Designed for Distraction
Now have students think about the features of their phones or favourite apps that make it easy to lose track of time, that keep them coming back to the app, or that make them stay longer.
If you think students need more grounding in the idea that we are influenced by digital tools’ features and defaults, show the Digital Media Literacy 101 video Digital Media Experiences are Shaped by the Tools We Use.
Have them use the interactive table in the Designed for distraction chapter to record at least four features and identify how each one affects them.
Next, have students go through the list and use the Changing Features interactive to find two features that they can change to make it less distracting. These can be settings in the app itself, their internet browser, or their phones.
Once students have done that, they should use the Changing Habits interactive to identify two features where they can change habits to be more in control of how they use them.
Features are the things that an app or device is able to do.
Defaults are what a tool does unless you change the settings or actively choose not to..