Understanding Our High-Tech
Students and Developing the Best
Learning Approaches
Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D.
California State University,
Dominguez Hills
September 17, 2013
TECHNOLOGY USED TO BE
JUST FOR GEEKS AND NERDS.
… NOW IT IS FOR EVERYONE
TODAY’S TALK PLAN
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A Tale of 6 Generations
Gobbling a Daily Media Diet
A New Era of Communicating
Multitasking Madness
The Student Brain – A scary
concept!
6. Three Simple Strategies for
Educating Our Young Learners
WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF SIX
VASTLY DIFFERENT
GENERATIONS
GENERATION
BIRTH YEARS
Silent/Traditional Generation
Baby Boomers
Generation X
Net Generation
iGeneration
Generation C
1925 – 1945
1946 – 1964
1965 – 1979
1980 – 1989
1990 – 1999
2000+
THE PACE OF TECHNOLOGICAL
CHANGE IS DIZZYING
Penetration Rate = Years to Reach 50 Million Users
Radio took 38 years
The Telephone took 20 years
Television took 13 years
Cell Phones took 12 years
The WWW took 4 years
iPods took 3 years
Blogs took 3 years
MySpace took 2.5 years
Facebook took 2 years
YouTube took 1 year
Angry Birds
Took Just
35 Days!
IS IT ANY WONDER WHY?
THESE ARE ALL TECHNOLOGIES THAT DID
NOT EXIST BEFORE THE YEAR 2000
iPod
iPhone
Wii
MySpace
Facebook
Google+
LinkedIn
Hybrid Cars
iTunes
YouTube
Pandora
Twitter
iPad
XBox
Satellite Radio
Flickr
Skype
Camera Phones
Kindle
Firefox
Blackberry
3D TV
Club
Penguin
TiVo
Broadband
Farmville
Groupon
AND THEY USE THEM ALL …
AT THE SAME TIME
NEW TECHNOLOGY IS MAKING
OUR LIVES MORE DIFFICULT
BECAUSE WE ARE CONTINUALLY
HAVING TO LEARN MORE AND
MORE . . . AND FASTER AND
FASTER
And Sometimes it Just Doesn’t Make
Sense
CHILDREN,
TEENAGERS AND
YOUNG ADULTS SEEM
LIKE THEY ARE ALIENS
… PARTICULARLY
WHEN THEY
COMMUNICATE
HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY
ARE THEY USING EACH DAY?
BABY BOOMERS
GENERATION X
NET GENERATION
iGENERATION
GENERATION “C”
8 HOURS A DAY
15 HOURS A DAY
21 HOURS A DAY
21 HOURS A DAY
10 HOURS A DAY
WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DO THEY USE
2 HOURS OR MORE A DAY?
BABY BOOMERS
TV
GENERATION X
MUSIC
COMPUTERS
TV
GOING ONLINE
NET GENERATION
MUSIC
TV
GOING ONLINE
TEXTING
HOW ABOUT OUR YOUNG
LEARNERS?
iGENERATION
MUSIC
TEXTING
GOING ONLINE
FACEBOOK
IM/CHAT
GENERATION “C”
TV
VIDEO GAMES
THEY ALSO
COMMUNICATE
“DIFFERENTLY”
HERE ARE THEIR PREFERRED
WAYS TO COMMUNICATE
1st
2nd
3rd
Baby Boomers
Face-toFace
Phone
E-Mail
Generation X
Face-toFace
Phone
E-Mail
Net Generation
Face-toFace
Texting
Phone
iGeneration
Texting
IM/FB/Phone
Face-to-Face
GENERATION
NATIONAL NIELSEN RESEARCH
September
2011
Girls:
3,952
3,417
196
And 42% of teens say they can text blindfolded.
HAS THIS LED TO
MULTITASKING
MADNESS?
THE EPITOME OF
MULTITAKSING WAS
INTRODUCED AT THE 2013
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
SHOW
MEET THE BRAND NEW
iPotty
MULTITASKING ACROSS GENERATIONS
(“Continuous Partial Attention”)
GENERATION C
4-8
9-12
iGENERATION
13-15
16-18
NET GEN
GEN X
BABY
BOOMERS
WHICH TASKS ARE EASY OR
DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO
MULTITASK?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Eating and playing a board game?
Reading a book and listening to music?
Surfing the Internet and listening to music?
Reading a book and watching TV?
Reading a book and talking on the phone?
Reading a book, texting, Facebooking, and
listening to music (with the TV on)?
ARE THEY REALLY
MULTITASKING?
• Their brains are really “task switching”
• They make use of “Slack Time”
• Technology makes them task switch:
 Sounds
 Vibrations
 Visual displays
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF
MULTITASKING?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Attention Difficulties
Poor Decision Making
Breadth vs. Depth of Material
Information Overload
Internet Addiction
Poor Sleep Habits
Overuse of Caffeine
THE PROBLEM IS BETWEEN
THEIR EARS … OR RATHER
BEHIND THEIR FOREHEAD
PREFRONTAL
CORTEX
WHAT DOES THE PREFRONTAL
CORTEX DO?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Executive controller
Working memory
Attention & focus
Decision making
Multitasking control
Impulse control
NERVE CELLS IN THE
PREFRONTAL CORTEX DO
NOT FUNCTION WELL FROM
BIRTH
INFANT NEURONS START
WITHOUT A “COATING” CALLED
MYELIN
AT BIRTH CHILDREN START TO
MYELINATE NEURONS BUT SOME
SIGNALS STILL ESCAPE
BY ADULTHOOD ALL NEURONS
ARE MYELINATED
THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS
OF MYELINATION
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
• Without myelin, neurons don’t
conduct signals properly
• The last brain area to be
myelinated is the prefrontal cortex
• The prefrontal cortex is your
executive controller
• This happens in late 20s/early
30s
AND TECHNOLOGY OVERLOADS
OUR BRAINS
YOUR BRAIN
READING A BOOK
YOUR BRAIN
SEARCHING
GOOGLE
IT IS ALSO ABOUT ANXIETY
• 67% of teens and young adults
check their phones every 15 minutes
or less
• If they can’t check in that often, 50%
get moderately-to-highly anxious
• What are they checking?
 Text messages
 Social Media – Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc.
OUR RECENT STUDY OF ANXIETY AND
OBSESSION
(Cheever, Pasquerella, Rosen, & Carrier, 2013)
•
•
•
•
•
•
163 college students
75 minute session
Half allowed to keep/use smartphones
Half had smartphones removed
THE TASK? JUST SIT THERE AND DO
NOTHING – NO TALKING, NO SCHOOL
WORK … NOTHING
Measured anxiety three times: 20, 40, 60
minutes
WHAT HAPPENED TO ANXIETY?
38
Smartphones
taken away
37
36
Smartphones
allowed
35
34
Anxiety 1
Anxiety 2
Anxiety 3
WHO GOT THE MOST ANXIOUS?
6
5
Increased Anxiety
4
3
Smartphone
Taken Away
Smartphone
Allowed
2
1
0
-1
-2
Light Smartphone
Users
Heavy
Smartphone Users
WHAT DOES A BRAIN NEED
TO STAY HEALTHY?
• Time away from technology
 Communication Skills
 Creative Thinking
 Calmness
• Sleep for “synaptic rejuvenation”
• Periodic “resetting”
THE BRAIN NEEDS SLEEP
• Doctors recommend 9 hours per night
for preteens and teenagers!
• Average teen sleeps 6.1 hours per
school night; 10.3 on weekend
• Sleep Debt = 12 hours per week
• 80% of teenagers say they “rarely or
never get a good night’s sleep
WHAT DO TEENS
DO IN THE HOUR
BEFORE SLEEP?
AND THEY SLEEP WITH THEIR PHONE ON!
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR CELL PHONE
WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP?
Leave the
ringer on
(44%)
Put ringer
on vibrate
(31%)
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SHOW
ABOUT TEEN SLEEP DISRUPTION?
• Is it the light? NO IT IS NOT!
• Is it “couch potato” activities? NO
(in fact a little nighttime TV helps!)
• Is it their computer use? NO
• Is it their homework? NO
SO, WHAT IS IT?
• Incessant multitasking in last hour
• Smartphone use in last hour
• Cell phone interrupted sleep
“NORMAL” SLEEP CYCLES
• Synaptic
Rejuvenation
• Default Mode
Network
WHAT HAPPENS IF SLEEP IS DISRUPTED?
• Instant dreaming
• Lack of consolidation/pruning
• Less time for creative thinking
WHAT DOES THIS
MEAN FOR
EDUCATING
OUR CHILDREN,
TEENS & YOUNG
ADULTS?
THREE CONCERNS FOR OUR
STUDENTS AND CHILDREN
• Underdeveloped Social Skills
• Shallow Thinking Skills/Habits
• Changes in Brain Functioning Neuroplasticity
THIS LEADS TO THREE MAIN
ISSUES FOR EDUCATORS
• Understanding their values
• Helping them understand why
their brains get distracted
• Helping them learn how to
focus and attend
OUR YOUNG STUDENTS HAVE
10 UNIQUE VALUES
1. Social connections are everything
2. Speed/Immediacy is CRITICAL
3. Belief in SELF: Any dream can be
reality
4. Enjoy being creative
5. Strong family connection (not f2f)
6. Strong work ethic, but tempted by
distractions (both external & internal)
7. Prefer to work in teams (“social”)
8. Prefer project deadlines but no
progress reports
9. Need positive reinforcement
immediate and often
10. Motivated by time off to play with
technology
HELPING THEM LEARN
“FOCUS AND ATTENTION” IS
CRITICAL
HOW DO STUDENTS FOCUS
WHILE STUDYING?
ARE THEY
DISTRACTED?
--------AND WHAT ROLE
DOES TECHNOLOGY
PLAY IN THEIR
FOCUS AND
ATTENTION?
OUR STUDY OF STUDYING:
A CASE OF DISTRACTED
LEARNERS
• 279 students observed studying [middle
school, high school, college]
• 15 minutes – observe every minute
o On-task or off-task?
o What is on computer screen?
o Daily use of technologies and media
o Studying strategies?
o Preference for task switching
• School performance/grade on test
FOCUSED
FOCUSED
FOCUSED
SAME FOR
COMPUTER
PROGRAMMERS
AND MEDICAL
STUDENTS
DISTRACTED
DISTRACTED
AND … THE MOST OFF-TASK
STUDENTS HAD THE MOST
OPEN WINDOWS!!!
WHAT PREDICTS SCHOOL
PERFORMANCE (GRADES)?
How much they stay “on task” (GOOD!)
If they have strategies for studying (GOOD!)
Preference for task switching (BAD )
Daily media consumption (BAD )
Whether they checked Facebook ONCE during 15
minutes (AWFUL!)
WHY CAN’T THEY FOCUS AND
PAY ATTENTION?
• OUTSIDE IN THE REAL WORLD
 The “alerts” that come from smartphones
 And television has changed, too, to grab our
children’s attention
• INSIDE THE BRAIN
 Human Orienting Response
 The mind is always thinking … about
technology AND THIS MAKES THEM
ANXIOUS
IT IS ALL ABOUT
“METACOGNITION”
• Knowing how you best learn
• Knowing how your brain
works
• Knowing what conditions help
you best learn and study
OUR RECENT STUDY:
METACOGNITION IN ACTION
• 4 university
classes; n=175
• 30 minutes video
lecture
• Interruptions: no
texts, 4 text, 8
texts
What is your
major and why
did you choose it?
IMPACT OF INTERRUPTIONS
72%
=
8 TEXT GROUP DID
WORSE THAN 0
TEXT GROUP
DID ANYONE SHOW
“METACOGNITION”?
• Those who IMMEDIATELY read and
respond to a text message got a
“C”
• Those who waited for a few
minutes to read or respond got an
“A”!
POSSIBLE METACOGNITIVE
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS
• The best room for me to study in at home is
___________ because ___________.
• Some ways that I can avoid distractions
while studying at home are ___________.
• A good place for me to put my phone before
a class or before studying is ___________.
• If I use technology in class, some ways that I
can make sure I don’t get distracted are
___________.
WHAT DISRUPTS STUDENTS
THE MOST?
• Electronic Communication:
 Texting, e-mail, IM
• Social media
RESETTING THE BRAIN
• THINK coffee break or cigarette
break
Improves performance
• Pre-teen, teen & young adult
behaviors
Bored – used to task switching
Texting is modern day
“passing notes”
Attention span (remember 3-5
minutes!)
• The teenage brain – where does
the oxygen flow?
HOW TO RESET THEIR BRAINS
(and maybe yours, too!)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nature Breaks (live or virtual)
Tech Breaks
Music/Art
Exercise
Meditation/Biofeedback
Laughter
Hot Bath
Talking (live) to a friend (3:1 ratio of
positives)
• Practicing a foreign language
• Playing a musical instrument
TEACHING OUR STUDENTS
DIGITAL TIME MANAGEMENT
USING THE A-B-C METHOD
 Aware of options (distractors)
 Breathe – calm/reset brain
 Choose good options
(metacognition)
Tk u 4 ur tme. r thr n e qs 4
me?