Rethinking Attention in Online Asynchronous Study: A Postphenomenological Perspective

As universities incorporate an asynchronous provision as part of online programmes appealing to the possibility of learning anytime, anywhere, the topic of attention in online study is both important and relevant in education today. Much research focuses on asynchronous pedagogies or on distraction within a performative context, yet much less is known about students’ lived experiences of attention and online study. This research takes its departure from a philosophical reflection of technology. It advances a nuanced position of attention, and explores online students’ own construction of attention to better evaluate the positioning of the online student in the neoliberal university. Based on the experiences of eleven postgraduate students on a fully online programme, the research design follows a postphenomenologically-informed qualitative approach. The data highlight three themes that underpin students’ construction of attention through their own micro-interactions with technologies: attention as familiarity; as continuous practice; and as goal orientation. The discussion addresses how attention in online asynchronous study involves both physical and digital worlds, but also how attention exists within a broader ecology, highlighting tensions between unwanted and welcome intrusion. Ultimately, the ability to seclude oneself from interruption can be considered a form of privilege. These considerations have broad implications for educational thinking and practice that go beyond attention as a binary and measurable concept. A nuanced definition of attention is necessary for furthering praxis in the field of digital education.