Describe the research on multi-tasking and the benefits of engaging in single tasking. What will ...

Although many people say they can multi-task well, the research actually says that we are generally not effective at multi-tasking. Multi-tasking actually refers to our ability to switch back and forth quickly between tasks. Researchers have found that when students attempt to do this, it often takes them more time, not less, to complete the tasks. For example, students who engaged in instant messaging while completing a reading task, took 22-59 longer to read than students who read without the instant messaging (Bowman et al., 2010 as cited in Harrington, 2012).