Broadband Generation spend ‘working week’ online
Wednesday 31st March 2010, marked the 10th anniversary of Broadband being launched in the UK by Virgin Media. To celebrate, social psychologist Professor Geoffrey Beattie and Virgin Media provide an original review on the impact of Broadband on the psychological and educational development on the first true ‘Broadband Generation’.
Emergence of Digital Natives
As Professor Geoffrey Beattie explains, children who have only grown up in the digital era are ‘digital natives’, effectively immersed in this technology since they were born. Conversely, ‘digital immigrants’ are adults who have adapted to the digital age, having to come to terms, often frustratingly, with continual technological change.
The research shows that kids are not just using the Internet to chat and take part in online gaming; the Internet is how our children are learning and evolving their understanding independently.
Professor Beattie’s highlights that the increase in Internet usage has impacted positively on encouraging learning for ‘digital natives’ and ‘exploratory, playful and curiosity-driven behaviours’ online. Tests have shown that this method of learning encourages self motivation also known as ‘intrinsic motivation.’ Almost all of the children who took part in the research use the Internet, primarily, for homework (95%) and secondarily for research (80%) demonstrating a natural propensity to learn.
‘Digital Native’ IQ increasing
Professor Beattie suggests the advances in technology and the demands of such technology could account for the rise in intelligence as a result of the ‘greater complexity of more recent environments providing greater cognitive stimulation e.g. television, media and computer games.
Professor Beattie comments, ‘The ‘digital natives’ can be on the phone to one friend, instant messaging another and doing their homework online all the while listening to their MP3 player. Whilst their parents may look on this multi-tasking as strange and ineffective, the cognitive skills required to process information in this way are impressive.’
The Virgin Media study shows that ‘digital natives’ are independent learners, with 40% of children attempting an entirely new online task alone rather than requesting any help. Most revealed that they would ask an older brother or sister to assist them but when asked to complete the task they would do so effortlessly – ‘digital natives have developed an ‘unconscious knowledge’ base.
He adds, ‘In the very roots of human communication the brain evolved to decode the first fragments of human speech within the context of visuals. Broadband, delivering text and image effortlessly and simultaneously, has given the brain what it essentially craves and follows the way the brain fundamentally developed.’
Need for speed
The study found that 62% of kids will leave a task at hand if the Internet is persistently slow. They will simply just give up and not complete their work, which could have a direct impact on their academic achievement.
Almost half (49%) of the children surveyed spend up to five hours or more online per day, a key finding here is that more than a third (35%) of children would expect a web page to load in 5 seconds or less, showing that the expectation of speed and accessibility have risen hugely. This implies that limited web patience impacts on collecting information and using sites.
Geoff Beattie also comments: "The more we understand about this generation, the better informed we will be to support the evolution of learning and in turn take responsibility for the future generation. The Internet and Broadband has changed the way that we work and the way that we think. There is no going back... Their brains have adapted to cope with the instant accessing of information in a myriad of forms, and their brains have adapted to cope with all the multi-tasking that goes along with its use.’
“Virgin Media recognise the need for speed of connectivity for all our customers and we are proud not only to have provided the UK’s first and now fastest broadband but also to know that our fibre optic cable is best suited to empower the next generation.” commented Jon James, Executive Director of Broadband at Virgin Media.