The HY-DE Model: An Interdisciplinary Attempt to Deal with the Phenomenon of Hyperattention
Erzsebet Dani
As academics, as parents, as members of generation X, we cannot afford to ignore that the young generations that have been socialized in information society (generations Y and Z that I call “bit generations”) diverge from their seniors not only in lifestyle and mentality, but they also follow new paths as regards cognitive (and thus learning) processes. International research indicates that the accelerating development of digital devices results in changing habits of information consumption in a matter of a few years. The above changes, perceptible in information society, set me thinking, which, in turn, led me to devising a method based on what I call the HY-DE model. (1)
The method I developed invites those who are interested, into the realm of teaching methodology. It is meant to deal with a logical but problematic, nevertheless not at all useless development of digital-world multitasking: hyperattention. The HY-DE-model method I constructed and wish to deploy as a corrective in the fashion described below is meant to tame and harness this phenomenon so that deep attention, which hyperattention suppresses in the electronic learning process, could again be liberated from the prison-house of hyperattention. But the latter, rather than diminishing or even discarding it, should also be regarded as a necessary tool if its positive aspect is recognized and even trained and cultivated as hyperattention is also necessary in coping with an overwhelming flood of information. Thus, in general, the HY-DE-model approach, with all the difference it represents, falls in line with the widespread research that engages the problematic of teaching and education in knowledge-based information society, trying to exploit the possibilities offered by a ceaselessly changing technical environment and put them to the service of effective learning and knowledge.
(1) “HY-DE” is a term that I constructed from the first syllables of hyper and deep attention. Full Text
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