Marc Prensky

The premise of the book and the technologies it mentioned were like a siren song to my interests. However, the lack of detailed research and deep understanding of the technologies covered were a disappointment. Instead of trying to cover so much, the author could have made a more convincing argument by delving deep into a smaller number of topics, or found experts who could vet his findings. Far too much of the content was made up of anecdotal and individual observations instead of referencing scientific studies.

The table of contents is the kind of book I'd love to read, but the actual contents was not.… (altro)

This book at first looks like another of those wide-eyed technology-boosting books. Fortunately it is more nuanced than that. The author's stated intention is to counter all the gloom-and-doom 'X is making us dumber or antisocial' books from the past few years. He does that pretty well. For the contents see here: http://www.worldcat.org/title/brain-gain-technology-and-the-quest-for-digital-wi... .

The coverage of technology is pretty wide and shallow. The reference to 'the computer language Unix' on page 170 suggests that the author may not actually understand what he is writing about, unless this is an editorial mistake (Unix is an operating system, not a language).

The two strengths of the book are references you can use to get more details and some practical recommendations on how to use technology for kids. For example, schools should not buy expensive computers and amortize them over 10 years because this means the students are stuck with obsolete equipment for 90% of that time. What they should do is buy cheap equipment such as tablets that could be replaced each year. Another example is that parents should not give their old computers to the kids as hand-me-downs. They should buy the latest stuff for the kids and have them hand up the previous generation to their parents. That way the kids can help their parents on how to use current technology.

Another thing I like about the book is that the author is reasonable and does not indulge in hubris. Nothing here is presented as dogma. He reports on 'The Singularity' but does not treat it as something to be worshiped as a secular replacement for 'The Rapture'.… (altro)