Henry Jenkins of MIT’s Comparative Media Lab discusses how many of our students today are being de-skilled as they enter schools where the digital tools they are using outside of the school environment are invalidated.  Not only are many critical online resources blocked by crude filters but  “[teachers] tell kids again and again that what [...]

I came across a haunting trailer today for a documentary by (of?) Josh Harris and Ondi Timoner called We Live in Public.  According to Jason Calacanis, who wrote an excellent email-turned-blog-post about the documentary’s subject matter, “It’s a cautionary tale about the dehumanizing effects of technology, a somber topic that we all need to consider [...]

A few highlights from my current read, Edward T. Hall‘s Beyond Culture (Chapter 4 – Hidden Culture) “…language is not…a system for transferring thoughts or meaning from one brain to another, but a system for organizing information and for releasing thoughts and responses in other organisms.” (pg 57) (my emphasis) “Two things get in the [...]

@JordanRaynor posted this on his blog and it reminded me of a conversation I had with some colleagues a while back when Bob Stein came and spoke at my university.  Bob was talking about the future of the book and naturally the conversation led to discussing how people would/should deal with being overloaded with information [...]

As I watched my Twitter feed flutter this past weekend with amazing update after amazing update of the Personal Democracy Forum, my former adviser and mentor was there giving what apparently turned out to be a standing-ovation-worthy preso on YouTube Culture and Politics of Authenticity.  The fact that he brought the house down with his [...]

Great article brought to my attention by @zephoria.  Ethan Zuckerman over at the Berkman Center talks about the over emphasis of the impact of social media on the protests in Iran.  Much of the recent hype has suggested social tools like Twitter and Facebook have more or less caused the protests rather than merely serving [...]

According to Mark Bauerlein, yes.  This morning an article from the LA Times was brought to my attention that briefly summarizes Bauerlein’s thoughts regarding the effects of the changing media environment on young folks, thoughts which he published in his book with the catchy, market-ready title The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young [...]