Digital identities, physical spaces

Digital identites in physical spaces is a topic that explores the legitimacy of digital projections and perceptions as they pertain to the physical world, especially in education. Researchers of the creation of digital identity find that the social aspect of digital users, interaction on the myriad social sites that include everything from gaming to dating sites, creates perspectives that exist both in physical permutations of self-image as well as digital creation and re-creation of self-image. The overlap between the two realms of identity creation results in meta-interaction that constantly shapes an individuals' perceptions of themselves and of how those individuals perceive external observation, prioritizing in the digital user's mind the need for constant feedback and response to it that preoccupies the user even in the physical world. The perception itself is not the focal point when discussing digital identities, and the importance of determiners (LGBTQ, gamer, athlete, single) is diminished in favor of the mental conditioning that modifies the behavior of digital users (namely, the perceived ability, and even need, to multi-task commonly identified as digital distraction). However, though the results of digital and traditional distraction may not vary, the definitions of each conflict with one another. This conflict exists because the digital user's conditioning is not one of escape into distraction, but one of a needed response to stimulation, which for digital users satisfies the conditioning for the neurological process responsible for dopamine production in the brain.

The impact on educators is of particular concern because of the constant struggle for the digital user's attention when giving instruction that is not socially based, i.e. independent work or lecture which preclude any response to social interaction. The lack of user interaction with another subject or object forces distraction, not in the traditional sense, but in the digital one. And, students who to an outside observer are simply off-task, are in fact seeking to further the creation of their socially-based identity. As educators have felt the effects of this preoccupation on a national scale, the response has been a recent shift in methodologies of instruction towards ways to acknowledge the digital user's need to receive feedback by planning short bursts of information with multiple modes of assessment within every instructional period, thus satisfying the digital user's conditioning for reward via new interaction and curtailing the susceptibility of digital identity as distraction.

Physiology of digital distraction

While some perceptions set distraction opposed to focus, a distracted mind can be a critical component to increased mental stamina over time. However, the preceding statement holds true in event of traditional distraction only. Research suggests that down time is critical to learning and absorption of key concepts and higher order thinking such as analysis and creation. Breaks from prolonged periods of focus allow the mind a chance to relax and process the way circuit training increases cardiovascular health. It is important to note, however, the common view that digital media is not distraction because engagement with a digital device is not down-time. Instead, digital media signals the digital user's mind to prepare for engagement, and educators have begun to use digital media (youtube, quizlet, google sharing) as a stimulus.

However, while the potential for digital usage in the classroom exists, overuse (even within the classroom) can lead to negative results. This is because what occurs when digital media is introduced as a stimulus to an already active mind is an information overload that pushes the mind past its point of conditioning for focus. In fact, most digital users have experienced some extent of behavior modification evinced in the emergence of habitual task-switching, moving from stimulus to stimulus under the impression that the mind is resting when in fact it is being pushed towards exhaustion. The task-switching provides brief reliefs as a given mental focus is interrupted for moment and new stimulus is introduced. The mind like the body, however, experiences a break down. Yet, as an alternative to exhaustion, the mind experiences a decrease in cognitive abilities as the digital user moves on to each successive task. The result is a manifestation of mental degradation in the form of the inability to process new information, processes, or skills.

Distraction history

The ubiquity of digital media in the Learning Age has caused the emergence of what Frank Freudi calls the Digital Distraction myth. Freudi believes the innate human reaction to new technology, which for Freudi is defined as any advancement to any society, is defamation of that technology for its potential to undo the current social order. Freudi cites Socrates's reaction to writing as taking 'one's time away from thinking important thoughts" , then explores Seneca's sentiments on reading as 'mak[ing] one 'discursive and unsteady'" . These initial technologies of ancient time, however, were espoused as tenets of modern academia, and public sentiment now overtly favors them over the current influx of digital media.

In sync with society's shift towards modernity, writing gave way to the invention of the printing press which first introduced the concept of mass-education and communication. From that point forward, information outlets have grown exponentially. As radio and television emerged, reactions to their potential for mass communication were originally lauded, but perceptions quickly changed as censorship issues arose and cultural progeny shifted its course of existence because of new influence. In the digital age, similar concerns over growth in informational avenues abound for several aspects of society and culture. Parents and educators are grappling with technology's multi-faceted applicability to child-rearing and pedagogy. Though this article does not discuss the potential and pitfalls of technology as a parenting aid, the subject area is indeed rich with arguments for and against.

Educational implications

As the reliance on digital media has grown, and immersion into the media has become more commonplace, the tendency for users to experience modified behavior has increased. The behavior of digital media users is modified because of the constant availability of new information. In sociological terms, the basic human needs to seek food and shelter have been supplanted by the conditioned need to be social and in tune with changing thoughts and occurrences. Digital users condition themselves into habitual task-switchers because as they engage with digital media, they begin to associate the physiological response of new information with pleasure, quite correctly given neuroscience tells us the brain releases dopamine every time humans learn something new. However, the release of natural dopamine in essence addicts the user, not to the device, but to the sensation of moving on to the next piece of information. What this translates into is a digital identity superseding physical conditions, and the effects are manifold for educators and educational settings.

When digital identities engage with educational settings, the tendency of users who have grown accustom to habitual task-switching as a form of stimulation is to become frustrated with academic exercises and focuses that require extended mental exertion on one specific topic, either in working towards mastery or initial comprehension. While the paradigm of education rests on this aspect of classroom instruction as a tenet of academia, the current shift in collective behavior may preclude the continuing of such a paradigm without alienating a growing number of students who have become accustomed to viewing a given topic for a only a short period of time before the need for new stimulus triggers the choice to change their focus.

The presence of habitual task-switchers in an educational settings changes the role of teachers and facilitators charged with the growth of students regardless of whether all students have developed the same tendency to task-switch because teachers who ignore the need for varying stimulation impede task-switching students' progress more than facilitating other students' growth. The need to incorporate short bursts of information, however, poses specific challenges to delivery and facilitation of more complex subject matter as well as critical functions of the mind such as analysis and creation.

Teachers successful at grappling with digital identities in educational spaces have commented that careful planning that incorporates short bursts of information followed by conceptual application works best when supporting that methodology with opportunities for students to have their social-emotional needs met either in off-topic conversation or interaction. The use of this structure emulates the feedback loop employed by social media, digital entertainment such as video games, and digital identity creation sites.

Digital episteme as pedagogy

Given the abundance of digital connection pervading the everyday, strides have been taken to emulate the epistemic structure of digital spaces that has experienced the most amount of growth (social structure and interaction) by educators within the classroom. One such digital episteme, Dr. Spencer Kagan's utilization of cooperative learning, creates a digital-type environment within a classroom by incorporating the concept of task-switching as a kinesthetic foundation for student engagement . In the same way digital users condition themselves to switch tasks frequently (some studies showing average digital media users are unable to focus on a specific topic more than 6 minutes), Kagan cooperative learning students become accustomed to interaction with their fellow-students through different modes of academic identity formation. These interactions range from writing and discussion to uninterrupted persuasion and movement. The result is a student environment driven by interaction that feels familiar to the digital user because no one activity within cooperative learning requires an extended amount of focus.

Pitfalls of digital pedagogy

The natural tendency of educators using digital identity in physical spaces may be to remain as true as possible to actual digital interaction and task-switching. Though understandable, immediate replication of that interaction structure may inhibit a student's ability to grasp any concepts or acquire any skills that require higher order thinking processes of Bloom's taxonomy. This is because true digital engagement is usually not cohesive in terms of having logical connections that amount in a creation of a larger understanding.

Educators who overlook this aspect may attempt to create several small instructional efforts intended to give students exposure to a wide scope of content, topics, or skills. However, this level of fidelity when trying to mimic digital interaction can lead to a disoriented student because while the non-linear progressions of digital media are expectation in the digital space, their presence in physical spaces is anomalous and generally signal the expectation for entropy, whether for the environment or the dynamic. The effect on students attempting to follow this type of disconnected instruction is a degradation of understanding for each successive task given or placed before them.

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