DUMBED DOWN: THE TROUBLING SCIENCE OF HOW TECHNOLOGY IS REWIRING KIDS' BRAINS

By: Laura Manfredi, Traydese Roth, and Racheal Lopez

“All of the things that technology was supposed to make us better at – communicating, understanding, doing many things at once – we’re doing worse.”

Barbara Arrowsmith Young Arrowsmith School treats learning

disabilities Young: Struggled with dyslexia

Psychology graduate Her theory:

“A person can transform weak areas of the brain through repetitive and targeted cognitive exercises”

Continued… Schools are in US and Canada In 2003, TCDSB comprehension rates of learning

increased 1½ to 3 times Young people have a type of ADD Their problems:

ThinkingProblem SolvingTask CompletionGetting Distracted EasilyTrouble with Non-verbal Thinking

Face ExpressionsBody Language

Facts

We are Digital Natives On average:

Approx.: 8½ hrs a day absorb digital and video sensory

By 20:Approx.: 20 000 hrs. on the web

10 000 hrs. playing video games

Dr. Gary Small

Dr. Gary Small: renowned neuroscientist Beleive the human brain has been

affected quickly and dramatically Performed Experiment:

A “savvy” and “naïve” computer user5 hours each on GoogleSavvy remained the same in the brainNaïve rewired their brain

Our society is turning off their frontal lobes. Better known as “video game brain.”

We are developing a generation with underdeveloped frontal lobes.

Digital natives are miles ahead of where we used to be, but are not using this to their advantage.

We spend so much time online, that we have fewer face to face interactions. Consequences?

We have more information on hands then ever and yet we know less.

Stress, No Time It’s not what you learn, it’s what you know. We depend on machines and technology, which

leads humans to do less thinking, losing our mental sources.

We use less and less of our brain, it’s all a cut and paste learning process. We become intellectually lazy

We no longer have time to reflect, contemplate or make decisions.

Our brain eventually can’t take this “strain” and eventually shuts down, we get “brain fog”, which leads to depression.