Multitasking as a Collaborative System: Examining the Millennial Generation
PIs:
Gloria Mark, University of California, Irvine, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Department of Informatics
Mark Warschauer, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Stephanie Reich, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Investigators:
Yiran Wang, University of California, Irvine, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Department of Informatics
Melissa Niiya, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Project Funding: NSF HCC Small, Award Number: #1218705
Project Duration: August 31, 2012, to August 30, 2015
Summary: This research study investigated how Millennials, having grown up with the Internet, can become effective future information workers. More and more, studies are suggesting that multitasking with digital media is associated with errors, stress, and degraded performance. Though multitasking had been studied among an older generation in the workplace, no one had conducted an in situ investigation of multitasking among Millennials. Though the use of individual applications by Millennials had been studied, no study had ever looked at the entire ecology of technology use with a focus on task and device switching and attention focus. Multitasking had always been studied from an individual perspective; no one had studied multitasking from the perspective as a collaborative social system. There was thus a deficit in this type of understanding and a need for theory of how multitasking operates as a social system and affects individuals within that system. This research program investigated how interactive media impacts multitasking behavior among Millennials. We asked the following main research questions:
We used a mixed-methods approach: computer activity logging, biosensors, interviews, surveys, and experience sampling to collect detailed activity of Millennials’ multitasking behavior to answer our research questions.
This research provided a detailed description of the ecology of digital media use for Millennials, contributing towards plans and policies that schools and organizations can enact to help people manage their work and use of digital devices more effectively. While there had been much concern given to preventing worker “burnout” and lowering stress among information workers, our study provided concrete results of how digital technologies contribute to distraction and stress, especially among the Millennial generation. The study elicited requirements for technology design that can help people better manage their multitasking, reduce errors, and increase their situational awareness.
Data analyses were conducted on the following topics: the relationship between multitasking and stress among college students; an ecological accounting of social media use by college students and the effects of such use on mood; a comparison of actual and reported Facebook use among college students; the relationship between sleep (debt) and technology use, with a focus on multitasking; informal learning using social media; and the relationship between technology use (computer and phone) and academic performance in college.
Publications:
Wang, Y., Niiya, M., Mark, G., Reich, S. M., & Warschauer, M. (2015, February). Coming of Age (Digitally): An Ecological View of Social Media Use among College Students. In Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (pp. 571-582). ACM.
Mark, G., Wang, Y., & Niiya, M. (2014, April). Stress and multitasking in everyday college life: An empirical study of online activity. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 41-50). ACM.
Posters:
“I don’t really post”: Comparing Actual and Reported Facebook Use Among College Students
Strictly by the Facebook: Unobtrusive Methods for Differentiating Users.
Gloria Mark, University of California, Irvine, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Department of Informatics
Mark Warschauer, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Stephanie Reich, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Investigators:
Yiran Wang, University of California, Irvine, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Department of Informatics
Melissa Niiya, University of California, Irvine, School of Education
Project Funding: NSF HCC Small, Award Number: #1218705
Project Duration: August 31, 2012, to August 30, 2015
Summary: This research study investigated how Millennials, having grown up with the Internet, can become effective future information workers. More and more, studies are suggesting that multitasking with digital media is associated with errors, stress, and degraded performance. Though multitasking had been studied among an older generation in the workplace, no one had conducted an in situ investigation of multitasking among Millennials. Though the use of individual applications by Millennials had been studied, no study had ever looked at the entire ecology of technology use with a focus on task and device switching and attention focus. Multitasking had always been studied from an individual perspective; no one had studied multitasking from the perspective as a collaborative social system. There was thus a deficit in this type of understanding and a need for theory of how multitasking operates as a social system and affects individuals within that system. This research program investigated how interactive media impacts multitasking behavior among Millennials. We asked the following main research questions:
- How does growing up as a digital native affect one’s skill as a multitasker?
- Do Millennials experience information overload and distraction through their connectivity?
- How does online media experience affect how Millennials learn, communicate, and behave with each other face-to-face?
- What is the relationship between Millennials’ degree of connectivity and their academic work performance?
We used a mixed-methods approach: computer activity logging, biosensors, interviews, surveys, and experience sampling to collect detailed activity of Millennials’ multitasking behavior to answer our research questions.
This research provided a detailed description of the ecology of digital media use for Millennials, contributing towards plans and policies that schools and organizations can enact to help people manage their work and use of digital devices more effectively. While there had been much concern given to preventing worker “burnout” and lowering stress among information workers, our study provided concrete results of how digital technologies contribute to distraction and stress, especially among the Millennial generation. The study elicited requirements for technology design that can help people better manage their multitasking, reduce errors, and increase their situational awareness.
Data analyses were conducted on the following topics: the relationship between multitasking and stress among college students; an ecological accounting of social media use by college students and the effects of such use on mood; a comparison of actual and reported Facebook use among college students; the relationship between sleep (debt) and technology use, with a focus on multitasking; informal learning using social media; and the relationship between technology use (computer and phone) and academic performance in college.
Publications:
Wang, Y., Niiya, M., Mark, G., Reich, S. M., & Warschauer, M. (2015, February). Coming of Age (Digitally): An Ecological View of Social Media Use among College Students. In Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (pp. 571-582). ACM.
Mark, G., Wang, Y., & Niiya, M. (2014, April). Stress and multitasking in everyday college life: An empirical study of online activity. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 41-50). ACM.
Posters:
“I don’t really post”: Comparing Actual and Reported Facebook Use Among College Students
Strictly by the Facebook: Unobtrusive Methods for Differentiating Users.
