iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

The internet is one massive distraction. One minute I'm aggressively knocking out my to-do list, and the next I'm sucked into a "Which Harry Potter character are you?" quiz (Ron). Notifications from Facebook, Slack, and Skype, not to mention alerts on my phone, pull my attention away from what I should be doing. When I need to block these distractions and focus, however, I can turn to some apps for help.

Apps that help people focus work in a variety of ways. Some are browser extensions that block you from seeing certain websites. Others are desktop apps that hide from view anything except the active window. Some apps gently nudge you from bad behavior while others aggressively stop you from going down a rabbit hole. Which apps you choose to use will largely depend on how strict you want them to be.

“Over the past year, there has been a deafening debate over the importance of creating tools to promote responsible technology use. In January, two of Apple’s shareholder groups asked the company to look at the addictive effects of iPhones on children. Google’s recent developer conference highlighted tools to help users better control smartphone usage. For our youngest generations, there’s certainly reason to believe that a focus on managing distractions is just as important as promoting good digital citizenship.

When I speak with middle school and high school students about organization and time management, I often begin with a simple question: How many of you would like an extra seven to 10 hours of free time per week? Nearly all hands go up, and students are quickly excited by the possibility that they could get their work done faster, understand it better, and have more time to spend on other activities, hobbies or even sleep.”