The Net Generation Brain

I was reading in Don Tapscott’s book, Grown Up Digital, about the Net Generation brain. Tapscott points out that, although not everyone is in agreement, early evidence suggests that those who are digitally immersed, experience a positive impact on brain development.  He points to studies which support the notion that a brain region which is used continually and intensely responds like a muscle and increases in size and efficiency .  He also discusses studies which have shown that playing action video games increases one’s ability to gather information in one’s field of vision and also increases the speed at which an individual can process visual information (Tapscott, 2009).

That sounds pretty positive to me!  But contrast this with an article in the most recent edition of “Educatiional Leadership” where Marilee Sprenger talks about the downside of hyperconnectivity for tweens and teens.  Sprenger points out that digitally immersed young people run the risk of placing themselves in a constant state of partial attention in which they perform tasks inefficiently.

I guess the question is “How do we help learners capitalize on what digital immersion can offer them while mitigating the possible negative impacts?”

- Anita Sherwin-Hamer, Director, Evaluation Services