Understanding Our High-Tech Students and

Developing the Best Learning Approaches 

Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D.California State University,

Dominguez HillsSeptember 17, 2013

TECHNOLOGY USED TO BE JUST FOR GEEKS

AND NERDS. … NOW IT IS FOR EVERYONE

TODAY’S TALK PLAN1. A Tale of 6 Generations2. Gobbling a Daily Media

Diet3. A New Era of

Communicating4. Multitasking Madness5. The Student Brain – A

scary concept!6. Three Simple Strategies

for Educating Our Young Learners

WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF SIX VASTLY

DIFFERENT GENERATIONSGENERATION BIRTH YEARS

Silent/Traditional Generation

1925 – 1945

Baby Boomers 1946 – 1964Generation X 1965 – 1979Net Generation 1980 – 1989iGeneration 1990 – 1999Generation C 2000+

THE PACE OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IS

DIZZYINGPenetration Rate = Years to Reach 50 Million UsersRadio took 38

yearsThe Telephone took 20 yearsTelevision took 13 yearsCell Phones took 12 yearsThe WWW took 4 yearsiPods took 3 yearsBlogs took 3 yearsMySpace took 2.5 yearsFacebook took 2 yearsYouTube 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 2000iPod

iPhoneWii

MySpaceFacebookGoogle+LinkedInHybrid Cars

iTunes

YouTubePandoraTwitter

iPadXBox

Satellite RadioFlickrSkype

Camera Phones

KindleFirefox

Blackberry

3D TVClub

PenguinTiVo

Broadband

FarmvilleGroupon

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 8 HOURS A DAYGENERATION X 15 HOURS A DAYNET GENERATION 21 HOURS A DAYiGENERATION 21 HOURS A DAYGENERATION “C” 10 HOURS A DAY

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DO THEY USE 2 HOURS OR

MORE A DAY?BABY BOOMERS TV

GENERATION X MUSIC COMPUTERS

TVGOING ONLINE

NET GENERATION MUSICTVGOING ONLINETEXTING

iGENERATION MUSICTEXTINGGOING

ONLINEFACEBOOKIM/CHAT

GENERATION “C” TVVIDEO GAMES

HOW ABOUT OUR YOUNG LEARNERS?

THEY ALSO COMMUNICATE “DIFFERENTLY

”

HERE ARE THEIR PREFERRED WAYS TO

COMMUNICATEGENERATION 1st 2nd 3rd

Baby Boomers

Face-to-Face Phone E-Mail

Generation X

Face-to-Face Phone E-Mail

Net Generation

Face-to-Face Texting Phone

iGeneration Texting IM/FB/Phone

Face-to-Face

196

And 42% of teens say they can text blindfolded.

NATIONAL NIELSEN RESEARCH

3,417Septembe

r 2011

Girls:

3,952

HAS THIS LED TOMULTITASKING MADNESS?

THE EPITOME OF MULTITAKSING WAS INTRODUCED AT THE

2013 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW

MEET THE BRAND NEWiPotty

GENERATION C iGENERATION NET GEN GEN X BABY

4-8 9-12 13-15 16-18 BOOMERS

MULTITASKING ACROSS GENERATIONS

(“Continuous Partial Attention”)

WHICH TASKS ARE EASY OR DIFFICULT FOR YOU

TO MULTITASK?1. Eating and playing a board

game?2. Reading a book and listening

to music?3. Surfing the Internet and

listening to music?4. Reading a book and watching

TV?5. Reading a book and talking on

the phone?6. 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. Attention Difficulties2. Poor Decision Making3. Breadth vs. Depth of

Material4. Information Overload5. Internet Addiction6. Poor Sleep Habits7. 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

YOUR BRAIN READING A

BOOK

YOUR BRAIN SEARCHING

GOOGLE

AND TECHNOLOGY OVERLOADS OUR BRAINS

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

Anxiety 1 Anxiety 2 Anxiety 334

35

36

37

38

Smart-phones allowed

Smartphones taken

away

WHAT HAPPENED TO ANXIETY?

WHO GOT THE MOST ANXIOUS?

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Smart-phone Al-

lowed

Light Smartphone

Users

Heavy Smartphone

Users

Smartphone Taken

Away

Incr

ease

d An

xiet

y

WHAT DOES A BRAIN NEED TO STAY

HEALTHY?• Time away from technologyCommunication SkillsCreative ThinkingCalmness

•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 VALUES1. Social connections are

everything2. Speed/Immediacy is

CRITICAL3. Belief in SELF: Any dream

can be reality4. Enjoy being creative5. 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

minuteo On-task or off-task?o What is on computer

screen?o Daily use of technologies

and mediao Studying strategies?o Preference for task

switching• School performance/grade on

test

FOCUSED

FOCUSED

FOCUSED

DISTRACTED

DISTRACTED

SAME FOR COMPUTER

PROGRAMMERS AND

MEDICAL STUDENTS

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

• Knowing how you best learn

• Knowing how your brain works

• Knowing what conditions help you best learn and study

IT IS ALL ABOUT “METACOGNITION”

• 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?

OUR RECENT STUDY:METACOGNITION IN ACTION

IMPACT OF INTERRUPTIONS

8 TEXT GROUP DID

WORSE THAN 0 TEXT GROUP

72%

=

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 ___________.

• Electronic Communication: Texting, e-mail, IM

• Social media

WHAT DISRUPTS STUDENTS THE MOST?

RESETTING THE BRAIN• THINK coffee break or

cigarette breakImproves performance

• Pre-teen, teen & young adult behaviorsBored – used to task

switchingTexting 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 METHODAware of options (distractors)

Breathe – calm/reset brain

Choose good options (metacognition)

Tk u 4 ur tme. r thr n e qs 4 me?