tell stories face-to-face, those listening to
them use more eye contact and watch
the storyteller’s gestures. They are
guided by the inflection in the speaker’s
voice. Brain activity increases in the
prefrontal cortex, which is a crucial area
of the brain in terms of understanding
the intent of a speaker’s message (Wang,
Lee, Sigman, & Dapretto, 2007).
Making Space for
the Digital Brain
Students’ digitally conditioned brains
are 21st century brains, and teachers
must encourage these brains to operate
fully in our classrooms. We must recognize that relationships and focused
attention are key to learning in this
century. If we can help students balance
the gifts technology brings with these
human gifts, they will have everything
they need. EL
References
Lantieri, L. (2008). Building emotional intelligence. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.
Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules. Seattle, WA:
Pear Press.
Pink. D. (2005). A whole new mind. New
York: Riverhead Books.
Small, G., & Vorgan, G. (2008). iBrain. New
York: Collins Living.
Stone, L. (2007). Continuous partial attention. Available: www.lindastone.net.
Tapscott, D. (2009). Growing up digital. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
Wang, A. T., Lee, S. S., Sigman, M., &
Dapretto, M. (2007). Functional MRI
studies at UCLA. Archives of General
Psychiatry, 64, 698–708.
Copyright © 2009 Marilee Sprenger
Marilee Sprenger is a professional
development consultant and an adjunct
professor at Aurora University, Aurora,
Illinois; 309-692-5820; msprenge@aol
.com; brainlady@gmail.com. She is the
author of How to Teach So Students
Remember (ASCD, 2005). For a more in-depth discussion of the themes of this
article, see Sprenger’s forthcoming
ASCD book on the digital brain available
in February 2010.
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