With the dawn of the 21st century it seems that digital technology is destined to rule over all, and new digital technology has already found its way into so many aspects of day to day life that it is even starting to have an effect on the cognitive development of younger generations. Although this is not as surprising as it first seems, when the brain carries out certain activities it fires neurons, depending on what that activity is. The more often that particular task is carried out the more often the neurons are fired and the stronger those neural pathways become. So when you consider the extent to which children are exposed to digital technology it makes sense that they will have developed stronger neural pathways required for using it.
It seems that the concept of digital technology corrupting our youth and reducing their intelligence is something of an urban myth or even scare tactic. Yes, it may be true that fewer children are reading books but this is not to say that they are not learning, because of how their brain has developed they are more responsive to visual cues, so obviously they will prefer alternative sources of information over books. As time goes on it seems that we are seeing more people becoming susceptible to visual and tactile learning techniques.
Digital technology is also finding its way into the classroom. Because children are already predisposed to this type of technology it often serves as a very effective learning tool. Although, it can be quite easy to become blinded by too much technology. While the active and interactive learning techniques that it caters for are no doubt effective and will be a part of future classrooms to come, there is still something to be said for traditional teaching techniques too, and it is usually a combination of both that will provide the best results.
For example, literacy and numeracy are still essential parts of the education curriculum, however with the aid of digital technology these skills can be developed further through the use of realistic problem solving tasks and interactive games. By incorporating these types of follow up task the students become fully engaged and therefore develop a deeper understanding of the subject based on logic and reasoning rather than recall. New classroom technology can also be useful for helping children to develop confidence in subject areas that they are less comfortable, by complimenting traditional teaching techniques with new technology children are more likely to try new strategies.
