Lecture to Focus on Technology’s Effects on Students’ Learning Experience, Mental Health
Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, will speak on “The Effects of Technology on Mental Health and Student Learning Experiences,” November 5, from 4-5:30 p.m., at Raritan Valley Community College. The program, which is free of charge and open to the public, will be held in the Event Center at the College’s Branchburg campus.
The interdisciplinary event is being co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship at RVCC; the Humanities, Social Sciences, Social Work and Education department; and the English Department.
With technology’s rapid advancements in the past 15 years, smartphones, tablets, and social media have become integral parts of everyday life, affecting how people communicate, seek information, formulate their values, and even think. Yet, these same years have seen decreases in academic performance, literacy, attention levels, and mental health.
Twenge’s lecture will focus on how Gen Z’s upbringing has been impacted by technology, what role it plays in students’ mental health and learning experience, and how technology should be approached in the classroom.
Twenge has published more than 190 articles in scientific journals. She is the author of iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy, and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood (2017); Generations: The Real Difference Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents — and What They Mean for America’s Future (2023); and 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World (2025). Her work explores generational differences and the negative impact of individual technology use on youth mental health.
A question-and-answer session will follow the program, which is being partially funded by a community grant from the RVCC Foundation. For additional information, contact Anthony Celi at anthony.celi@raritanval.edu. Anthony Celi is an Instructor of Philosophy at RVCC who serves as Pedagogy Fellow for the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship.
RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.
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OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2025
Media contact: Donna Stolzer, 908-526-1200, ext. 8383
PR #36
