But does that connectedness help or hinder them study and prepare for their final exams – and even if does hinder them, are they able to stop?
many teenagers prefer to study with an iPod, online streaming or Facebook.
So how is study affected by device distraction for the first generation never to know life without it?
"You do one question and you're like, 'Yeah, I'll reward myself: I'll go on YouTube'. So you do five minutes of work, but you have 30 minutes of break," he laughs. Although he usually manages to focus, Wong acknowledges the challenge of avoiding distraction. "I was just like …" he mimes pushing away his laptop. "… otherwise I'm just not productive."
you do have to physically switch it off."
knows how difficult switching off social media can be
When I completed my VCE four years ago, I made sure to regularly mix up my study space. I found this was a simple trick to restart my cycle of focus and make me more disciplined to knuckle down and get my work done."
If you find yourself getting distracted, be ruthless and change your space again or even mix up the times of the day you study at.
It's tempting to say, 'I'm on the screen, and Facebook or Instagram is right there, so I'll just check my messages before I start working.' And five, 10 minutes, half an hour later, they're still being sucked into that distraction,"
Felstead is a fan of focused study, so that students can spend less time studying overall. He suggests students should try 40 to 60 minutes of focused study, interspersed with short breaks, provided those breaks are not online.
Felstead's latest book, Teen Sleep, describes how adrenaline build-up can cause sleep disruption, which can mar exam performance.
"What examiners give good marks for are some of the first skills to be compromised by a sleep-deprived brain -
"Mostly, in year 12, we study on paper,"
But he says it is a mistake for teachers and parents to tell students to get off social media. "I
ctivities to 'quiet' the brain, such as meditation, cardiovascular exercise, or talking to friends.