Lenny Gonzales
Our love-hate relationship with technology is the subject of research psychologist Dr. Larry D. Rosen’s new book iDisorder. From his perspective, “tech gadgets and applications are turning us into basket-cases suffering from versions of obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit syndrome,” according to a recent HechingerEd blog.
Rosen also spoke at last year’s Learning & the Brain Conference, along with Dr. Gary Small, author of the book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. (Yes, the similarity of the titles are noted.)
The two authors bring their own experiences and perspectives to the table, some on opposite spectrums, but some quite similar. This MindShift article, How Technology Wires the Learning Brain describes Small’s point of view about one specific tactic he agrees with Rosen: scratch the technology itch in intervals, then set it aside.
Here’s that original post:
Kids between the ages of 8 and 18 spend 11.5 hours a day using technology — whether that’s computers, television, mobile phones, or video games – and usually more than one at a time. That’s a big chunk of their 15 or 16 waking hours.
But does that spell doom for the next generation? Not necessarily, according to Dr. Gary Small, a neuroscientist and professor at UCLA, who spoke at the Learning & the Brain Conference.
“Young people are born into technology, and they’re used to using it 24/7,” Small said. “Their brains are wired to use it elegantly.” Continue reading