The lack of student monitoring capabilities in online education
represents both a potential pitfall and a promising design opportunity
for developers. In current online systems, teachers
are unable to observe students during instruction and thus have
no means to verify whether students paid attention to the lesson,
understood the material, or even watched the lecture at all.
One of the hallmarks of the current “Millennial” generation
of students is the prevalence of multitasking [10]; students
are accustomed to “watching TV, talking on the phone, doing
homework, eating, and interacting with their parents all at the
same time” [17]. Although flipped learning will likely appeal
to the Millennial preferences for teamwork and technology use,
multitasking students might simultaneously engage in other
activities while watching or listening to online content [25].
Unlike traditional classroom settings that involve less division
of attention [13, 31], such multitasking may negatively affect
student learning and memory. Additional research is needed
to better understand the potential drawbacks of multitasking
on learning, particularly in online contexts. Further investigation
is also needed to better understand how novel technology
might support emerging educational paradigms such as flipped
learning to overcome these challenges.