The Impact of Digital Technologies on Human Well-being
| Title | The Impact of Digital Technologies on Human Well-being |
| Author(s) | Dr Paul Howard-Jones |
| Organisation | Nominet |
| Date | July 2011 |
| No. of pages | 98 |
| Key words | digitised technology; digitised learning; internet connectivity; well-being; sleep disruption; educational attainment; learner attainment; health; mental health |
| Description | This research explores the implications of using interactive technologies on the ways in which we behave, on our values and on our mental and physical health |
| Select quotations | “The most significant risks include: an increase in aggressive response from playing violent video games excessive use of computers/internet access/gaming that interferes with psychosocial wellbeing, attentional and vision problems evening use of technology that leads to disrupted sleep and related consequences.” “In order to allay fears and diminish distraction from the more significant risks, parents would also benefit from knowing where evidence does not exist to support concerns headlines in the popular press.” “Academic achievement and student wellbeing would also benefit from schools having access to a brief curriculum and teaching material aimed at delivering skills for the ‘hygienic’ use of internet and digital technology.” “More research is needed to further understand how the internet is currently used for informal and formal learning by all age groups, and how it might best be used in the future to develop and evaluate approaches to technology-related abuse whose focus extends beyond the technology itself to understand more about how using technology can influence sleep to determine the longer-term effects of excessive use of computers/internet access/gaming to further develop effective online therapeutic and health applications to determine the processes by which gaming influences cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in the brain, and how this knowledge can be applied for educational and health benefits. To continue to monitor and further evaluate the risks and opportunities for healthy development presented by new technologies and applications as they became available.” |
| Link | http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/SoAInternetandthebrain_0.pdf |
