Over the past few years, the topic of digital students and how they think has created quite a buzz. Questions have arisen as to whether the minds of today’s youth are somehow different, and altered by exposure to media. There are many schools of thought regarding this topic, but is there evidence to concretely support the concept that digital students actually think differently?

Brain Research

Last time, we took a look at characteristics of the 21st Century learner, including how they have a language of their own, are multi-taskers, goal-oriented and able to consume a great deal of information at lightning speed. We know they are wired into a digital world, but we don’t know how or why. It’s time to consider up-and-coming brain research and draw some conclusions about this generation of digital connoisseurs. While researching this topic I ran across interesting words like neuroplasticity and social psychology. Intimidated in the beginning by these words, I quickly realized that, in layman’s terms, they refer to the science of the brain and of the mind. Additionally, they address the relationship between the brain and stimulus, which generates a change in brain patterns. This is where our journey begins, understanding the brain patterns of digital students. Recent research in neurobiology indicates that a range of stimulations can in fact change brain structures and influence the way an individual thinks. These changes can span a lifetime.

Fast Paced

Here I present our first shred of evidence. Today’s youth are constantly being surged with visual and auditory stimuli. Digital students play video games, instant message, watch TV, and surf the Internet on a daily basis. Is it possible these varying types of technology are changing their brain structure? Additional, research shows that the brain adjusts and organizes itself differently based on input it receives. This method of the brain continually reorganizing itself is known as neuroplasticity. Dr. Jane Healy, an expert on neuropsychology states, “Fast paced, nonlinguistic and visually distracting television may literally have changed children’s minds, making sustained attention to verbal input, such as reading or listening, far less appealing than faster paced, visual stimuli.”

New Patterns

In addition to neuroplasiticy, social psychology offers compelling proof that thinking patterns change depending on an individual’s experiences. According to the book How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School, exposure to numerous, overlapping sounds and sights affect the neural passageway of digital students’ brains. In fact, some researchers believe multi-sensory input helps kids learn, retain and use information better. Does this sound familiar? Our digital natives engage in this type of brain plasticity everyday. They have grown up paying close attention to the sensory input of MP3 players, cell phones, video games and computers.

The blinders are coming off and the picture is coming into focus, today’s youth may actually be divergent thinkers. Dr. Bruce Perry, an authority on brain development states, “Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures, as we shall see in the next installment, it is very likely that our students’ brains have physically changed and are different from ours as a result of how they grew up.”

Accommodating New Learners

Is it possible as educators we need to acknowledge this research and make some changes ourselves? Organizations like the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation have acknowledged this research and have stepped up to provide our digital students with technology skills, standards and literacy to accommodate their needs.

As educators we can choose not to address the needs of these natives, but they are restless. This is a sign of the times that educators can’t ignore. We must be willing to rethink traditional teaching practices and give digital students the stimulus their brains so desire. Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, says it well, “The object of teaching a child is to enable the child to get along without the teacher. We need to educate our children for their future, not our past...”

Resources:

• Dr. Jane Healy, Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It
• Dr. John Bruer
• Dr. Bruce Perry, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook Child Psychiatrist's Notebook--What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing
• Partnership for 21st Century Skills
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
• No Child Left Behind Legislation on Technology
• Marc Prensky, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Cathleen Richardson is an Educational Consultant and eLearning Specialist.

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