Digital Nation Blog #2

During this blog we will explore a few aspects from the film Digital Nation. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it. You can find it on you tube its about 90mins long. The film covers a wide range of information about our world which they call "Digital Nation". The two topics that caught my interest were the questions of multitasking segment and the technology in classroom segment. The two seemed to go hand and hand in the film.
     In the film they did studies on how the classrooms have changed because of technology. For instance having laptops in class which studies revels it causes the students to attempt to multitask more often instead of fully paying attention. Now if you ask almost any student they will say they are good at multitasking but classic psychology says other wise. Classic psychology say we can not do two things at once at a high level. So they gathered a group of students who are a bit extreme with multitasking and did a study. If you guessed the test showed that at this day and age you can multitask at a high level you were wrong! Test showed people who multitask get significantly worst. They get slower along with the fact it may also affect their ability to think clearly. After
watching them do the study on the film I believed it but wanted to see for myself. So I conducted my own study where I read 5pages of a book with no tv , music, or phone near by I read and understood in about 7mins. Then I read 5 more pages with the tv on and my phone in plain sight it took me over 10mins to read and understand.
     Shortly after in the film they revealed that students of today spend more than 50 hours per week on some kind of device. Then they showed how the brain looks when reading a book as oppose doing online reading/research. For a good while they thought the results favored online. Later they realized just because the online readers brain showed more activity it wasn't a good thing. It wasn't good because as you read and get better at reading your brain uses less energy which makes sense. Where as when you are reading online its so many distractions and thoughts going through your head your brain uses a lot more energy. Another brief fact about multitasking is that it increases motor vehicle accidents by 23%. So its not just in the context of school and indoor activities but multitasking in some situations can lead to serious physical harm possibly even death.
     Now lets explore a little bit on the impact of technology in schools. Did you know that in Korea kids are taught to go online when they are taught to read? Then to follow that they have course that teaches them how to use them the right way. Another location is Brooklyn New York where there is now a middle school where the students are required to use laptops. The parents are on the fence about the idea they have trouble helping the kids with things and they are shocked at how fast they adapt to it.

     One more impactful case of technology in schools was in South Bronx, New York. In south Bronx, a school was on a downward spiral and a new principle by the name of Jason Levy came with the idea to give all kids laptops. No one thought that was a good idea, not even the assistant principle. He went on and did it anyway and the results of it was an increase in attendance and test scores, along with a decrease in fighting. Those were all apart of the upside. The downside was possible boredom and short tension spans, with the thought of being able to attend every urge immediately. So as you can see even with the good comes  a side of bad. Studies also went on to show that younger kids reading ability is increasing. While older kids who are more plugged in reading skills are decreasing as well as their writing skills. Another study revealed that because of technology students now write in paragraphs instead of summaries. Stating that after every paragraph they are distracted by technology some how which stops them from completing whole thoughts. At times you can notice when the distraction occurs because the paragraphs won't have much of a connection if any. That problem is due to the distraction in between paragraphs.
     After watching the video and taking in all the information I was dead even in thoughts related to the film. By that I mean I understood the good and the bad of multitasking and technology in classrooms. I feel like multitasking has its downside but we live in a world where we are forced to multitask a lot of times so in some situations there is no way around it. Along with that I see the good and bad with technology in classrooms yes the can be easily distracted but again we live in an era where technology is fast paced and constantly evolving. With that being said giving kids the opportunity to learn how to effectively use technology will help us in the long run and continue progress because they are the future. So even though there will be some down falls I feel like it's necessary to make the changes and keep up with the evolution of technology. As well as try to find a good balance so they can have the best possible overall learning experience.