Author: zkinvig

Using Video to Reflect on Social Media Habits

When searching for a video that is related to my team’s learning resource on Psychology of Social Media and Developing Healthier Digital Habits, I came across this: “5 Crazy Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain Right Now” by AsapSCIENCE. It stood out to me because it is short, visually engaging, and slightly unsettling in a useful way. It doesn’t just say social media is bad, but rather introduces ideas about attention, reward, multitasking, and habit formation in a way that could make learners pause and think about their own behaviour.

The video itself does not require much inherent interaction. A learner could technically press play, zone out, and move on. However, Bates (2022) explains that interaction can be reflective as well as observable, meaning that a video can still support learning if it is paired with a purposeful activity. In this case, I would not want learners to watch the video as a warning lecture. I would want them to use it as a mirror.

I’d suggest that students would compare the examples in the video to their own habits: checking notifications without thinking, opening an app when bored, or losing track of time while scrolling. To make that response more intentional, I would ask learners to complete a short Digital Habit Audit after watching. They would choose one social media habit, identify the trigger behind it, describe how it affects their mood or attention, and then choose one small change to try for a week.

This activity would help learners develop self-regulation and critical digital literacy. Instead of only learning about the psychology of social media, they would practise noticing how platform design connects to their own behaviour. This is important because problematic social media use has been linked with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among adolescents and young adults (Shannon et al., 2022).

Students could complete the audit in a blog post, Google Doc, or discussion forum. Feedback could come from peers through short comments focused on whether the habit change seems realistic and specific. As an instructor, I could respond to a few key patterns rather than marking every post in detail, which would make the activity manageable in a larger class.

To make the video more interactive, I would add pause points with questions such as “When do you usually reach for your phone without meaning to?” I would also include captions, a transcript, and an optional text-based alternative so learners are not excluded if video is difficult for them to access or process.

References

AsapSCIENCE. (2014, September 7). 5 crazy ways social media is changing your brain right now [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HffWFd_6bJ0

Bates, A. W. (Tony). (2022). Teaching in a digital age: Third edition. Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.pub/teachinginadigitalagev3m/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

Shannon, H., Bush, K., Villeneuve, P. J., Hellemans, K. G. C., & Guimond, S. (2022). Problematic social media use in adolescents and young adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. JMIR Mental Health, 9(4), e33450. https://doi.org/10.2196/33450

Reducing Barriers in a Digital Well-Being Learning Activity

For our group’s Learning Design Blueprint, one of the activities we have proposed is the “Notifications Challenge” in Subtopic 1: Platform Design and Persuasive Technology. In this activity, learners disable non-essential social media notifications for 24 hours, track how often they reach for their phone, and reflect on whether the habit is triggered internally or externally.

Chart of notification habit loop

I like this activity because it makes persuasive design visible in a personal and practical way. However, after thinking about barriers to student success, I realized that the original plan assumes all learners can comfortably disconnect from notifications for a full day. That is not true for everyone.

Potential barriers

Some students rely on social media notifications for legitimate reasons: work shifts, family communication, campus group chats, accessibility supports, or mental health check-ins. Others may experience anxiety when disconnecting from apps, especially if they are used to constant communication (Montag et al. 2019). Students with ADHD or executive functioning challenges may also find it difficult to remember to track their phone-checking behaviour consistently throughout the day.

Image of phone pickups and notifications summary on Apple devices

There is also a practical barrier: the activity depends on learners owning a smartphone with customizable notification settings and screen-time tracking tools. While many students do, not all devices or operating systems work the same way, which can create frustration before the learning even begins.

How I would adjust the activity

To reduce these barriers, I would redesign the activity around choice, flexibility, and scaffolding, which aligns with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles.

1. Offer multiple participation options. Instead of requiring a full 24-hour notification shutdown, learners could choose one of three options:
   • Disable notifications for 24 hours.Disable notifications for a 4-hour focused block.Silence only one high-use app (e.g., TikTok or Instagram) for a day.
   This maintains the learning goal—observing behavioural cues—while accommodating different responsibilities and comfort levels (CAST, 2018).
2. Provide a simple tracking template. Rather than expecting students to remember their behaviour, I would include a quick note-taking template or downloadable checklist. Learners could mark a tally each time they instinctively check their phone. This reduces cognitive load for students with ADHD or busy schedules.
3. Include an alternative reflection pathway. For students unable to change notification settings, I would allow them to complete a “digital observation” version of the activity. They could observe and document persuasive design features on their usual apps without altering their device settings.
4. Normalize different experiences. In the instructions, I would explicitly state that discomfort, anxiety, or increased awareness during the activity is normal and that the goal is observation, not “perfect” digital discipline. This helps reduce shame-based responses and supports a more reflective learning environment.

Why these changes matter

These adjustments keep the core learning outcome intact: helping learners recognize how platform design shapes behaviour and attention. At the same time, they make the activity more accessible and realistic for a diverse group of university students with different schedules, responsibilities, and neurodivergent needs.

As someone who is also a busy student balancing coursework and work, I know that “simple” assignments can become stressful when they assume everyone has the same time, technology, or capacity. Designing with flexibility from the start makes learning more equitable and effective (CAST, 2018).

References

Montag C, Lachmann B, Herrlich M, Zweig K. Addictive Features of Social Media/Messenger Platforms and Freemium Games against the Background of Psychological and Economic Theories. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jul 23;16(14):2612. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16142612. PMID: 31340426; PMCID: PMC6679162.

CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

Harris, T. (2017, April). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_how_a_handful_of_tech_companies_control_billions_of_minds_every_day

Taylor, J. (2022, August 30). What are pickups in Screen Time on iPhone? iMobie. https://www.imobie.com/support/what-are-pickups-in-screen-time.htm

Experiential Learning in the Psychology of Social Media

Experiential learning is an instructional approach based on the idea that people learn most effectively through direct experience, reflection, and application. Rather than simply receiving information from an instructor, learners actively engage with a task or situation and then analyse what they learned from that experience. According to Kolb’s experiential learning theory, learning occurs through a cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation.

For my group’s Learning Blueprint topic, the psychology of social media, experiential learning aligns particularly well because social media is already embedded in many learners’ daily lives. Instead of teaching concepts such as social comparison, attention economics, algorithmic influence, or online identity solely through readings and lectures, learners can investigate these phenomena through their own interactions with social media platforms. This allows abstract psychological concepts to become personally meaningful and observable.

In a technology-mediated learning environment, I would design activities that encourage learners to critically examine their own social media use. For example, learners could track their screen time, document emotional responses to different types of content, or analyze how recommendation algorithms shape what appears in their feeds. They could then reflect on their observations through discussion posts, journals, or collaborative activities. Beyond reflection, learners could actively experiment with healthier digital habits, such as disabling notifications, setting time limits, or intentionally following more positive and educational content. By observing the effects of these changes on their attention, mood, and online behaviour, learners would not only understand psychological concepts but also apply that knowledge to improve their own digital well-being.

One of the strengths of experiential learning for this topic is that it encourages self-awareness and critical thinking rather than memorisation. However, it also requires careful design. Learners may have very different experiences with social media, and some may be uncomfortable sharing personal information. To address this, activities should emphasise voluntary participation, privacy, and reflection rather than requiring disclosure of sensitive experiences.

Overall, experiential learning provides a meaningful way to connect psychological theory to everyday digital experiences, helping learners move beyond understanding social media concepts in theory to recognising how those concepts operate in their own lives.

Kolb, David. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience As The Source Of Learning And Development.

Quay, John. (2019). John Dewey’s conceptualisation of experience. 10.4324/9780429298806-7.

Toronto Metropolitan University. (n.d.). Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://www.torontomu.ca/experiential-learning/faculty-staff/kolbs-el-cycle/

My Best Learning Experience

A couple of years ago, I did a co-op at a software company. At the time, I was pretty new to my degree and still learning the ropes, so I felt a bit in over my head sometimes. I had an excellent supervisor, though, and he served as my mentor throughout the term. He started slow by giving me smaller self-directed tasks that I could work through alongside our company’s internal documentation, and as I became more confident, he gave me increasingly difficult tasks.

He was always available to help when I was stuck, but he made sure to let me try to figure things out on my own first since that is how I learn best. I find it valuable to learn through doing rather than just reading or listening. Eventually, I started getting more responsibilities and people relied on me for things to be done properly and on time. I found great satisfaction in my work, knowing that I was entrusted with things that were important, and it made me a lot more motivated to learn and get better at my job.

I was also given quite a lot of variety in the types of tasks I would be assigned, which helped broaden my range of understanding, along with keeping my work engaging and interesting. I felt like my mentor really cared about my learning and about helping me succeed. It was clear that he didn’t just want me to do well and help him do his job, but he actually wanted me to find a path that suited me best, even if that meant that I would one day end up working on a different team or even different company.

Looking back, I think this experience aligns strongly with constructivist learning theory because I learned primarily through hands-on experience and problem-solving rather than memorisation. My mentor also supported my learning in a cognitivist way by gradually increasing the complexity of tasks as my understanding grew. And the collaborative workplace reflects connectivist ideas since much of my learning came through interactions with others.

Overall, my experience at this co-op was very enjoyable, and it’s almost all thanks to my mentor who made the experience extremely rewarding, and I left that job feeling a lot more confident and competent with the subject matter and in my professional career. This was by far one of my best learning experiences I can remember.