Last Friday the 25th of April I had the opportunity to attend the Academic and Research Libraries Division Day and hear Erin Walsh speak to brain development in the under 25 age group. Ms. Walsh was an extremely engaging speaker and offered some valuable advice in regards to "teaching" and reaching the students with whom we have the privilege of coming into contact.

For the sake of brevity I will summarize her speech: students under the age of 25 have still not reached a stage of full brain development, which means not only is there a huge window of opportunity BUT there are also a wide range of challenges facing educators. See Inside the teenage brain: Adolescent Brains are a work in progress or Why do they act that way?: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen for a more developed discussion.
Effectively reaching these students means tailoring our teaching to their needs. Some of the most easily incorporated teaching habits include:
*providing clear and consistent expectations
*avoiding broad generalizations (avoid saying something like "you will never find what you need searching "Google". You've just lost them because no they are thinking of all the times they have found exactly what they need doing just that!)
*model positive behaviors towards searching and retrieving information
*be graceful, let's be honest, Facebook is just more interesting them Academic Search Premier!
Grant it most of these should be common sense tools for everyday social and professional interaction, but it is always good for me to remember that these behaviors and my conscious choices do make a difference. It is my goal to all that I can to help the students with whom I have the opportunity to work better navigate today's exploding information landscape.

All that said, I ran across an interesting article this week that speaks to the same brain development vein with less than encouraging predications. In Is technology ruining children? we read Susan Greenfield's warning to the generations. In essence, the excess amount of time and energy spent in the virtual, two-dimensional realm of cyberspace children are loosing (read not developing within their brains) the ability to imagine and act out of an understanding. Author John Cromwell advises "all involved in parenting and education should pay heed." What I am supposed to do I am not quite sure yet. But it is definitely a train of thought that deserves exploration...