Post on 23-Aug-2020
6/24/18
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The impact of technology on the wellbeing of
kids and teens humans (and what we can do about it)
Jocelyn BrewerPsychologist, Cyberpsychology researcher
TW: @jocelynbrewer and @diginutrition
What are the current digital challenges in your school?
How are you currently addressing the issues?
1.2.3.4.
• How would you LIKE TO be addressing these issues?• How do you EVALUATE the strategies you use?
How are you engaging students in these issues (and generally)? Considering the #stuvoice
What burning questions do you have?
Unpacking the impacts of tech on mental health:
the research, data and stats
6/24/18
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Information literacy: not just kids’ stuff Would you like moral panic with that?
Key concepts of good science: quick refresher
• Correlation ≠ causation: consider wider context and factors • The plural of anecdote ≠ data: beware of confirmation bias• No cherry-picking results: view the whole tree and orchard
Additional ways to spot good reporting
• The article refers to the original (peer-reviewed) journal article• The research is pre-registered (intro, hypotheses, methods are
published prior to data collection)• Conflicts of interest are declared• Commentary is by an actual subject matter expert • Sensational, emotional, provocative language is avoided• Wild extrapolation and speculation is avoided
Is the sky falling?
Notice how you make judgements
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Context & content are vital considerations Are we listening to young people?
But is technology ‘addictive’? Implications of ‘Gaming Disorder’ in ICD11
Healthy, safe and savvy: models for digital skills
What is Digital Citizenship?
• A digital citizen is a person with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital technologies to participate in society, communicate with others and create and consume digital content.• Three core principles that responsible digital citizens should
practice are• ENGAGE positively• KNOW your online world• CHOOSE consciously
source: www.esafety.gov.au
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#DigCit is wholistic Digital Intelligence = #DQ
Source: www.dqinstitute.org
Where does this fit in the Aust Curriculum?• The Personal and Social Capability• The ICT Capability
But is this just an issue for students?
What is Digital Nutrition?Digital Nutrition is….
• a positive framework for considering how to create a healthy and sustainable relationship to our digital devices and online world. • It explores & interprets research across:• Digital-social trends and cultures• Wellbeing and positive psychology• Neuro-science and human development• Parenting and communication
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Put most simply it’s about promoting healthy tech habits
And avoiding these kinds of stereotypes
Less simply, it’s about•Using the analogy with food to help steer us away from an obsession with screentime and counting digital calories.•Designing savvy digital habits that keep us at the controls of our tech use.•Understanding the mechanisms used by developers to keep us scrolling & swiping and what ethical tech design looks & feels like.
So, how do we do that?
•We educate parents (and kids) on the impacts (pos & neg) of technology.•We raise the conversation beyond moral panic, to
nuanced informed discussion.•We role model critical thought, appraisal, making
mistakes (!!) and questioning.•We teach emotional regulation and soft skill
(emotional intelligence) capabilities.
If we ‘are what we eat’ then
•How might we consider more effectively the cognitive, social, emotional impacts of technology?•How do we develop healthy technology habitsthat negate the need for digital detoxes?•How do we feed our mind the ‘best’ information and ideas?• Imagine if apps and games came with nutritional labels.
Thinking beyond ‘screen time’
Consider that some activities are superfoods, others are empty calories.
‘How much screentime?’ is the wrong question!
•Screentime alone is a very simplistic metric ààstop ‘digital calorie’ counting•Consider what constitutes a ‘healthy digital diet’?• the ‘what you eat’ or digitally consume • the relationship with the device/app/game/social media site.• The source or production of the device/activity (who made it and why?)
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Consider these instead
• Content à What is being consumed online (developmentally appropriate?)• Context à the situation the tech use is occurring in (bedroom,
classroom?)• Cognitionsà what thoughts, motivations, intentions accompany
the activities (adaptive, maladaptive?)• Connections à who you’re communicating with (safety,
known/strangers, age)• Function à the reason for the tech use (to avoid social interaction,
to study?)Sorting the digital candy
from the digital kale:
Virtual VitaminsConsider the need to evaluate the ingredients
of online activities to credential them better.
Two parts to technology use1. The actual Device(s) and tech skills 2. The social and emotional skills that go with
using the device responsibly and in a healthy manner.
We’re missing this bit!
Practical strategiesfor digital citizenship
and wellbeing
So what does all that mean in practice?
Remember the marshmallow test?
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Ditch the notion of ‘balance’!?
Looks pretty tricky and unsustainable
Embed #digcit in a meaningful way
Encourage deeper digital engagement
CONSUMPTION
CREATION
Champion social-emotional learning
Champion social-emotional learning #SEL
• Embedded in the curriculum as the social-personal capability (aka Emotional Intelligence – EQ), increasingly recognised as important in parenting.• Emotion coaching helps regulate feelings and responses, improves
ability to cope using adaptive strategies.• The goal is not ‘happiness’ but being skillful in managing the proverbial
bumps in the road (building resilience, distress tolerance and problem solving).• Understanding the nature of adolescence, identity formation and need to
learn through experiences (not theory). • Willingness to ‘be there’ and hold the space as they learn (and sometimes
fail)
Demand more from developers & big tech
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Check your own digital habits
Think beyond ‘screentime’
Get creative with technology limits
You don’t need to ‘ban’ anything! There are lots of solutions…
Changing behaviour with ‘nudges’
Use trusted resources• Office of the e-safety commissioner• Common Sense Media• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) – Digital
Citizenship PLN (professional learning network)• LSE’s Media Policy Project Blog – Prof Sonia Livingstone
Apply the 3M’s Digital Nutrition
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What are your take-away messages? How might you now use tech differently?
TMI? Press escape, relax and unplug! Find out more, keep learning: • Subscribe to the monthly newsletter• Book a seminar for parents• Engage your students in a ‘playshop’• Provide staff professional development• Watch my TEDx talk• Follow me on social media (esp twitter!)• Read articles and blogs• get tech/life balance hacks• read new research in simple language