College students are checking their phones over 100 times a day. As a result, both anxiety and fatigue linked to constant digital connection continues to rise. With their neuro-engineered algorithms and high dopamine distractions social media and entertainment apps certainly play a large role. But, the reality is that parental habits and both higher-ed and employer systems also contribute significantly to our students’ digital overload. In my work as a college success coach, I see many students overwhelmed by the digital expectations placed on them by the very people who are trying to foster their development: parents, professors, and professionals. This blog post challenges each of us to pause and consider: Are we modeling the healthy habits we expect from students? Are our systems helping or hindering their development, engagement, and well-being? What can we “adults” do to help reduce our students’ digital load?
Parents: Contact Can Become Counterproductive
Texting students throughout the day, including during class, study time, or while they are “free”, may seem supportive. It also may help ease parent anxiety. However, it also can interfere with their learning, engagement, and sense of independence. Students who feel responsible for helping to regulate their parents’ emotions or rely too much on parents for reminders, reassurance, and solutions may struggle to build autonomy and develop essential executive function and problem-solving skills. Further, it can undermine their ability to “be present” and engage with peers and in campus activities.
- Suggestion: First, consider whether frequent contact with your student is a coping mechanism for your own regulation. If so, try to develop new strategies. Then, talk with your student about communication expectations. Let them lead and set the parameters. Consider establishing regular, scheduled check-ins and then give them the opportunity to manage small challenges on their own and more fully participate in their college experience. Too much contact, even with good intentions, can stifle the very independence, engagement, and development parents seek to encourage. And, please, if nothing else…do not text them during classes, appointments, or meetings!
Professors: The Assignment Isn’t Always the Challenge
Many college courses now require students to juggle multiple platforms in order to complete a single assignment. This may include email, engagement with their Learning Management System (LMS), watching videos, accessing discussion boards, and using various software or third-party apps for completing, uploading, and submitting a single assignment. This fragmented approach creates a hidden cognitive load for all students. And, it can quickly negatively impact students with ADHD or other executive functioning challenges. Simply keeping track of what to do, when to do what, how/where to do it, and where to submit it can consume more energy than the academic task itself!
- Suggestion: Faculty, conduct a tech audit. How many platforms, different software programs and digital interfaces do you require your students to use in your course. How many must students use for a single assignment (and, how many do they need to engage with simultaneously)? Can you streamline communication, completion, and submission processes to reduce unnecessary complexity? Can you provide options for students to do the work in the way that will allow them to produce their best work most efficiently for them. Clearer, more unified workflows or increased flexibility support engagement and learning for all students. Bonus for talking with your colleagues to see if any department, unit, or institution norms can be established!
Hiring Professionals and Career Advisors: It’s Not As Simple As “Just Apply”
Not unlike the college admissions process for many students, applying for internships and jobs has become a daunting digital task. Students are expected to navigate platforms like Handshake, LinkedIn, Indeed, as well as individual employer sites. Each often requires the creation of a new account, duplicate data entry (information from an uploaded resume also needs to be manually entered into form fields), and sometimes extensive assessments, surveys, or written responses. Worse yet is, many platforms don’t allow students to preview requirements or give the option to students to their save progress and finish later once they’ve started, leading to incomplete applications, duplication of effort, and ultimately frustration. Finally, unlike with the college admissions process (and because we want to foster students’ independence), most students are navigating this time-consuming, convoluted process without adult support, amidst full academic loads, and with significant additional competing demands.
- Suggestion: Like faculty, employers can take inventory of their process. Consider ways to simplify the application process and be more transparent about the components of an application up front. I know…not likely! Perhaps, then, career counselors and other advisors can recommend ways to students to organize their materials to maximize efficiency, help students break down the process for “most” applications, and encourage the use of platforms that are more user-friendly. Pipe dream: Institutions would leverage the significant market share that belongs to Handshake, which I think is the most widely used recruitment service in higher ed, to create a general workflow/process to which all companies using the platform would have to conform.
What Students Need From Us “Adults”
Digital overload is a complex issue. For most students, certainly the use of social media and entertainment apps are key contributors. And, I believe it is also critical to acknowledge that the expectations of adults and the digital mazes we require them to routinely navigate play a role. Whether it’s frequent texts, fragmented approaches to their academic work, or labyrinthine application processes, well-meaning adults often unintentionally add to students’ digital loads, demands, and stress. If we want students to develop healthier relationships with technology, we need to reconsider the habits we engage in and evaluate both the structures and processes we expect students to engage in. I believe that by being more self-aware and intentional, and prioritizing student-centered systems and processes that we can move the needle. Even doing so only slightly will help reduce the digital overwhelm many experience and provide important support for their development, engagement, and well-being.
Finally, a quick reminder of the importance that students (really, all of us) try to commit to “defragging” their brains (taking time away from technology to recharge). While many students turn to digital distractions like social media and gaming to unwind, these activities rarely reduce stimulation or effectively lower stress levels. Effective brain defragging involves intentionally incorporating non-digital activities into daily routines, during periods of heightened stress, and during longer digital detoxes. My earlier blog posts offers concrete ideas and strategies for all three.
About
Beth A. Howland is a higher education consultant and college student success coach based in Ithaca, NY. She is the founder of College Navigators, LLC. Check out all of Beth’s previous posts about college student success. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
