How boredom is creating mass disengagement in education

More children and young people are enrolled in education than ever before, with four out of five children now attending primary school and university attendance doubling from 19% to 38% between 2000 and 2018 alone. And yet we face a global learning crisis where over 387 million primary school children (6 to 11 years old) lack basic maths and reading proficiency, and 61% of adolescents are unable to achieve the minimum proficiency level while completing lower secondary school.

While there are undeniably major factors at play – quality teachers, interactive pedagogies and relevant learning content – there’s one underlying theme that underlies the growing disengagement in learning: boredom.

High school dropout rates are alarmingly high in the United States, with a report by the Gates Foundation revealing that almost half (47%) dropped out due to uninteresting classes, feeling bored and disconnected. Students are citing a lack of engagement with the school environment, boredom, low motivation, academic difficulties, and external life pressures. An article in Harvard Education Magazine further highlights evidence that boredom results in lower grades, and can have other negative consequences such as risk-taking behaviours including smoking, gambling and drugs among teenagers.

“Middle school, boring. High school, boring” – such was the experience of CourseClout’s founder, Delano Covarrubias. “Coming from a poor family, I knew the importance of learning for my future, but by the time I reached college I would sit through my professor’s and feel so frustrated that he was being paid for black and white text slides in arial font. So I would just tune out”.

The explosion of online learning is undeniable with students enrolled in massive open online courses (MOOCs) increasing from 300,000 in 2011 to 220 million in 2021. This has provided opportunities to reach more learners across the globe, enabling them to learn practically anything from coding to neurosciences, with more informal online education that can help young people start a new career, learn a new trade or open their own business.

A great example is the growing popularity of the gamified community platform Skool, which has successfully combined education and community-building for people to learn from industry experts.

But overall, the completion rate for online courses stands at 3 to 6 per cent, with traditional lecturing styles, poor user interface and information overload making their way onto the screen, resulting in passive learning that doesn’t engage the learner through interactive learning techniques. This results in learners struggling to stay focused on lengthy online content.

We’re facing an attention crisis

In today’s fast paced world where we are overloaded with countless information per second, our attention spans are shorter than ever before. This means that much more is required to retain learners’ attention. According to a 2018 Forbes article, 90 percent of data was generated in the previous two years alone. We can only imagine what this would be now.

Every day, we are bombarded by information coming to us from all angles, we are constantly stimulated by limitless notifications and social media, making it hard to know where to direct our attention. Snackable content, such as short-form videos, have led to endless scrolling where we stop only for seconds at a time and have become addicted to novelty and cheap dopamine. This passive consumption often leaves us feeling restless, dissatisfied, and of course, bored.

The “multitasking myth” also means we are suffering from rapid task switching – the time and mental effort lost when transitioning between tasks – which is negatively affecting our productivity and the quality of our learning or work. According to a study by Gloria Mark and colleagues, it takes our brains an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on a task after an interruption. When we think about the number of interactions we have each day, hour or even minute, this becomes concerning.

We now live in an attention economy, where educators, schools, the media and businesses all need to compete in order to maintain the most precious resource we have to give: our attention.

Making teaching and learning fun again

There are two major aspects of education that need to change based on today’s attention scarcity both in-person and online.

First, traditional teaching methods such as lecturing and rote learning, needs to end. Either there is a lack of interaction both between the teacher and the learner, or between the learner and what they are learning, resulting in a lack of interest.

Second, we need to make sure that If content is not going to be practically applied or useful for a job or career, this deprives them from any source of reward.

A study on undergraduate students showed that among 179 participants, almost everyone experienced some level of boredom in class. Traditional lectures, in particular, led to lower engagement, with over half the students reporting being bored at least half the time.

Beyond a dislike for overloaded PowerPoints, other boredom triggers included the teacher’s personality, how relevant the material was, how well it was organized and presented, limited interaction with the teacher, disruptive classmates, and even the classroom setting itself.

What we need is more interactive teaching methods, where the learner is an active part of the process, whether through quizzes, polls, games and collaborative group projects. With such a big shift towards online learning, micro-learning can also help break up information to make it more digestible and increase retention. And according to a meta-analysis, blended learning environments may have better results on engagement and learning outcomes.

We need relatable learning content that is actually relevant to daily life and future goals. It either needs to appeal to the learner’s emotional world (their interests, needs, dreams or desires) or to real situations and scenarios that they would encounter in real life.

How engaging learning creates lasting change

More engagement and enjoyment in learning leads to higher levels of learning achievement. It also means that learners don’t just increase their knowledge – it’s what they do with that knowledge. High engagement means strong knowledge retention, higher level of understanding, and of knowledge application as they put it into practical use.

More engaging learning also increases intrinsic motivation – where learners are fueled by their own drive and not external rewards, leading to a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment in learning. This arguably also increases the ability to work and learn alone over longer stretches of time.

Better teaching and learning methods also means that learners can develop better problem solving and critical thinking skills. This ability to find practical solutions requires flexibility and the ability to think from different perspectives.

Finally, engagement in learning enhances confidence as it creates a sense of accomplishment. Not only does it allow learners to develop a growth mindset and the desire to tackle challenges, but it also helps overcome self-doubt and develop a feeling of empowerment and intellectual curiosity.

What does this mean for Online Learning?

As online learning continues to boom, whether through formal MOOCs or informal online courses and communities, there is a clear shift towards “edutainment” to address the issue of boredom and create enjoyment in learning.

Platforms such as Masterclass and Outlier are renowned for their high quality production, while Skool’s gamification aspect results in higher engagement. Studies have already found that video production can determine student engagement and attention.

At CourseClout, Hollywood-style production and design-driven learning management allow for storytelling through micro-content. With a commitment to producing engaging, innovative curriculum for partners, every learning experience is meticulously crafted with intention and care for relevant content that isn’t boring, cringey or scammy.

Ready to transform your learning experience? Discover how CourseClout is redefining education through engaging, impactful content here.

Notes:

Concept

The idea is to look at the following issues that can show that people are no longer enjoying traditional forms of learning and that it is impacting achievement:

  • Global learning crisis
  • Engagement and completion
  • Link between enjoyment of learning (engagement) and learning achievement.

Intro

  • Shocking fact on lack of engagement/completion that demonstrates lack of interest or achievement.
  • Anecdote on boredom in learning (from author’s perspective?)
    • My own: being sent to hospital to have my hearing tested at 6 years old because the teacher thought I was partly deaf- my hearing was fine, I just wasn’t listening because I was bored.
  • The power of attention in a world of information overload
    • Attention vs distraction (house of beautiful business post)
      • Can distraction be good for us in learning? HOB claims distraction can be meaningful and productive.
  • Introduction to boredom – its benefits and why it’s a problem in learning
  • Introduction to learning enjoyment and why it’s important

The problem

  • Reduced attention span
    • Micro-learning
  • Traditional teaching and learning methods
    • Rote learning, memorizing, lectures (passive methods)
    • Lack of interaction with the learning material and process
  • Learning content
    • Content isn’t relatable to daily life: either the learner’s inner emotional world (their interests, needs, dreams or desires) or to real situations and scenarios they would encounter in real life.
    • Content is not useful for a future job or career (lack of reward)

The solution

  • Making learning enjoyable again
  • Learning content: relatable and useful for daily life and future goals
    • Practical skills application
    • Micro-learning
  • Teaching methods:
    • Interactive elements (quizzes, polls, activities, group projects)
    • Shift towards online learning and how we need to make sure that making learning more enjoyable applies both to in-person and online learning.

Impact

  • Learning achievement
    • Strong knowledge retention
      • Understanding
    • Application of that knowledge
      • Ability to put into practical use
  • Intrinsic motivation in learning
    • Drive to want to learn
    •  Ability to learn alone
  • Improved problem solving and critical thinking skills
    • Thanks to better teaching methods.
    • Ability to apply knowledge and learning to practical situations
  • Stronger confidence
    • Sense of accomplishment

Call to action

  • What should be done next?