I’ve got two turntables and a microphone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please turn off all mobile devices…in your dreams

 

The “two turntables and a microphone” line sounds a whole lot better when you sing it, especially if you’re Beck. But the general idea relating to teaching and presenting is our need to balance multiple instructional strategies in order to keep learners engaged. Just like a great DJ keeps a dance floor full.

 

Given the ready distraction of mobile devices, along with an increasingly normative expectation for immediate text/email responding, today’s educators and presenters have a hard row to hoe in holding a group’s undivided attention. The cellphone issue gets lots of attention in conversations about classroom comportment and etiquette.

 

And yet…I can’t help asking…

Do people tune out, text, talk and email when they are super-interested in what’s happening in their learning environment?

 

In other words, if people aren’t dancing, whose fault is that? I hate to blame the DJ, but the truth is that some pancake turners are more attuned to the energy in the room than others. They know when and how to change things up.

 

I have observed an inverse relationship between the use of mobile devices by participants and the number/frequency of instructional strategies/approaches used. I’m just saying.