Cognition, Education, and Technology

• Media use

Small amounts are actually good for us, or at least contribute to our overall happiness. Like anything in life, there is such thing as too much.  It should be limited so that we are not pushing the important things in our life to the side. Setting tech boundaries, such as specific times and places where it isn't allowed, is a great start for many families and individuals.

• Brain function

Brain snakes? I loved our discussion on how the brain actually learns. Synapses and I think of it as trailblazing. The more you blaze that trail, the stronger the synaptic connection memory becomes.

• Cognitive development

There is a fear that technology is affecting how our brain works, or at least that it is "rewiring" it. This is totally true of course, as the brain's synapses are constantly changing.  I think that technology is just changing how we do things. I keep going back to one of the first articles that we read where it said that humans have been outsourcing memory storage for thousands of years. Ever since the invention of writing. I love that. We writ things down so we don't have to remember as Henry Jones said (The Last Crusade). Then came the printing press and now modern tech with word processors and clouds and drives. We don't have to rememBer details, just where to find them once we've written them down.

• Culture

As a social studies teacher, I really enjoy learning about new cultures. Culture doesn't just on a national or regional level. It is on an individual level. Talking about Norms and Mores from my own culture but also briefly about other cultures was really cool. I love how easy it is to use technology to access information about other cultures. Not only can we use tech to research cultures, but we can use it to create meaningful assessment to gauge student learning.

• Identity

Identity isn't static. We continue to struggle with our identities throughout life. It gets easier as we find people who we have similarities with and technology has made that more possible. Erikson and Erikson's work on developing identity was really interesting and, again, I find it fascinating that we are constantly going through his steps (trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, etc.) throughout our lives and with the people we meet.

• Teaching and learning

I think of how efficient teaching and learning can be with technology. Students can submit assignments electronically (something I have loved about this program) and as teachers we can give them feedback in a timely manner to help them in their learning. Students can collaborate with one another using Google Docs in real time. So Cool!

• Higher-order thinking

There is so much potential with higher order thinking using technology. I think of the coding assignment we did in class where we used scratch to code a mini presentation of a story from our culture. I had so much fun learning to code and retelling the story of the Candy Bomber in a new creative way. And yes, I had to really think about what I was doing and synthesize what I knew and reread some new things to simplify. That would be a really cool lesson to do with my students.

Impact on Identity

• How does identity develop over the lifespan?

Identity changes over a lifetime because circumstances, social circles, and interests change over the course of a life time. We may slowly drift away from .people who we once identified with. According to James Marcia we can be in several states of identity. Just because a person is in the state of identity achievement, that doesn't necessarily mean that that person cannot go back to the state of identity moratorium. They can explore aspects of their identity at any point in their lives.

• How do modern children and adolescents differ from their predecessors?

One way that modern children differ from their predecessors is because of technology. Throughout history, those who have gone before pass skills and knowledge on to those who come after. Who then use it and pass it on to their progeny. With technology, oftentimes children are learning how to use it before adults and so they are teaching their predecessors knowledge and skills.

 

• How does technology impact the development of identity?

There are myriad ways in which technology can impact a developing identity. An individual who feels lost and alone may use technology to find a community that is same and welcoming that includes people in a similar situation or crisis. Rather than suppress that aspect of their identity, it may flourish in their new online community. We can find music that we would not have found otherwise or

• How does social media, in particular, impact the development of identity?

See my above answer, only apply it specifically to social media.

• How can we use technology to help students explore and express their identities?

We can expose our students to as much as we can. Let them decide for themselves what they like, dislike, who they connect with. I suppose caution and digital citizenship should be used and taught, but In my own life I have found out a lot about myself through finding things online that I didn't know existed. It has helped me to grow and to find my current identity.

Impact on Culture

• What are the vital social conventions in American society and how did they become so essential?

One of the new conventions that has evolved based on technology is leaving someone on "read". It's considered very rude to read someone's message and then to not respond. My students often complain about leaving someone on "read" when I ask them to put phones away during class.

• How do we define our “modern society?”

Modern society is defined by technology. We don't consider bronze to be a technology. However, when it was first utilized, it was cutting edge. often literally. During the industrial revolution machines were starting to be used to build things. Lightbulbs were invented and electricity was harnessed. Again, at the time, it was miraculous. Today we take it or granted. When technology ceases to be seen as a novelty and more of a necessity, that's when I think we say it's not modern. So to define modern society I would say that a society must be on the cutting edge of technology to be considered modern. A society that is still using steam to power their locomotives isn't modern anymore.

• How does technology impact the development of societies and cultures and the ways in which children are socialized?

Technology is crucial to societies' development and culture. For example, in the 1930s, it was still very much part of the Polish culture and military to have a horse led cavalry. Germany on the other hand had embraced technology and developed a tank regiment. The German people were being told, and slowly beginning to rebelieve that they were superior to others. So When Germany invaded Poland, their technological and cultural developing of a modern war machine gave German's something to be proud of again. 

In our modern American society, getting a personal phone is just as much a rite of passage as turning 16 and getting a driver's license. These phones are the key to being in the know socially. Seeing the latest memes and videos on social media is every bit a part of a young person's school social experience as going to their first dance or just hanging out with friends in the halls. 

• How does technology impact how we respond to social issues?

Many people use technology to raise awareness of social issues. They post a message, repost a video, a meme, a friend's post on an issue they care about in hopes that people will be more informed and they can affect change. Police brutality is much more in the open because civilians are equipped with cameras and help keep them in check. Reading the news is now an active thing because we can contribute to the conversation. Every story has a comments section and people who couldn't have been heard in the past now have a voice and a global audience.

• How do modern children and adolescents differ from their predecessors?

The newest generation is raised with the newest technology. Because of this, there is s certain fluency when it comes to modern tech. They use it nearly everyday and are therefore practiced with it. Where predecessors teach life lessons and pass on conventional wisdom to the younger generation, the younger generation is training those who came before how to use modern, everyday technology.