My last post talked about some of the advantages of using Twitter in a meeting: Keeping the audience’s attention; speeding up feedback; spontaneity; and enabling shy audience members to participate.
But I’m not sure the plusses would outweigh the minuses in most situations. I think it depends on what else is happening while the tweeting is…
No one knows better than I do the perils of having an audience use Twitter. I’ve been writing and speaking on the problem of digital distractions for years. The verdict is in on multitasking – we can’t do it; whenever we try to do two things at once, both tasks suffer, especially when both tasks involve…
I was just watching CNBC, which was covering Apple’s new iBooks2 software, something that allows highly interactive textbooks to be available on the iPad. It’s lauded as a money-saver (the textbooks will be $15.00 or less) and as a way to engage students by making textbooks much more interactive (in addition to making backpacks a…
An article on the front page of today’s New York Times talks about a school in Silicon Valley that prides itself on keeping computers OUT of the classroom. This practice is based on the belief that at a young age, hands-on experience—for example, learning fractions by cutting up and then eating a cake—is much more compelling…
“To have a major breakthrough in policy, you have to be able to stop and think.” In today’s The New York Times, Newt Gingrich was quoted as saying this to justify taking a two-week cruise to Greece with his wife shortly after announcing his run for the presidency.
He’s correct about the necessity to stop and think…
I was giving a presentation to a group of students a few weeks ago about Thriving on Campus AND in Cyberspace, with the message that you can get more done in less time if you quit multitasking and take well-timed, brain-enhancing breaks. The students were fascinated by the brain exercises I gave them to prove…
A new study has just been described in Psych Central Newsletter that shows that sleeping — even a nap — refreshes your brain and makes it easier to learn new information. It also suggests that if you’re getting six hours a night or less, you’re missing out on a good deal of this refreshment.
This…