In Vikaros and Degand’s chapter on moral development, they argue that technology can facilitate the moral development that children also find in childhood through social narrative play. Through video games, people can learn how to critically think about their next move in response to previous experiences, allowing them some autonomy and a sense of self relative when compared to others. In Schaefer et. al’s article, researchers argue that self-tracking technologies are useful for changing behavior in regards to health education, but they’re only effective if they’re used in settings where youth are given the opportunity to be really active and when they have educators who are tech savvy and motivating. McGonigal’s TED talk argues that if you regularly practice an act of physical, mental, emotional, and social resilience every day, you can gain ten more years of life. These four types of resilience can be found in things you enjoy like playing video games, meeting new people, or looking at things you love.
Since I didn’t have experience with playing video games or using technology to track my health when I was younger, McGonigal’s TED talk was something that I could kind of relate to. Although I didn’t learn these types of resilience through playing games, I found them beneficial. I learned about these four types of resilience in my PSC 126 Health Psychology class and ever since I started practicing them, I have dealt with my stress in a better manner. I feel like this method to improve mental health and physical health should be taught to all students, starting in elementary school. These four types of resilience would promote pro-social connections between students and a more special connection with themselves. Aside from this increasing your life span, it increases the quality of your life at the moment and creates a more optimistic way of living, something that everyone needs.
Do you think that educators should use natural ways of improving their students health, or should they address health through technology? At what age do you think technology would be more effective for improving health?
Graciela Rivera 