The Digital Divide--The Brain, The Senses--Section 1

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants-Marc Prensky

Quotes: "Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed for."

"today's students think and process information fundamentally differently"

"Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age) are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language."

"They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). The function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. The prefer games to serious work."

Do They Really Think Differently? - Marc Prensky

Quotes: " The brain constantly reorganizes itself all our child and adult lives, a phenomenon technically known as neuroplasticity"


"the brain maintains its plasticity for life" 


"The environment and culture in which people are raised affects and even determines many of their thought processes."


"...Digital Natives crave interactivity--an immediate response to their each and every action."


"challenges and opportunities in teaching Digital Natives is to figure out and invent ways to include reflection and critical thinking in the learning. (rather than instructor lead de-briefing)"

The Internet-Steven Johnson

Quotes: "The rise of the internet has challenged our minds in three fundamental and related ways: by virtue of being participatory, by forcing users to learn new interfaces, and by creating new channels for social interaction."

"the difference between television and the web as the difference between lean-back and sit-forward media"


"The next generation is carrying that logic to a new extreme" the screen is not just something you manipulate, but something you project your identity onto, a place to work through the story of your life as it unfolds."

Learning to Think in a Digital World- Maryanne Wolf

Quotes: "At the core of Socrates' arguments lay his concerns for the young. He believed that the seeming permanence of the printed word would delude them into thinking they had accessed the heart of knowledge, rather than simply decoded it."

"that which is the end of their [the author's] wisdom is but the beginning of ours. The act of going beyond the text to think new thoughts is a developmental, learn able approach toward knowledge."

Learning Theory, Video Games, and Popular Culture- James Gee

Quotes: "Writing, digital computers, and networks each allow us to externalize some functions of the mind."

"humans think and understand best when they can imagine (simulate) an experience in such a way that the simulation prepares them for actions they need and want to tak in order to accomplish their goals (Clark 1997; Barsalu, 1999b: Glenburg and Robertson, 1999). "

Usability of  Websites for Teenagers- Jakob Nielsen

Quotes:"factors that make websites easy or websites easy or difficult for teens to use were the same in both countries, as were the design characteristics that appealed to teens."

"Teens poor performance is caused by three factors: insufficient reading skills, less sophisticated research strategies, and a dramatically lower patience level."

"[teens] pay more attention to a website's visual appearance that adult users do...rated the highest for subjective satisfaction were sites with a relatively modest, clean design."

User Skills Improving, But Only Slightly- Jakob Nielsen

Quotes: "People are very bad at coping with information architectures that deviate from their view of the problem space. They also fail to readjust their content interpretation to compensate for changing contexts."

"Still, today's users rarely change their search strategy when the initial query fails."

 "When it comes to search, users face three problems: inability to re-target queries to a different search strategy, inability to understand the search results and properly evaluate each destination site's likely usefulness, and inability to sort through the SERP's polluted mass of poor results.."
  

Is Google Making Us Stupid? -Nicholas Carr

Quotes: "It is clear thgat users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of "reading" are emerging as users "power browse" horizontally through titles, contents pages,and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense."

"...reading plays an important part in shaping the neural circuits inside our brains."

 Your Brain Is Evolving Right Now- Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan 

Quotes: "As the brain evolves and shifts its focus toward ne technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills.."

"With the weakening of the brain's neural circuitry controlling human contact, our social interactions may become awkward, and we tend to misinterpret, and even miss, subtle, non-verbal messages."

"Although exposure to new technology may appear to have a mush more subtle impact, its structural and functional effects are profound, particularly on a young, extremely plastic brain."

"..our brains learn to swiftly focus attention, analyze information, and almost instantaneously decide on a go or no-go action. rather than  simply catching "digital A.D.D., many of us are developing neural circuitry that is customized for rapid and incisive spurts of directed concentration."