Reflections on Technology's Impact on Kids

February 7, 2013

babyusingipad
Baby using an iPad.

A few questions I’ve been thinking about regarding technology and young people:

How is computer/media use affecting school performance?

What about thinking skills and creativity?

What are kids spending their time on the computer doing, aside from homework? Is the time being used productively?

Is America’s academic “ranking”  tied to computer use or not?

I found a few articles discussing aspects of these ideas. (Disclaimer- I do like technology, I just think it needs to be used in line with other priorities and goals. )

Continue reading “Reflections on Technology's Impact on Kids”


Your Brain on Computers

September 20, 2010

Matt Richtel, technology reporter for the NY Times, has written some great features about the effect on our brains of being constantly plugged into digital devices, cellphones, and e-mail.  His conclusion? Giving our brains downtime improves attention spans, memory, learning, and concentration. In other words, an uncluttered mind is a very good thing.

Mary B., Reader’s Services


Simple Rules for Writers

February 20, 2010

A few years back Elmore Leonard wrote a brief piece for the New York Times (later published as a short book) detailing his 10 Rules of Writing. His list included many practical tips: avoid prologues, keep your exclamation points under control, try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip. Inspired by his list, the UK’s Guardian newspaper has solicited writing tips from a veritable who’s who of contemporary authors. Speaking to everyone from Margaret Atwood to Jonathan Franzen, Neil Gaiman to Joyce Carol Oates, and many, many more fiction and non-fiction writers, the Guardian has compiled a lengthy list of helpful tips for writing that manage to be practical, profound, funny, and motivational in equal parts. Below is a sampling of our favorites culled from the lists. For the Guardian’s complete “Rules for Writing Fiction,” click here.

Rose Tremain: Never begin the book when you feel you want to begin it, but hold off a while longer.

David Hare: Write only when you have something to say.

Annie Proulx: Write slowly and by hand only about subjects that interest you.

P.D. James: Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft.

Will Self: Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever.

Geoff Dyler: Have regrets. They are fuel. On the page they flare into desire.

Jonathan Franzen: It’s doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.

Helen Dunmore: Finish the day’s writing when you still want to continue.

Zadie Smith: When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.

Roddy Doyle: Do not place a photograph of your ­favorite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.


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