Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here. Ito, M. (2009). Hanging Out, Messing Around, Read More
Category: Book Review
Review of Digital Habitats
Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here. Smith, J. D., Wenger, E., & Read More
The Self-Driven Child
In private conversations for several years, I have been promoting “Ackerman’s Theory of Control.” My informal theory can be summarized as “people (children included) need to control something in their lives… if they don’t feel in control, they will take control of something.” My theory emerged out of years of working with children, and finding Read More
Teaching Crowds: Learning and Social Media
Education and the models and strategies educators use to create learning environments are grounded in ideas about how people learn. Ideas about learning are grounded in cognitive and learning sciences, and also on ideas about the organization and structure of knowledge. Connectionism is an idea that is gaining popularity and influence in thinking about teaching Read More
Putt’s Law & School IT
The situation regarding IT management in many schools is well-captured by the hypothetical (and sarcastic) Putt’s Law. According to Archibald Putt, “Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand” (Putt, 2006, p. 7). Further, Putt articulated a corollary, Read More
What Michael Crichton Wrote about Computers
Michael Crichton (who would later author Jurassic Park among other well-known novels) wrote Electronic Life in 1983; the book was his response to friends and acquaintances who were constantly seeking his advice on buying, setting up, and using their first computers and that would become embedded in the culture as computers gained acceptance and penetrated Read More
More Thoughts on iGen
For several years, educators and other who care about your people have been hearing about “the Millennials,” which is the name given to the young people who were in school around the turn of the century. My children (who were born in 1990 and 1994) are firmly in the Millennial generation. Jean Twenge, a psychologist Read More
iGen: Read This Book!
A different review is available here: http://hackscience.net/blog/?p=269 Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGEN: why today’s super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy– and completely unprepared for adulthood and (what this means for the rest of us). New York: Atria Books. For several years, educators have been hearing about (and teaching) Millennials. This term Read More
The Realities of the Digital World
A review of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen by Dr. Gary L. Ackerman
Thoughts on Born Digital #borndigital
Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age In 2008, John Palfrey and Urs Gasser wrote the first edition of Born Digital. It was one of several books to appear at the time that focused on the nature of “digital generations.” The timing of those books was reasonable as the generations who had never Read More