Cathy N. Davidson

Are our schools and workplaces designed to match our brains? By John Moe, Marketplace Tech Report, Friday, August 26, 2011 Author Cathy Davidson says our schools and places of employment haven’t adapted to the reality of our brains and our society. Plus, forget hacking and worry about dorking. Thebook’s cover features illustrations of a bunch…

Can Being Distracted Be a Good Thing? Yes. That’s the answer. Easy? Well, not exactly. The only way distraction is good is if we train ourselves to pay attention to it. Here’s why: Because of what cognitive neuroscientists call “attention blindness,” we can focus very well. Our whole learning process from infancy on is telling…

“The phenomenon of attention blindness is real — when we pay attention to one thing, it means we’re not paying attention to something else. When we’re multitasking, what we’re actually really doing is what Linda Stone calls “continuous partial attention.” We’re not actually simultaneously paying equal attention to two things: One of the things that…

“In a chatty, enthusiastic style, the author takes us on a journey through contemporary classrooms and offices to describe how they are changing—or, according to her, should change. Among much else, we need to build schools and workplaces that match the demands of our multitasking brains. That means emphasizing “nonlinear thinking,” “social networks” and “crowdsourcing.”……

“We are right on time to give up techno-phobia and to tackle the problems and opportunities of the digital world with good sense, pragmatics, realism, and purpose,” Davidson said. “Once we absorb the realization that we’ve already changed, and that we’re actually doing pretty well despite major realignments in our lives, then we can think…

“Refreshingly constructive and glimmering with much-needed optimism about the future of education in the digital age, Now You See It makes a fine new addition to these 7 essential books on education and offers a well-argued antidote to the media’s incessant clamor about the deadly erosion of our attention.” Read the full review of Now…