Brain games

From Scientific American

"If you’ve spent more than about 5 minutes surfing the web, listening to the radio, or watching TV in the past few years, you will know that cognitive training—better known as "brain training"—is one of the hottest new trends in self improvement. Lumosity, which offers web-based tasks designed to improve cognitive abilities such as memory and attention, boasts 50 million subscribers and advertises on National Public Radio. Cogmed claims to be "a computer-based solution for attention problems caused by poor working memory," and BrainHQ will help you "make the most of your unique brain." The promise of all of these products, implied or explicit, is that brain training can make you smarter—and make your life better."

"Yet, according to a statement released by the Stanford University Center on Longevity and the Berlin Max Planck Institute for Human Development, there is no solid scientific evidence to back up this promise. Signed by 70 of the world’s leading cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists, the statement minces no words:"

"The strong consensus of this group is that the scientific literature does not support claims that the use of software-based "brain games" alters neural functioning in ways that improve general cognitive performance in everyday life, or prevent cognitive slowing and brain disease."

"The bottom line is that there is no solid evidence that commercial brain games improve general cognitive abilities. But isn’t it better to go on brain training with the hope, if not the expectation, that scientists will someday discover that it has far-reaching benefits? The answer is no. Scientists have already identified activities that improve cognitive functioning, and time spent on brain training is time that you could spend on these other things. One is physical exercise. In a long series of studies, University of Illinois psychologist Arthur Kramer has convincingly demonstrated that aerobic exercise improves cognitive functioning. The other activity is simply learning new things. Fluid intelligence is hard to change, but "crystallized" intelligence—a person’s knowledge and skills—is not. Learn how to play the piano or cook a new dish, and you have increased your crystallized intelligence. "

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-training-doesn-t-make-you-smarter/

I am quite sceptical about the claims being made for digital learning and the article, which criticises the idea that digital games can improve cognitive function, is quite suggestive.

Of course, children need to learn digital skills, coding, and so on - but the Scottish Government is looking for more than that.

A well-defined strategy will help to make sure that digital technology is embedded in learning and teaching across the curriculum.

That is the problem: digital technology is to be embedded across the curriculum -  and despite what they say about problem solving and collaborative learning and all the rest of it, there is no evidence that doing this will improve learning in general. On the contrary, it could mean time wasted and the loss of traditional skills.

There is a public consultation about the Scottish Government`s digital strategy which closes 17 December 2015.

 https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/learning-directorate/digital-learning