other life events and allow space for connection. 

If you are interested in joining a book group about this topic, send email to Madeleine Gonin (mgonin@iu.edu). Let her know which of these books interest you: 

• Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It (IUCAT ebook) 
• Human Capacity in the Attention Economy (IUCAT ebook for IUB) 
• How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (IUCAT  streaming audio)