In 2008, Nicholas Carr, an American writer who has published books and articles on technology, business, and culture, asked “Is Google making us stupid?”. There seems little doubt that Google, and digital technologies in general, are certainly changing the way we live our daily lives but is it actually changing not just human behaviour but could it also be changing human physiology too? Researchers at Columbia University think so. Experiments conducted by the university found evidence to suggest that search engines like Google are changing human thought patterns, changing how the brain handles information. A brave new world?
I will be blogging some thoughts and observations, including my own experiences, on this topic as a regular Web 2.0 user, a practising teacher and an active, post-graduate learner. I will also be commenting on some web-based, digital technologies to see how they might support learning. Please feel free to add your own comments and views to these threads.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/235757/researcher_google_is_changing_the_way_you_think.html