Adaptive Smart Technology Use: The Need for Meta-Self-Regulation

Today, smart technology in the form of tablets and smartphones is a cherished tool for most people. Instant online access that allows for extensive interacting on social media, texting, playing video games and music, checking for news and weather has turned smart technology into “an integral part of the lives of all ages worldwide” (Samaha and Hawi, 2016, p. 321). The multi-functional nature of smart technology makes it attractive as a tool for learning and education (Kucirkova, 2014; Schilhab, 2017a) leading, however, to noticeable changes in affordances and embodiment, and consequently learning (Mangen and Schilhab, 2012)1. For instance, reading scholars increasingly find that changing the physical reading platform (from a printed book to a digital screen) leads to marked alterations in comprehension of the text read. They point to factors related to the affordance of the reading device such as haptics e.g., perception through touch (Mangen and Kuiken, 2014) and lighting conditions (e.g., Benedetto et al., 2013) as aspects undergoing a significant change which result in a reduced learning outcome. This observation is corroborated by studies probing for accompanying metacognitive processing that show less accurate prediction of performance and more erratic study-time regulation when reading on screen versus on paper (Ackerman and Goldsmith, 2011). Such effects on literary reading are not agreed upon unanimously. Some researchers emphasize our “native biological plasticity” that among other things entails “bodily reconfiguration” Clark (2007 p. 263) and major “re-embodiment” (Ihde, 2010) when describing human cognition in relation to smart technology use. The argument asserts that the reduced comprehension when reading on screen is a novelty effect in the sense that subjects are proficient print-readers while still lacking in screen expertise (Hayler, 2015). Over time, people will adjust to the affordances of the new devices and the comprehension issues apparent today will evaporate as screen reading abilities are simultaneously refined and technology has co-evolved for this specific task. In so far as screen use is tool-use, the proposed plasticityand embodiment perspective prevalent in human-technology interaction studies seems pertinent. The question remains, however, if prolonged exposure and subsequent development of embodied skills is all it takes for humans to adapt to the affordances of smart technology. A relevant objection to the novelty claim could be that the comprehension issues associated with screen reading exemplifies a need to go beyond automatic embodiment processes and conceptualize the specifics of the mental processes that account for our adaptation to the environment. In the following article, I unfold why automatic skill learningmay not be an exhaustive answer to the affordances provided by smart technology. First, I discuss what characterizes smart technology