Is the Internet Really a Productivity Tool, or Merely an Endless Series of Distractions?

In my own academic writing I have a tendency to sit on the fence.  I have been trained to look for evidence from peer reviewed sources, to carefully avoid grandiose and unverified claims, and to formulate cohesive arguments that walk my reader to a logical, and well thought out conclusion.  Bearing this in mind, and with due consideration to our readings and class discussions, I have come to the following conclusion:

The Internet is slowly ruining productivity.

Or, more accurately, the Internet is slowly ruining my productivity.

Now that I have your attention (which I sincerely doubt, but we will get to that part later), it would seem prudent to define productivity.  Relax, I am not going to post a verbatim definition from Webster’s Dictionary (despite the nagging voice in my head demanding that I do so, thank you obsessive compulsive tendencies).  Suffice to say that I feel I am productive when:

1. I have completed a task in a timely fashion.
2. I am proud of the work that I have done (it represents my best effort).
3. I have made at least one itemized list whether it is appropriate for the situation or not.

So how could the Internet, the collected source of all of humanities’ knowledge, which allows for instantaneous communication and collaboration across vast geographic distances actually reduce my productivity?

Let’s find out.

The Model Citizen

Our presenters this week painted a vivid picture of who benefits from the use of productivity suites and presentation tools.  Casey described these learners as people who thrive on collaboration, facilitate their own learning, are creative, accountable and reflective.  Raegyn noted that using productivity tools resulted in students becoming highly adaptable.  This ideal learner does not suffer from any disabilities.  Despite web based technologies being touted as the great equalizer (by supporting students with special needs) less than 1% of the websites on the Internet meet accessibility standards.  This lack of compliance was also noted by Sietz and Sinkinson (2014) in their research. Furthermore, almost half of the websites on the Internet are in English or Chinese, so our ideal learner had better brush up on these two languages (or suffer exclusion).

It is not surprising that these qualities are highly prized in the business world.  Most educational tools and productivity suites have their origins in enterprise applications.  As our instructor mused this might be creating a pipeline from educational settings directly into the corporate world.  This raises various ethical questions, but more to the point the Internet, web based productivity suites, and educational tools are geared towards nurturing a very specific type of user.

I am not one of them.

I am extremely lucky to suffer from no physical disabilities and speak English as my first language.  However my learning style is not always accommodated by the Internet.  As Casey pointed out kinesthetic learners are often left behind by web based applications and productivity tools.  Through years of martial arts training I’ve become accustomed to learning by participation.  My mind is wired for short bursts of repetition, and as such I struggle to focus during long presentations or while reading.

As Svensson et al. (2020) noted many teachers in their study found the amount of information flowing from web based learning platforms like Google Classroom to be overwhelming.  They also noted that some of the teachers in their study found that their students were distracted while trying participating in online learning.  I can personally attest to both of these observations.  I often struggle to write these blog posts as I find my personal and professional obligations intruding into my academic studies.  This is almost always in the form of emails, notifications, and push messages from my learning management platform.  The deluge is never ending.  I feel I would be far better off without the outside world distracting me from my singular purpose.

As I mentioned in our group discussion I feel that as teachers our time is constantly in demand.  It is a precious commodity.  As Raegyn pointed out the Internet offers us a wealth of tools, but they come with a steep learning curve.  I don’t deny their usefulness, and part of me realizes that the initial investment of time may pay dividends down the road, but as Sietz and Sinkinson (2014) noted it is almost impossible for early adopters to know if a new tool will be defunct and obsolete in the near future.  With all the pressures I am currently facing I can’t afford to invest a huge amount of time in the latest and greatest when I can’t guarantee that they’ll be around in 5 years.  However the Internet makes it seem that if you aren’t on the bleeding edge you are some time of luddite.  In a strange way I feel technology shamed when I haven’t heard of the newest presentation software, or the communication widget.  This doesn’t help my productivity, it makes me feel like my profession is leaving me behind (which it may be).

Dr. Strange Web or; How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet

My advice to you is simple.  Good enough is good enough.  We can’t do everything and if you let it, the notifications and emails will overwhelm you. Set boundaries between work and life if at all possible.  The best thing I ever did in my teaching career was to cut off work at 5 PM.  If I wasn’t done marking, so be it.  If an email didn’t get sent, so be it.  Like all good hypocrites I don’t follow this advise with my Internet usage, but I feel that if I set limits in a similar way to my professional life I would be all the better for it.

A final Question…

I am going to take a leap of faith here and ask you, the reader, to be honest.  What were you doing while you were reading this blog post?  Where you laser focused on the topic at hand?  Did you have multiple tabs open?  What were you shopping for?  Did you text someone while reading it?  Did you get up and do something else?  Are you watching a cat video on YouTube?

I understand that for some individuals technology has vastly increased their productivity.  I don’t deny their existence, or begrudge it.  Technology is what we make of it.  You could be one of those people. Or maybe, just maybe, you’re like me and texted three people in the last two minutes.

I sometimes wonder if the Internet is just a collection of people not really listening to one another and just waiting for their turn to talk.