Insights on Learning

• Parents create their children’s digital identities through "sharenting" on social media, leading to social or performative digital identities.
• Parents are often unaware of the long-term risks, such as identity theft and bullying.

Source:JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting

• Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people under 24 in the U.S.
• Social media contributes to the rise in mental health issues among young people, especially girls,
• Overprotective parenting in the physical world and underprotective parenting in the online world worsen the mental health crisis.

Source:Harvard Public Health

• Latest highly competitive schools to reverse test-optional policies.
• Harvard cited a study which found test scores were a better predictor of academic success than HS grades.
• Caltech said it was committed to using all relevant data in its decision-making process.

Source:The New York Times

• Incorporating games into the teaching of numbers-based subjects like economics and statistics significantly improves student achievement and satisfaction.
• Students who learned with games had better exam scores - 7% higher on average.
• The rate of failure was much lower for students using games, 7% vs. 20% in the traditional group.

Source:Phys.org Education

• Cognitive training and physical exercise are essential for growing cognitive reserve and preventing or delaying Alzheimer's disease.
• Brain-training programs can enhance neuroplasticity by creating new synapses, improving memory, attention, and executive functions, particularly in the prefrontal cortex.
• Brain training has faced criticism for unproven claims,.

Source:Medscape Medical News

• OpenAI founder says ethics matter, but need to be rethought.
• Ignoring the new tools isn't realistic.
• Calculators and search engines drew similar early concerns.

Source:The Harvard Gazette

• Reading fiction provides small but meaningful cognitive benefits, particularly enhancing verbal skills, empathy, and understanding others' perspectives.
• The strongest effects are on empathy and theory of mind.
• Another study found a relationship between lifelong fiction reading and cognitive skills like reasoning, abstract thinking, and problem-solving.

Source:PsyPost Cognitive Science

• The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety.
• Many studies show little to no correlation between social media use and well-being.
• Others maintain that social media influences mental health due to peer interactions and emotional contagion, and that girls are particularly vulnerable.

Source:Wired Magazine

• Chronic absenteeism ihas significantly increased post-pandemic, with 28% during the 2021–22 school year, nearly double the rate from 2018–19; Alaska has the highest rate at 49%.
• Family engagement has a substantial impact on reducing chronic absenteeism, with schools demonstrating strong family-school partnerships experiencing six percentage points less.
• "Nudge letters" that inform families about their child's school attendance resulted in a 10-15% reduction and are more effective than texts or emails.

Source:Harvard Graduate School of Education

• 2,574 unique video thumbnails were analyzed for attention-capture and problematic content features.
• Drama and intrigue were found in 91.5%, showcasing shocking or ambiguous imagery to entice clicks.
• Problematic content was identified with 44.6% of thumbnails containing creepy or bizarre features and 40.6% depicting violence or peril.

Source:JAMA Network - University of Michigan

• Its not just students - teachers are using it, too.
• There are now AI-driven tools to grade papers and provide feedback to students.
• Unclear whether these tools are improving or harming student performance.

Source:NPR All Things Considered

• Despite similar levels of math competence between girls and boys in secondary education, girls generally have lower confidence in their math skills, which influences their educational and occupational choices over time.
• Girls' math confidence aligns closely with their grades, while social relations have minimal impact on their self-evaluation.
• Boys often overestimate their math abilities and are influenced by peer comparison.

Source:European Societies

• Study with 127 subjects using digital devices.
• Those with a limit of 150 highlighted words scored 11% higher than those with unlimited highlights, and 19% higher than those with no highlights, equivalent to 1-2 letter grades.
• Participants stated that the cap prompted them to concentrate on the most important parts.

Source:ACM Digital Library

• COVID-19 lockdowns led to a significant reduction in children's book ownership, with a shift toward increased use of tablets for reading post-pandemic..
• Approximately one-third of parents reported that their children's screen use increased since the start of the lockdowns, with YouTube and gaming becoming the most popular online activities.
• 50% indicated that children now spend more time on screens than playing outside.

Source:Phys.org - University of Melbourne

• Business, Nursing, Psychology.

Source:StudentChoice

• A semester-long study with 50 students using CodeTutor, an LLM-powered assistant, found that students using the tool achieved significant improvements in final scores compared to those who did not.
• Greatest perceived value in help with syntax; limited effectiveness in developing critical thinking.
• Effectiveness correlated with the quality of user prompts, underscoring the need for incorporating AI literacy into curricula.

Source:ACM Digital Library

• Wordle and similar literacy games may engage specific cognitive skills like reading and spelling.
• Activates multiple areas in the left hemisphere of the brain associated with reading; these effects are similar to those produced by other letter-based activities and games (see SuperKids').
• Daily reading to children and introducing letter games are effective approaches for fostering literacy and brain development.

Source:Harvard Gazette

• Nearly 20% of parents of children aged 6-12 report their child has no friends or not enough friends.
• 71% of parents have taken steps to facilitate their child's friendships, including arranging playdates (41%) and enrolling them in activities (40%).
• Developing friendships is vital for children's social skills and self-esteem.

Source:Mott National Poll on Children's Health

• Meta-analysis of 27 experiments.
• Causes a negative medium-sized effect on learning memory..
• Harms females significantly more than males.

Source:Computers in Human Behavior

• ask = one class or every class?
• Vision, hearing, social or learning difficulty?
• Lack of relevance?

Source:The Conversation

• 2-5 years to 1 hour, 6-12 years to 2 hours, and 13-18 years to 3 hours per day.
• Health authorities stress the negative effects of excessive screen time, such as worsened sleep and depression, and recommend avoiding screens before bed or in bedrooms.

Source:The Guardian

• Interest is key to cognitive development.
• It promotes learning through raised awareness and exploration leading to discoveries and new knowledge.
• Interest development should be promoted in young children, a time when they show natural curiosity.

Source:Early Child Development and Care Journal

• Independent play develops problem-solving skills and resilience.
• Societal shifts and educational pressure have led to less independent play.
• Need to balance with adult supervision and structured routines.

Source:Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Increased screen time for toddlers correlates with reduced parent-child conversation.
• At age 3, each additional minute of screen time was associated with 6.6 fewer adult words, 4.9 fewer child vocalizations, and 1.1 fewer turns in conversation.
• Watching together might partially mitigate the negative impact.

Source:New York Times

• Unsafe listening practices are common.
• Sound levels exceeding 80 decibels (75 for children) pose risks, but regulations are lax; many people listen at 105 decibels, comparable to loud venues.
• Permanent hearing loss may not show up until years later.

Source:BMJ Global Health

• Beware the inspection paradox.
• Someone with many friends appears in more people's friends lists, making those people feel less popoular in comparison.
• You are more likely to have more popular friends, because they are more popular.

Source:Scientific American

• Compared to typing, handwriting activates broader brain connectivity, reinforcing memory and conceptual recognition.
• Engaging the motor system through handwriting boosts learning, especially in children, fostering better letter recognition and cognitive skills.

Source:Scientific American

• Generative AI, exemplified by IU's Syntea, enhances learning efficiency, with potential to save almost 10 months in a three-year bachelor's program.
• Research involving around 1,000 IU students indicates a 27% reduction in course completion time.

Source:International University of Applied Sciences - preprint

• The 2023 American Heart Association Scientific Statement outlines significant short-term and potential long-term heart and lung health risks.
• Animal models suggest increased risk of COPD and lung cancer.
• Overall, vaping is deemed harmful, with similar physiological effects to early cigarette smoking..

Source:Circulation

• A study tracking over 400,000 athletes found that they tend to secure higher-level jobs and better pay after graduation compared to non-athlete peers.
• Athletes earned approximately 3.4% more during their careers and are more likely to land in C-suite roles.
• The study suggests that intercollegiate varsity sports foster valuable soft skills like teamwork and leadership, contributing to the career success of athletes.

Source:Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

• Restrictive parental monitoring of adolescents' digital media use, including rules and limits on time or content, is associated with problematic internet use.
• In contrast, active monitoring, which involves promoting critical thinking by discussing central themes, and deference monitoring, where parents intentionally avoid restrictions to showcase trust, were not linked to problematic internet use.
• The findings highlight the effectiveness of varied monitoring strategies and emphasize the importance of promoting critical thinking in adolescents.

Source:Journal of Child and Family Studies

• Absenteeism is a problem affecting nearly 15 million students in the U.S. during the 2021-22 school year.
• School nurses play a vital role in identifying students at risk for chronic school absenteeism.
• Often the first to be aware of students' challenges, they can intervene and provide support before absenteeism becomes chronic.

Source:Journal of School Nursing

• Students from poorer households have fewer friends than students from higher income households.
• Even within low-income groups, parental income influences friendship patterns, possibly related to social status attributes like clothing and leisure activities.
• Schools should consider socioeconomic factors when planning activities to foster friendships and ensure equal opportunities for children from diverse backgrounds.

Source:Science Direct

• The pandemic exacerbated a surge in myopia among children, with increased screen time a leading suspect.
• Near work, such as reading, has long been linked to myopia.
• Simply spending time outdoors can prevent myopia from developing.

Source:Harvard Public Health

• Chatty parents, chatty kids.
• Global study found age, clinical factors, and the amount of speech children receive are primary predictors of language development
• Factors like gender, multilingualism, and socioeconomics showed no significant effects.

Source:Harvard Gazette

• Homework is essential for student development; interactive assignments foster creativity, discussions, and motivation.
• Lack of formal training on homework design leads many teachers to repeat patterns, leading to student burn-out.
• A no-homework practice for young students does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive play.

Source:Johns Hopkins

• Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter (X), and YouTube earned nearly $11 billion in ad revenue from U.S. users under 18 in 2022.
• YouTube had the most users (49.7 million), with ad revenue from those aged 12 and under at $959.1 million. Instagram led in revenue from users aged 13-17 ($4 billion).
• These platforms have a financial incentive to delay addressing concerns about the impact on children

Source:PLOS ONE

• A child-led play strategy to strengthen parent-child bonds, boost attention spans and improve social skills.
• The "PRIDE" acronym (Praise, Reflect, Imitate, Describe, Enthusiasm) guides parents during 5-minute sessions.
• Recommended for ages 2-7, each caregiver should integrate sessions into the daily routine.

Source:NPR

• A study tracking over 400,000 athletes found that they tend to secure higher-level jobs and better pay after graduation compared to an equivalent number of non-athlete peers.
• Athletes earned approximately 3.4% more during their careers and are more likely to land in C-suite roles.
• The study suggests that intercollegiate varsity sports foster valuable soft skills like teamwork and leadership, contributing to the career success of athletes.

Source:Harvard Business School Working Knowledge