“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” 

-R. Buckminster Fuller

This quote is debatable, it has truth sprinkled throughout, yet it does not accurately portray technology at its current state. Technology is evolving rapidly, showing no signs of slowing down. Consequently, usage spread around the globe and incorporated itself into daily routines, including most schools. Since the pandemic, students have been given their own Chromebooks for educational purposes. Though they were available years before the Covid-19 Lockdowns, they really only started to gain popularity afterwards. All this development comes at a cost, as this technology, specifically the usage of Chromebooks and the direct internet access that comes with it, is a distraction for several students when learning.

Throughout the last few weeks research was conducted to answer the question of whether students are being distracted by technology. Before beginning this research, it was hypothesized that students would use their available technology responsibly. To prove this, a journalist went class to class around the Brooklawn Middle School. Out of the 17 observed classes, 10 were using Chromebooks, the rest stuck with the more traditional paper worksheets. Most of the Chromebook-classes were using them for research purposes, or classroom games. Nevertheless, a small percentage of students seemed to be distracted by the computers, using unlocked gaming-sites, mindlessly tapping on their keyboard, and taking a long time picking out songs. Despite this most students appeared to be focused on their task using the available resources to complete their assignments. In short, most students utilized their technology responsibly, with only a few individuals who were caught off topic. 

All over the world it is very known, that students, especially those in their “teenage years’’ have terrible attention spans. One of the biggest distractions is arguably the internet. Since the introduction of school computers students have found various ways of accessing “ gaming websites” that have not been blocked by the school. This was also confirmed by a survey conducted for students, which revealed that 57.5% of the surveyed students have played games in class without the consent of teachers (Survey). Additionally, a few years ago the University of Chicago did a study that was also used by the article, titled, “Tips to Prevent Technology Distraction in the Classroom”, that states “...even if cell phones were turned off, their mere presence on the desk reduced people's cognitive capacity” (Barile). In fact , most teachers are aware of this, as the interviewed teacher Ms. Holt stated,  “One thing I find frustrating about games is that even the best students miss instructions…” (Garvin). The survey numbers show over half of all students at one point playing games instead of doing schoolwork. Even though technology is distracting, it can also be used for games such as Kahoot! or others incorporating electronics in lessons. Furthermore, keeping these lessons fun and engaging, helps scholars stay focused without resorting to games on the internet.

To sum up, when students use technology for their schoolwork, several of them will lose focus and become easily distracted because of things on the internet. Therefore, by understanding the reason for this issue, teachers can help avoid this, therefore increasing student productivity and decreasing boredom. Additionally, incorporating technology into the school day could raise the engagement of students. On the whole, distractions in the classroom are mainly due to a lack of things to catch the attention of pupils. As a result, more students who tend to struggle on focusing would enjoy school. However, this can be avoided by keeping lessons varied and every now and then doing something of student interest.