Hyperconnectedness & its Physiological Impact

After reading Alone Together by Sherry Turkle, I have many questions that I am seeking answers to.  My first wondering is if our young generation is so caught up in the digital world and are constantly connected, is it a good idea to have them constantly connected in the classroom also?  What are the physiological, social and emotional, and finally the educational impact on the students? It is these categories that I am attempting to find research on.  This post will discuss technology and the physiological impact on our digital natives.

In Marilee Sprenger’s journal article entitled  “Focusing the Digital Brain” (2009) states that we need to be aware of the problems that the digital brain poses and the demands of the 21^st century on our student learners’.  She further states: “We adults’ must help all students assimilate technology into their lives in a way that will enhance—not eclipse—skills like sustained thinking and connecting to fellow humans”.   This comment really hits home with me.  I believe that this is the fine line that l am trying to understand.  Sprenger brings up the point of multitasking and how it cannot be done effectively as the brain is able to only do one thing at a time. The connectedness that our students are craving and the work that is required of them uses the same part of the brain and their solution is to multitask and neither job is done thoroughly.  She continues on and states that this hyperconnectedness causes stress and the release of adrenaline and cortisol which affects a person’s immune system; cognitive functioning and can cause depression in the digital natives.  This thought was also echoed in Turkes’ Alone Together book.

In chapter 3 of Gary Small’s book iBrain entitled “Addicted to Technology”,’ points out that the same part of the brain that is triggered when a person is using drugs, alcohol or any other addictive substances, is the same part of the brain that has people craving their digital devices and the high they get from using it.  Students’ constant need to be connected is developing new neural pathways in the brain strengthening the right side of the brain that deals with creativity and weakening other parts of the brain that is not being used as often such as the left brain which deals with functions such as logic, critical thinking and language.

Lynn Helding’s 2011 journal article: “Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age” examines the cognitive function of the digital native and the “shattering of attention spans”.  She also makes known the definition of a new coined term of “learned attention deficit disorder” which simply is heavy use of technology is causing ADD or ADHD in people who do not have a predisposition for it.  This ties in with Smalls’ notion of addiction of technology and needing the information more often and faster.

This makes me nervous as an educator.  If studies are indicating that overuse of technology is detrimental to our digital natives, it only seems logical that we should be spending more time in schools teaching students on the proper use of technology and the proper amount of time spent on it, yet none of this is happening.  Turkle states that it’s too early to know the full effect of the impact that technology will have on us as it is in its infancy stage, however, she continues to say that we have a vast amount of information on child development, brain research and social behaviour and we should use that information to guide us through our new digital world. I like her way of thinking.  We don’t need to wait years to see what will happen, we need to pace ourselves now and aim for balance.

Connected Kids

I finished Turkles’ book “Alone Together” and there are many parts to it that I do not want to believe.  I do not want to believe that children crave robotic toys, much less connect with them as their “children” that they must care for.  I do not want to believe that adults would crave the same from sociable robots because they do not have that confidence to find human companionship.  I for certain do not want to believe that we have become a race where we would leave our elderly in the care of robots so we are free from the responsibility.  I agree with Turkle when she states “I understand the virtues of partnerships with a robot in war, space and medicine.  I understand that robots are useful in dangerous working conditions.  But why are we so keen on ‘caring’? To me, it seems transgressive, a ‘forbidden experiment.’

All that I have discussed is not what bothers me the most.  What bothers me the most is the simulated and networked life that our children are growing up in and probably feel that it is “real life.”  Turkles’ chapter titles in the second part of her book say it all.  In our present digital world, our children are Always On.  They are constantly on Facebook, tweeting and messaging each other often.  Turkle recorded that the communication between teenagers could be as high as 8 – 10, 000 texts a month!  With this many texts, one will definitely be Growing Up Tethered.  With demands of that many texts teens and the “high” they get from receiving these texts has them cutting off one person to talk to the next.  Communication has turned from something that should be natural to one that is demanding and often causing anxiety in our teens.  For this reason, teens feel that there is No Need To Call.  The teens that participated in Turkles’ study discussed their anxiety when having to make a call or receive a call.  They would rather have digital written communication where they had time to think about what they wanted to say or how they wanted to appear.

I am wondering what kind of adults these teens are going to grow up to be.  Though these teens are seeking privacy from their parents, tend to post personal aspects of their life on the internet and don’t realize that have placed it on the most public domain.  If they do realize how public the internet is, then they feel that it’s just a part of life to “stalk” someone on Facebook or have pictures of themselves posted on the Net without their permission.  Often, cyberbullying is happening because of the anonymity of the Net.

These teens are growing up not knowing what it means to have a meaningful conversation to completion.  They do not understand the true meaning of privacy and finally they need to learn to filter what they put on the Net with the understanding that they may be doing harm to themselves or someone else.  My hope is to find more research on these issues and explore it further.  Stay Tuned!

What Role does Technology play with our Digital Natives?

I have begun to read Sherry Turkles'  "Alone Together" and although I have had some discussions about robots, humans and their relationships, I am wondering about the pros and cons of robots as sociable companions?  I do not think that we as a society are ready to take on this evolution.  In the first part of this book, Sherry Turkle discusses that even though she is the researcher of robots, she can't help herself from craving the attention on a robot when she encounters one.  I wonder if she as an intelligent adult is not able to separate machine from human though it may be for simply short seconds; then how are we asking children to differentiate between digital toys and and real living things.  I was shocked at the length that children would go to keep their Furby's alive (not remove the batteries).  I was even more surprised to see how parents played into their demands.

Turkle describes the captivation that people have towards anything that interacts as with them; she describes it as the human part of us that we can't deny.  Although we know the human limitations of robots, we try to fill in the blanks by responding to the robot where it is unable to.  She calls this the Eliza Effect.  We take the robotic behaviours and ascribe it human qualities.  Humans are social animals and crave social interactions.  Although Turkle is aware of this, she can't help but wonder if we are asking too much from robots and not demanding enough from our human counterparts?  I am wondering the same.

As an educator, I am trying to understand what role digital devices are playing in the cognitive and social development of children?  I do understand that digital devices are here to stay and I am not promoting that we should do away with them, however, I do want to investigate the impact of these devices on our Digital Natives. Although I have only read the first section of Turkles' book that deals with robotics and have yet to get to social implications of technology on our young children and young adults, I can't help but feel that others may also feel that we are embracing the use of devices too quickly and without caution.  It is through further research into journals articles as well as completing Turkles' "Alone Together" book this week that I hope to have a better understanding to the answers that I am seeking. 

Here's to digging in deep!

Thank You!

Wow! Can you believe that 12 weeks are over?  When I first started this course I like many of you was expecting to find the latest tricks of the trade and the newest software to use.  I am so glad that it did not turn out to be that way.  This course had me question my stance on the use of technology in all areas of my life and I am fortunate for that opportunity. I am taking a lot from this class and applying it to my own classroom and that I hope will start to bring about the change we have been talking about.   You guys were great to bounce ideas off and I have learnt so much for you guys and I just wanted to say Thank You.  I am sorry that I missed Preet's presentation and I enjoyed presenting alongside two great people.  I cannot wait to see the rest of the presentations tomorrow and of course the food and great company.  On a final note, I think it's only appropriate to quote McLuhan: "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt."

Teacher's & Technology in the Classroom

Hi Everyone:

Here is my audioblog.  I interviewed some teachers that I worked with on their views and practices with technology in the classroom.  Have a listen and tell me what you think.
http://soundcloud.com/surriayia/sounds-from-friday-afternoon-2
http://soundcloud.com/surriayia/sounds-from-friday-afternoon-1
http://soundcloud.com/surriayia/sounds-from-friday-afternoon

Giving Digital Natives A Choice

Liz, in response to your question if social media and cell phones could be considered technology since they are so ingrained into our lives, I think they are no longer the "new" technology.  Look at the pencil, at one point it was considered technology and today we don't even give it a passing thought when we pick it up to use it.  Liz I also think about the computer lab being run by robots but will tell you more in my presentation. As I dig into the impact that technology has on the Digital Natives the more I lament over what will be lost. 

Please don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to technology as it is inevitable and has made some parts of my life easier, but I was happy to see that Maha & Kristin understood where I was coming from in my previous blog.  As mentioned at the beginning of this course, I was the Technology Support Teacher for my school and my job was to train/mentor other teachers on using more digital devices in their classroom. Preet, I think you misunderstood me at the beginning of the course.  I did know how to use blogs and knew of Twitter, from my Tech Support time, but I didn't want to spend the countless hours that were put into creating and maintaining my school blog.  I did not want the same scenario to  play out in my master courses.  Preet I applaud you for learning Prezi.  I too looked at it for presenting my presentation and it was more than I was willing to put effort into at this time. I keep wondering about when Socrates or Martin Luther King Jr. were speaking to crowds and they did not have  visuals,  people did not walk away, instead they were engaged in what they were saying.  Today we have to have the latest and greatest visuals so we can keep our audience listening.  Yesterday when I was working on my PowerPoint for this class, I almost spent $60.00 on buying 3D clip art so you guys would be engaged!  The Digital Immigrant in me refrained me from doing it and ensured me that my content would be engaging enough that I would not have to resort to the latest and greatest.  Again, it's not that I am afraid to learn the new software and purchase the latest and greatest add ons, it is that I chose not to buy into the hype.  It is the hype that I lament over.

While I'm working on my presentation and my literature review I am sad to see  what technology has done to the Digital Natives in my classroom.  At the beginning of the year, I had to tie my first shoelace in about 15 years.  The last one I remember tying was for my niece when she was two years old.  My student could not tie his shoe since he was use to Velcro.  Velcro was the newest technology.  All school year long, students have been asking me what time it is (they have to sign out to go use the washrooms) since they aren't able to tell time on an analog clock.  This week I had enough (maybe doing my assignments for this class had some impact on it) and I began to teach them how to tell time on an analog clock.  If I could go back to teach the students how to tell time by the sun right now, I would!

My job as an educator is to present my Digital Native students all the different ways to do something, be it tying a shoelace or using Velcro, telling time digitally or by analog, handwriting or typing and let them decide which way they chose to do it and what median is the most appropriate for them to demonstrate their learning.  As I mentioned in class, I have a stack of cards I use when students are deciding which format to use when giving presentations.  It has everything from digital displays, artwork to hands on construction.  To me each student can be honored and are not told "you have to do this the old fashioned way" or you have to do it the "new fashioned way".  These approaches takes the ownership and creative process away from the student.  I would be no better than the ones who are pushing for technology or the ones who are opposing technology in the school if I told my students which way to do something.  I have to give them the tools and they have to decide which tool works best for the job at hand.

Come Full Circle

The more we advance in our course, the more questions I have around technology.  Before starting this course, I had clear ideas of where I stood with technology and how it played or would play a part in my life and those of my classroom.  I believed that technology was going to play a minimal part of my personal life; cell phone laptop used for e-mail and word processing and smart boards and digital devices in the school would only enhance my students learning.  Though some of my thoughts remain in these areas, others have changed.

Since starting my inquiry into technology I have bought and IPAD 2, joined twitter and created a blog. I also now enjoy tweeting (but not on demand) and text far more than I used to.  I am questioning if I need a new laptop and think that I want a macbook, but a voice in my head is telling me that I am buying into all of the hype that is directed by the big corporations.  I don't want to be anyone's puppet and therefore have not bought a new laptop...yet.

For my classroom, I view somethings differently.  Immediately, during our first class I started to realize why I bought into all of the sensation of smart boards being used in the classroom as well as other digital devices.  In a sense, I was programmed to believe in their validity through all of the inservicing that was being done.  Now instead of buying into what I am told, the voice in my head has me questioning, who is gaining from this? The big corporations or my students and myself.  If there is some benefit to my students and myself, then I will use it, otherwise it will not enter my classroom.

New information I have learned is around e-waste, robotics and gaming in the classroom.  I totally buy into the proper disposal or reuse of digital devices and am seeing from first hand experience, the impact in can have on the future generation to do something about it. 

As far as robotics and gaming in the classroom, I agree with Preet, there is the time and place for it.  It should not be a forced issue.  If gaming works into my lesson or unit, then great I will use it.  I will not, however, force my unit or lesson to fit into gaming.

Robots have a place also, as a tool.  I agree with my grade 4 student who said that we should use robots to do functions that would be dangerous for humans to do.  It amazes me how a nine year old is clear with his thoughts and mine are so muddled up.  When robots start taking on human persona's like the ones Maha showed us through twitter, then that to me is taking it too far.

The friend of Kristin's in London who did not want to be rude and read on the bus, was a shocker for me.  Being an avid reader I was sad to hear that reading took a back seat to digital devices on a bus.  Somewhere in my mind I knew it was coming, I just didn't think it was here already.

I enjoyed seeing the business cards that Liz blogged about.  I think they are a great idea. As a teacher, we get a lot of business cards from substitute teachers that have been in our classrooms.  We can't put a face or know anything about the person who has taught our students for the day.  Like Stephanie said, it would be like advertising, but that's one advertisement or information I would like to see.

So for me, everything is coming full circle.  Everything seems to go back to topics previously discussed and I think will be discussed for years to come.  I am glad to now have more information than I did before I started this journey.  I can no longer be that person who can live in her limited technology bubble, but now have to be an active participant in the technology world.  I have more information to decide what I want my digital world to look like.