Understanding Our High-Tech Students and Developing the Best Learning Approaches

1. Understanding Our High-Tech Students and Developing the Best Learning Approaches Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D. California State University, Dominguez Hills September 17, 2013

2. TECHNOLOGY USED TO BE JUST FOR GEEKS AND NERDS. … NOW IT IS FOR EVERYONE

3. TODAY’S TALK PLAN A Tale of 6 Generations Gobbling a Daily Media Diet A New Era of Communicating Multitasking Madness The Student Brain – A scary concept! Three Simple Strategies for Educating Our Young Learners

4. WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF SIX VASTLY DIFFERENT GENERATIONS

5. 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 Angry Birds Took Just 35 Days! 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

6. 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

7. AND THEY USE THEM ALL … AT THE SAME TIME

8. 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

9. CHILDREN, TEENAGERS AND YOUNG ADULTS SEEM LIKE THEY ARE ALIENS … PARTICULARLY WHEN THEY COMMUNICATE

10. HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY ARE THEY USING EACH DAY? BABY BOOMERS 8 HOURS A DAY GENERATION X 15 HOURS A DAY NET GENERATION 21 HOURS A DAY iGENERATION 21 HOURS A DAY GENERATION “C” 10 HOURS A DAY

11. 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

12. HOW ABOUT OUR YOUNG LEARNERS? iGENERATION MUSIC TEXTING GOING ONLINE FACEBOOK IM/CHAT GENERATION “C” TV VIDEO GAMES

13. THEY ALSO COMMUNICATE “DIFFERENTLY”

14. HERE ARE THEIR PREFERRED WAYS TO COMMUNICATE

15. Girls: 3,952 NATIONAL NIELSEN RESEARCH 3,417 September 2011 196 And 42% of teens say they can text blindfolded.

16. HAS THIS LED TO MULTITASKING MADNESS?

17. THE EPITOME OF MULTITAKSING WAS INTRODUCED AT THE 2013 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW

18. MEET THE BRAND NEW iPotty

19. MULTITASKING ACROSS GENERATIONS (“Continuous Partial Attention”) GENERATION C iGENERATION NET GEN GEN X BABY 4-8 9-12 13-15 16-18 BOOMERS

20. WHICH TASKS ARE EASY OR DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO MULTITASK? 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)?

21. 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

22. WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF MULTITASKING? Attention Difficulties Poor Decision Making Breadth vs. Depth of Material Information Overload Internet Addiction Poor Sleep Habits Overuse of Caffeine

23. THE PROBLEM IS BETWEEN THEIR EARS … OR RATHER BEHIND THEIR FOREHEAD PREFRONTAL CORTEX

24. WHAT DOES THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX DO? • Executive controller • Working memory • Attention & focus • Decision making • Multitasking control • Impulse control

25. NERVE CELLS IN THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX DO NOT FUNCTION WELL FROM BIRTH

26. INFANT NEURONS START WITHOUT A “COATING” CALLED MYELIN

27. AT BIRTH CHILDREN START TO MYELINATE NEURONS BUT SOME SIGNALS STILL ESCAPE

28. BY ADULTHOOD ALL NEURONS ARE MYELINATED

29. THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS OF MYELINATION

30. 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

31. AND TECHNOLOGY OVERLOADS OUR BRAINS YOUR BRAIN SEARCHING GOOGLE YOUR BRAIN READING A BOOK

32. 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.

33. 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

34. WHAT HAPPENED TO ANXIETY? Smartphones taken away

35. WHO GOT THE MOST ANXIOUS?

36. Smartphone Taken Away Increased Anxiety Heavy Smartphone Users Light Smartphone Users

37. WHAT DOES A BRAIN NEED TO STAY HEALTHY? • Time away from technology • Communication Skills • Creative Thinking • Calmness • Sleep for “synaptic rejuvenation” • Periodic “resetting”

38. 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

39. WHAT DO TEENS DO IN THE HOUR BEFORE SLEEP?

40. 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%)

41. 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

42. “NORMAL” SLEEP CYCLES • Synaptic Rejuvenation • Default Mode Network

43. WHAT HAPPENS IF SLEEP IS DISRUPTED? • Instant dreaming • Lack of consolidation/pruning • Less time for creative thinking

44. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN, TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS?

45. THREE CONCERNS FOR OUR STUDENTS AND CHILDREN • Underdeveloped Social Skills • Shallow Thinking Skills/Habits • Changes in Brain Functioning - Neuroplasticity

46. 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

47. OUR YOUNG STUDENTS HAVE 10 UNIQUE VALUES Social connections are everything Speed/Immediacy is CRITICAL Belief in SELF: Any dream can be reality Enjoy being creative Strong family connection (not f2f)

48. Strong work ethic, but temptedby distractions (both external & internal) Prefer to work in teams (“social”) Prefer project deadlinesbut no progress reports Need positive reinforcement immediateand often Motivated by time off to play with technology

49. HELPING THEM LEARN “FOCUS AND ATTENTION” IS CRITICAL

50. HOW DO STUDENTS FOCUS WHILE STUDYING? ARE THEY DISTRACTED? --------- AND WHAT ROLE DOES TECHNOLOGY PLAY IN THEIR FOCUS AND ATTENTION?