Technology and Social Learning

The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on national health issues, conducted a study in 2010 regarding the amount of time teens spend with entertainment media. In 2010, the average kid spent about 7.5 hours a day online. In 2020, the number of hours increased to 12 hours a day. I find that number staggering, as both an educator and a parent. I often find myself asking, How have we gotten to this place? I understand that entertainment media like Youtube, Instagram, and video games are designed to be addicting. But I wonder if there are other causes. Fortunately, during one of the sessions at the Learning and the Brain conference, I got an answer, one that I'd like to share.

As we all know, the brain is a pattern seeker. The brain looks for patterns because it craves familiarity and synchrony. This need for synchrony results in social learning, or conforming to the rules of a group. I never realized the extent to which social confirmation is hardwired in our brains until the presenter showed this video: Conformity Waiting Room. For the duration of the video, my reaction vacillated between laughing and thinking Wow!  I can’t think of a better explanation for teens' overuse of media. As the young girl said in the video, “Everyone is doing it so I thought I should too.”


This phenomenon applies to adults as well. The current research suggests that technology is a distraction even for those who are not using technology. In other words, if someone near you is using their phone, you will become distracted and then because of social conformity, you will start using your phone. I watched this play out with adults during one of the sessions. Take a look at the pictures and captions below.


#1- This is a picture of a group of women seated next to me. Notice that the woman in the gray sweater is Christmas shopping, but the women next to her are attending to the lecture. 


 

 

#2- This is the next picture. The Christmas shopper left her seat, so I could see that the women who were at one point attending were now doing this:


#3- The last picture demonstrates perfectly the distractibility of technology. 



I stopped taking pictures at this point because it was creepy. However, if I had taken a fourth picture, you would see the woman who is distracted take out her iPhone. So in a matter of a few minutes, one person’s use of technology took the entire table off task, demonstrating beautifully the brain’s innate need to conform. I didn’t take these pictures or share them with you to humiliate these women. I simply wanted you to see that all of us, not just teens, succumb to the draw of technology for reasons that are, in some ways, beyond our control.


So what does this mean for educating teens? These are adults who chose to attend this conference. For some of them, attending this conference is very expensive. Most importantly, they see a purpose in and a use for the information presented in the sessions, and yet, they are off task because of technology.  The presenter of this session would advocate for a phone free classroom. I don’t necessarily disagree. However, I believe that it would be a disservice to kids if we did not teach them about the addictive features of media and the brain’s need to conform. Otherwise, how can they make an informed decision about their use of technology both in the classroom and at home? I am a big believer in Maya Angelou’s famous quote: “When you know better you do better.” It’s time to share what we know to help students make better choices. 

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