Dr. Gary Small of UCLA has been in the news quite a bit regarding his studies on impact of technology use on brain patterns. In another life, I might have become a neurologist, (if only I had had physics with a teacher like John Rozeboom before I left high school!). Small has a website with many different articles. His latest work suggests young people who spend inordinate amounts of time interacting with technology rather than humans may alter their ability to relate well to others. (Many educators have already amassed lots of anecdotal evidence of that!). On the other hand, older people may benefit from the mental stimulation of Internet use (I am living proof). Here is the link: http://www.drgarysmall.com/newsappears.htm#news.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Brain Scans or Scatterbrains?
Dr. Gary Small of UCLA has been in the news quite a bit regarding his studies on impact of technology use on brain patterns. In another life, I might have become a neurologist, (if only I had had physics with a teacher like John Rozeboom before I left high school!). Small has a website with many different articles. His latest work suggests young people who spend inordinate amounts of time interacting with technology rather than humans may alter their ability to relate well to others. (Many educators have already amassed lots of anecdotal evidence of that!). On the other hand, older people may benefit from the mental stimulation of Internet use (I am living proof). Here is the link: http://www.drgarysmall.com/newsappears.htm#news.
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I think one of the downsides of our young people spending less time socializing in person is that they don't seem to be developing the ability to sense a person's body language and facial expression and then alter their own responses accordingly. I think it is affecting our "empathy" gene. Also, my students are not very good at direct eye contact or hand shakes. I could spend weeks in my classroom teaching communication skills. Many think it strange if I want to greet them with a handshake.
I agree and disagree. It is all about balance and we humans have a very difficult time balancing---everything is extreme, ultra, ultimate, go all the way--instant gratification rather than critical thought about how to balance! Most of the problems in society stem from IMBALANCE, no doubt. Okay, enough ranting--what I think is that technology offers our students diverse perspectives and many ways to find out the answer or multiple venues to ask more questions--hence honoring thinking and our global society. I try to teach balance---the use of technology should not replace social interactions it should enhance social interactions. Now. I cannot say if I am succeeding in teaching this valuable lesson, because I say the same thing about body spray to my students (stinky/smelly products) ---that perfumes etc. are to enhance not overwhelm and cause "extreme" vomiting and "extreme" discomfort. It all comes back to BALANCE! Exploradora thanks for the link I will check it out. Maybe it will change my thinking.
Thanks for your reflections, T. Hodge! Now, if we could encourage some of our colleagues to stop wearing things like heavy cheap musk/civet cologne, we would be getting somehwere!
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