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Why Kids Won't Quit Technology


ALEXANDRA OSSOLA

Even though they admit their devices distract them from class. Now,
some educators are incorporating the digital tools into their teaching.
Smartphones, iPads, TVs, computers, videogames. Technology is
omnipresent, especially for young students. They just cant get enough;
one 2013 study found that college students check their digital devices for
non-class purposes 11 times per day on average, and 80 percent of them
admitted that the technology was distracting them from class. This has some
educators and scientists concerned: Are students distracted because their
brains are hard-wired for it after a lifetime of screens? Is there a cultural or
behavioral element to the fixation that has stimuli the classroom?
As scientists work to answer these questions, educators are finding
ways to adapt to students changeswhatever their causeand use the
technology to their advantage, especially in courses focused on science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
When scientists talk about how technology affects the brain, its one
particular network that they focus on most often. Its called executive
functionthe series of mental processes at the root of peoples working
memory, which involves tasks like remembering instructions, and abilities
such as multitasking or paying attention. While the most rapid brain
development occurs before the age of five, people dont hit their peak
executive-function until their late 20s.
A number of studies have shown the connection between stimuli and
executive function. One of the most famous was conducted in 2011 and is
commonly known as the Spongebob study. The research revealed that
four-year-olds experience impaired executive function after watching the
cartoon for just 10 minutes. In a separate 2011 study, researchers found that
teens who are addicted to the Internet have abnormal neural pathways,
which are tied to executive function.
While scientists have not yet looked at how this stress affects
executive function in the long term, theres reason to think it might. This has
to do with our understanding of neuroplasticity, or how an individuals
brain changes over time depending on how that person uses it. During
adolescence, each persons brain weeds out the pathways that it uses less

often in a process called neural pruning, said Gary Small, a psychiatry


professor and director of the University of California, Los Angeles, Longevity
Center at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Its
hard to imagine that the way youre using your brain at a young age isnt
going to affect the pruning process, he added. In other words, if you spent
your youth in front of screens, it would make sense that your adult brain
would be hard-wired to process information at a frenzied pace.

Vocabulary
You can remember this sentence, or to remember what you ate for
breakfast, because you have neuroplasticity.
The singer became an omnipresent icon of style and beauty.
Liz has a fixation with food.
At about this time, the new idea about corporate management had
begun to infiltrate into local government.
When working with certain chemicals, you need to make sure you
know what stimuli to keep them away, and avoid bad outcomes.
Finish the pruning of fruit trees before the middle of the month.
She was frenzied by fear when she smelled the smoke.

Match each word with its definition


1. _e_ Neuroplasticity
2. __d_ Omnipresent

a. Process of removing or reducing


the number of neurons that
occurs in the brain
b. Wildly excited, or enthusiastic

3. __c_ Fixation

c. The state of being unable to stop


thinking about someone or
something, or an unnaturally
strong interest in something or
someone

4. _f_ Infiltrate

d. Widely or constantly encountered


widespread

5. __g__ Stimuli

6. _a_ pruning

7. __b__ frenzied

e. The brains ability to store


memories and ideas, using its
connected parts, and make
connections
f. To secretly become a part of a
group in order to get information
or to influence the way that a
group thinks or behaves
g. Something causes regarding to a
response

True/False/NG
Read the questions and mark true, false, or
not given

Students like to use technology in class (Para 1)


Smartphones, iPads, TVs, computers, videogames are
devices that some educators use in class (Para 1)

Some students believe that technology helps them in their


(STEM) studies (Para 2)

Scientists talked about how technology affects brains (Para


3)
Some researchers found that Spongbob cartoon is
educational for kids
Scientists searched about how this stress affects executive
function in the long term (Para 5)

NG

ng

t
ng

Gary Small is a director of the University of Florida (Para 5)

Comprehension Questions

What did the 2013 study found?

How many percent of the students admitted that the technology was
distracting them from class?

At what age does rapid brain development occur?

What is the name of the most famous study that was conducted in
2011?

What did Spongbob Study revealed/exposed?

Who is Gary Small? And what is his opinion regarding this issue?

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/12/why-kids-wontquit-tech/383575/

Amna Arif Julfar


Ohood Abdulkarim

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