What Does This Mean to Me?
K–12 Teachers
1 Implement brain breaks and brain boosts when transitioning between subjects or daily activities and routines.
2 Incorporate age-appropriate exercises or kinesthetic review games that energize the brain and body while improving the learning state.
Administration
1 Encourage teachers to utilize daily movement in all lessons and classroom environments.
2 Provide your faculty with professional development opportunities on kinesthetic teaching and learning.
Educational Leaders/Affiliates
1 Support and develop curriculums that include kinesthetic applications that meet academic standards.
2 Provide research and create policies backing the implementation of kinesthetic education in all learning environments.
Chapter Summary
We’ve gone from a society of movers to one that is obsessed with technology usage, social seclusion, poor nutritional selections, and inactivity.
Technology usage has replaced traditional socialization and family time as the new normal.
Utilizing active learning strategies can help to meet the following core human needs: certainty/comfort, uncertainty/variety, significance, love and connection, growth, and contribution.
Balancing movement and technology in the classroom is a teaching method that reinforces the brain–body connection and improves cognitive function and academic performance.
Current research shows that on average, students who maintain standard physical fitness levels tend to receive higher grade point averages and elevated scores on their standardized tests when compared to students who are not physically fit.
Using movement to balance the long stretches of sitting that technology can cause will support an optimal learning state for the brain.
Active learning, balanced with digital resources, is a fun combination that can be individualized to increase attendance and improve student motivation.
Limiting the length of time students need to hold their attention to traditional and technological tasks is an important consideration in all classrooms and school environments.
3 The Technology Machine
Technology Overload
Learner Benefits
Current Educational Trends and Learner Options
Future Expectations
Best Practice in Question
Technology Overload
You’ve probably witnessed the explosion of technology in your own life as well as in the lives of the adults and children around you. We live in a digital world. Technology drives our lives. It plays an important role in many aspects of communication, information access, business and finances, education, and medicine, to name a few. Innovative ideas have produced modern-day gadgets and gizmos that many people would say they can’t live without. There is no argument that fast-changing technology has made way for advancements in society that were once unimaginable but have now simplified a multitude of tasks in our daily lives.
Americans of all ages are using technology for an alarming number of hours per day. Cell phones, tablets, and portable gaming devices have enabled us to consume digital media on the go. A report by Common Sense Media (“Landmark Report,” 2015) indicates that teens are spending more than one third of their day using technology for entertainment such as music, social media, and gaming. When you add in the time students are using technology in school and for academic purposes, children and teens are experiencing a technology overload!
The Physical Breakdown
The reality of the digital age is that this abundance of technology is taking a toll on our physical health. Children and adults alike are prone to an alarming number of ailments that affect our everyday wellness and can leave us with chronic problems. The risks that occur with too much technology usage adversely affect the entire body, including our brain, sensory organs, spine, and overall health. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA) (2015), screen time can cause digital eye strain, which results in burning, itchy, tired eyes; headaches; fatigue; blurred vision; and double vision. We blink two thirds less than we normally do when we are using a screen, which dries out the eyes and can increase the need for artificial tears (Barker, 2018). In addition, digital screens can
give off high-energy, short-wavelength, blue and violet light, which may affect vision and even prematurely age the eyes. Early research shows that overexposure to blue light could contribute to eye strain and discomfort and may lead to serious conditions in later life such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which can cause blindness. (AOA, 2015)
This increased exposure to blue light is causing much alarm for the general eye health of our youth. And as students are increasingly using cell phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and laptops, this exposure is increasing dramatically both in and out of school.
With the introduction of streaming music sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora, as well as instant access to movies and TV through sites such as Netflix and Amazon, our love affair with earbuds and headphones has exploded. Consumers want to take their music and movies with them everywhere they go. We demand quality listening devices that provide concert- or theater-level sound that drowns out all background noise; however, any device that produces more than 85 decibels of sound can cause hearing loss. “According to research conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, earphones inserted into the ear produce sound levels that can exceed 120 dB, which is comparable to a plane leaving the runway” (Thompson, 2017). This is alarming for our youth, considering the amount of time students are using headphones both in and out of the classroom. From cell phones on the school bus to software programs in the computer lab, today’s student is exposed to a variety of immersive, loud noises that can cause hearing loss; 12.5% of kids between the ages of 6 and 19 have hearing loss as a result of listening to loud music, particularly through earbuds at unsafe volumes (Packer, 2015). Untreated hearing loss can negatively affect a student’s academic progress, ability to perform tasks, and entry into the workforce. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that children with hearing loss can have difficulty communicating and developing important language and social skills (2018).
Continuous usage of devices that require us to look down at 30- to 60-degree angles—such as cell phones, tablets, and laptops—causes neck strain. The weight of the human head tilted to those degrees places forty to sixty pounds of force on the neck and spine, resulting in headaches, pinched nerves, arthritis, bone spurs, muscular deformation, disc degeneration, and nerve complications (Jolly, 2018). Teens and preteens are spending an enormous amount of time with cell phones in hand. HealthCorps (2016) reports that the number of 16- to 18-year-olds reporting neck pain is increasing and that these teens have decreased flexibility, worse posture, and decreased neck muscle strength. Teens with neck pain are at an increased risk for developing chronic inflammation. This technology-driven neck pain has been given the nickname “tech neck” and has the potential for developing into ongoing