Norman Doidge and the Neuroplastic Brain
Whether one considers Henry Jenkins, Sugata Mitra or John Seely Brown, there is this pervasive idea that how we learn and learning itself actually changes the brain. It seems logical then that when the method of instruction shifts significantly, as it does when technology is involved, learning and the students themselves are fundamentally changed. In his book The Brain that Changes Itself, Doidge references Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb who suggested that neurons that fire together, wire together. Doidge, who argues in favor of brain neuroplasticity, holds that whatever we do and how we do it, impacts our brain. For example, Doidge suggests that science can now demonstrate that learning physically increases the number of connections between neurons.
Marc Prensky, when labeling today's students as digital natives, argues that they are not the same student that our education student was designed to teach. Don Tapscott calls these students “screenagers”—the first generation that has grown up with a
computer mouse and the assumption that images on a screen are to be interacted
with. Doidge extends the argument by relying on neuroplasticity, suggesting that
the
brains of today’s children are changing physically and chemically. They are
actually neurologically wired differently
than we are.
If this is all true, the summary claim then, is that the kids of the digital generation have developed “hyperlinked minds.” Their brains process information in a parallel or simultaneous manner.
If this is all true, the summary claim then, is that the kids of the digital generation have developed “hyperlinked minds.” Their brains process information in a parallel or simultaneous manner.