Defeating Distraction Lesson Plan
Level: Grades 9-12
Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts
This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.
Overview
In this lesson, students learn how to manage distraction when using digital media tools and practice avoiding the “phone loop.” Students learn about the “phone loop” and simple strategies for avoiding it from a video, then rank those strategies based on how useful they think they will be in their own lives. They then think of different things they do with their phones, sort those into ones that have an obvious end point (like checking the weather) and those that don’t. Students try a number of different exercises designed to help them use their devices more mindfully, then write a reflection on the activity. They then identify ways in which apps’ and devices’ design features may make it easy to lose track of how much time we spend using them, then brainstorm ways they can change those features or their own habits to promote more mindful use. Finally, students design “paper prototypes” that show how they would change an app to encourage better habits and more mindful use.
Learning Outcomes
Big ideas/key concepts: Students will understand that…
Digital media have a real impact:
- How we use digital media tools affects ourselves and others, including our physical and mental health
Digital media experiences are shaped by the tools we use:
- Digital tools’ affordances and defaults influence how we use them, including whether that use is healthful
- Reflecting on this influence can help us use tools in a more mindful way
Key questions:
- How does the design of phones and apps make us spend more time using them than we want to?
- How would we change that design if we could?
- How can we use them as if those changes had been made?
Essential knowledge: Students will know…
- Reading media: Impact of different affordances and defaults, such as autoplay
- Media health: Strategies for mindful use of digital tools
Performance tasks: Students will be able to…
- Understand and analyze how affordances and defaults influence how we use digital tools
- Develop and apply strategies for mindful and healthful use of digital tools
- Identify how changes to design features could support more healthful use
- Reflect on the role that digital tools play in our lives
Student-friendly outcomes:
We will learn how the features and default settings of digital tools, like autoplay, can impact our physical and mental health, and discover strategies for using these tools more mindfully.
We will think about how the design of phones and apps can make us spend more time on them than we want, and consider what changes could make them healthier to use.
We will analyze how digital tools influence our habits, develop strategies for healthier use, suggest design improvements, and reflect on how digital media affects our lives.
This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.