Are you ready? As we prepare for the 2011 National Conference in Minneapolis, we’ve started the online book discussion of the Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. This book will be our One Book, One Conference title! So, no time like the present to start reading and thinking!
Starting August 15th, we’ll start a weekly discussion on the AASL Conference Ning. Click on groups and join The Shallows-Book Discussion group. We’re going to take a chapter each week which should take us almost up to the AASL Conference! I’ll post some discussion starters in a forum, but feel free to respond and ask your own questions, too! I’m really looking forward to the conversation! Then, we can continue the conversation on site in Minneapolis on Friday, October 28th!
In The Shallows, Carr asks the question: “As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?” Carr then describes throughout the book how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind” — from the alphabet, to maps, to the printing press, the clock and the computer. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store and share information can reroute our neural pathways. A preview of “The Shallows” is available via the AASL conference website.
Here’s the link to the official press release about our book discussion here.