Multi-task: Yes or No?

Research on multitasking shows it’s impossible to process more than one string of info at a time.

Stanford University Research:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html

With regard to a job task, I totally agree. Focus on one task at a time. Often I tell a co-worker that “I’m putting my head down” and she knows that if she see something via e-mail or IM to ping me because I’m totally focused on some task. I completely focus.

With regard to processing information, nothing I read or watch will stay in my memory long term. I can filter what’s coming in and I organize it, primarily by using Delicious (social bookmarking) for external information and other tools for internal information. I don’t even try to consume it. Then, I share it via Twitter or Facebook and maybe someone has a clear job task at that moment for which it helps or they can organize information for themselves like I do.

Whether I read one thing at a time or 100, I cannot and never have been able to remember it so my meta-cognitive skills developed into being focused as an information aggregator. I have a Research folder on my C:\ drive and when I find a good template or example, I save it there. Then, one day I’ll need that Needs Analysis template and I’ll use it. Overtime there has been a general theme to the categories and I do seem to be able to recall my typical folder structure for things I’ve saved.

So, even if I focused on reading or watching one thing, the same end result happens; I remember absolutely nothing the next day. I’m not and never have been embarrassed by that. Even if we had a heated debate…I would go to sleep that night and forget it ever happened. It’s just me and who I am.

That’s why I take in as much as possible, drink gallons of coffee each morning, and I have strategies for organizing content so that it’s simple to access at a later time when it’s needed for an important task.

21st Century Skill
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I believe we need to stop thinking our children can or should memorize and start helping them organize and share information. Help them build their own content organization structure and help them build a network of experts to reach out to. Then, they can be successful and learn-by doing and reference the necessary information.

Example: Tonight I taught my daughter to type in a keyword into Google, then type the word “game” at the end of her search. She learned about red-eyed tree frogs using an online game. Her report was factual as requested, but a few of the facts came from her experience within that game. In the future, she’ll do research and be conditioned to search for a game to learn about things, rather than just read and watch.

Teach kids to select their own instructional strategy.