Ed Tech Notes

EtherPad: Realtime Collaborative Text Editing

File under: worth checking out.

IPod Speakers Made From Paper Cups and Sticks

Consider the above in times of budget cuts and trims . . . . .

Are Our Brains Becoming “Googlized?”

So, if the brain has this ability to remap new functions into low traffic areas of our cortex, are we in fact remapping our brains to be more adept in navigating online spaces? Carr contends that our attention spans are getting shorter and he worries that soon we’ll be unable to make our way through a book or even a moderately long magazine article. Or, if we take the alternate point of view that seems to emerge in the UCLA study, is regular use of Google keeping our mind more limber, regularly exercising the synaptic connections between cortical areas? The fact is, the flexibility of our cortex evolved to enable humans to better adapt to dynamic environments. As our world got more complex, we needed to move beyond the programmed responses of the limbic system to something that gave us a little more latitude to respond appropriately to situations. Yes, if we use the Internet frequently, our minds will accommodate by building skills in this area. But this doesn’t imply that we’re getting the virtual version of a frontal lobotomy or, conversely, supercharging our intellect. It just means that we’re using our inherent hardware for new purposes so that we can better keep up with our world. It’s the same flexibility we all come born with, and it’s what makes humans rather remarkable.

I read this article today and it got me to thinking about my own use of the Internets and Google and my ability to focus, read, reflect and basically think. I can’t say that I disagree with this completely, but what I have found in the course of my life over the past 15 years or so is that I tend to sit and focus on a task like reading far less than what I used to do. The only time that this really isn’t the case is when I have to read something for a class. So, that being said, what I’ve been considering is why this is and how (or even if) I want to spend more time off-line and back in the “acoustic” world of magazine articles and books. It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately. There are several books that I want to read and I find that when I read books I experience a level of relaxation that I haven’t felt while reading online. It’s only my experience here, but for me, there is something to this. So, now I think I’ll go grab that book . . . .cheers!