Neuroscience of Device Zombies- Ted Talk

This TedX Talk by a New Zealand woman, Kathryn Berkett, is now nearly four years old but it is still relevant. Some of our students struggle to be separated from their devices and we see this in class. They resent any filtering systems that we use to keep them engaged in learning. They will bypass our systems using VPNs or they use their own (or your!) money to have data on their phones so that their social media is still readily available because we block it on our school network as we try to guide them toward focused teaching and learning and preparing them for jobs where they can't have their phones in their pocket.

The discussion in this video has a number of messages that help us understand our behaviours with our devices. When I say 'our', I also refer to us as adults. We are not always the best role models for healthy use of devices and no doubt, many of us could feel a little uncomfortable watching some parts of this talk. The research suggests that young people are susceptible to addiction due to their rapidly developing brains at this age. 

We certainly notice as educators that some students find it difficult to keep their phones out of sight in class and they struggle to concentrate for sustained periods of time in their class because a lot of what they watch and interact with in the digital space is very short in terms of time. Some struggle to interact positively with their peers because they are distracted from what is happening at the end of their arms or in their pockets. So, if you have a spare 15 minutes, it is an interesting watch.