For those of you who haven’t yet decided to follow Mission to Learn on Twitter (You know who you are.), here’s a round up of some exquisite links I’ve tweeted lately on the general topic of brain science and the human mind:
I noted in an earlier post that as powerful as deliberate practice can be for mastering particular skills or knowledge, recent research suggests that we eventually run up against the limits of our intellectual capabilities. In particular, the capacity of our working memory seems to have significant impact on what we can ultimately achieve.
So, are there ways to improve our overall intellectual capacity? It was with this question in mind that a handful of recent articles in The New York Times caught my eye.
A student at Brigham Young University e-mailed to alert me to an event her Digital Civilization class will be presenting on Wednesday, April 11, 2012, from 7-8:30 PM MDT. The event will feature students delivering TEDx-style presentations on “how to be more engaged in our digital world.” You can catch the live stream or tune into the recording later at http://digiciv.byu.edu/.
This seems like a great event – kudos to professors Gideon Burton and Daniel Zappala for making it a part of their class. The class, too, sounds fantastic. Here’s the description:
Western civilization has been greatly influenced by how we produce and share knowledge. Since the development of the printing press in the 15th century, the printed word has dominated religion, philosophy, science, economics, politics, and education. We are now in the midst of the digital revolution, with online media such as blogs, wikis, social networking, and the web shaping our civilization. In this course we will view western civilization through the lens of the digital revolution, learning both what the past has to say about how we produce and share knowledge, and what our experiences with modern technology lead us to discover about the past. Our readings will pair great works of western civilization with current texts and tools, exploring common themes that include the structure of knowledge, principles of openness and participation, authenticity, identity, privacy, and copyright. Students will become fluent with the concepts and tools needed to be lifelong learners and active participants in a world where technological innovations change rapidly.
Be sure to check out Digital Civilization and spread the word.
Jeff
