In view of my recent post ("Are You Smarter than Your Phone"), I was interested to see an article in the "NY Times" regarding educators and studies about the effect of technology on students and altering learning styles.
A study by the Pew Internet Project and another by Common Sense Media, although both quickly avow that these studies are based on subjective views of teachers, indicate that constant use of digital technology has shown a deterioration in attention spans and to complete challenging tasks.
One teacher interviewed commented: "I'm an entertainer. I have to do a song and dance to capture their attention." Almost 90% of the teachers interviewed thought that students were "an easily distracted generation".
Yet many interviewed agreed that technology is a useful learning tool: about 75% said that the internet and search engines had "a mostly positive effect". One commented that video games and digital presentations were positive tools for teaching. This same teacher said , "I'm tap dancing all over the place. The more I stand in front of the class, the easier it is to lose them."
One problem noted was that students get so acclimated to quick information and answers ("the Wikipedia" effect") that they lack patience for finding answers which take more time and tend to give up too easily. Another researcher, Dr. Dimitri Christakis of the Center for Child Health, Behaviour and Development at Children's Hospuital of Seattle WA, found that saturation from heavy digital stimulation created a "supernatural stimulation" which makes reality a bore, in comparison. It is hard for teachers to compete with that.
It's a new world, folks.
And not necessarily a better one, at least not in some ways.
ReplyDeleteIt's also hard for parents to compete with that, too. Can't help but wonder where this brave new world of digital necessity is going to lead us.
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