Research+on+Writing,+Teaching,+Literacy

[|NY Times Multitasking Article] Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price By Matt Richtel Published: June 6, 2010

Building from the story of one family, where the father especially is a heavy multitasker, this piece explores current research on multitasking, how the brain works and how it can rewire or train itself to change behavior. The piece looks primarily at how too much multitasking can lead to stress, forgetfulness, and is sometimes addictive. The quotes from researchers are useful if you want names to search in scholarly databases for a richer look at their work.

Also, there's an online, interactive feature where you can test you own ability to focus.

What's interesting is that the father in the described in the piece is 43, which we tend not to think of as young necessarily, but he grew up on computers and he's the focus of this piece more than his children.

We tend to think of computers having changed our students and how they think and work and we tend to think of 18 year olds, but really, the shifts described in the article effect all who are online a lot, not just the newer/younger students in our classrooms. They effect us as well.

[|A Better Way to Grade] An essay about how this writing professor uses peer response and, especially interesting, how he meets with small groups and engages them in interactive conferencing about each other's drafts.

[|The Value of the Humanities, by David Brooks]