Matt’s Notes
Hey there! Welcome to our thirty-fifth embarkation into (podcasting) Parts Unknown-ish. This episode is all about attention and learning and technology. Nothing major, amiright?
Insert witty #ednontech aphorism here! Or don’t!
So, in effort to streamline the production process for this episode as much as possible… I’m actually preparing these notes BEFORE KNOWING THE TOPIC. Not like I’m yelling or anything. But just when I think I’ve exceeded the threshold for a certain kind of slackerdom, the bottom falls a bit lower!
Anyway, I thought I’d do a second round of speaking to some of the things that I’ve emailed myself over the past few weeks. Many (most!) of these have little or nothing to do with my job as a sort of learning design consultant in the Security Industry.
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Tis the #ednontech season year round, as a matter of fact!
As spoken of during the recording! There are now guidelines regarding how Generative AI is to be used by the Canadian Federal government, including the SPELLBINDING acronym FASTER:
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In the course of my work lately I’m in the early stages of a multi-modal e-learning development project which caused me to look at the CDLRA’s Evolving Definitions in Digital Learning: A National Framework for Categorizing Commonly Used Terms. This is circa 2020, when the pandemic had many rethinking how distance delivery works/worked. I think of this as evergreen content… good for at least a few more years…
And, finally, but not leastly!, a new-ish white paper from EDUCAUSE & the Horizon Report people/panelists: 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan: Generative AI. It is really a list of common-sense dictates from the individual level all the way out to the multi-institutional. It’s worth keeping within close reach, not the least reason for which is graphics like this…
![](https://analogue-trope.ca/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Screenshot-2023-10-28-001055-1024x654.jpg)
The fact that I’m finding this stuff out on LinkedIn is kind of awesome and even more kind of “meh”. But I have to acknowledge that I have a much wider “community” in terms of numbers than in either FB or IG… likely NOT a topic for another episode! Anyway, I suppose I consider this a Friday night well-spent! I hope you are enjoying the throes of autumn…
Doug’s Notes
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Attention and Learning and Technology
Attention definition: “… the taking possession of the mind in clear and vivid form … it implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others.”
James, W. (1890). The Principles Of Psychology Volume II By William James (1890).
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On the other hand despite this wealth of research, significant questions remain about the nature of attention, its purpose and neural mechanisms.
Gottlieb, J. (2012). Attention, learning, and the value of information. Neuron, 76(2), 281-295.
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The use of technology has the potential not only to maintain attention but also to motivate learners to pay attention.
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Bester, G., & Brand, L. (2013). The effect of technology on learner attention and achievement in the classroom. South African Journal of Education, 33(2).
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Technology increasingly impacts on the ways in which people acquire, update, and correct their understanding.
The impact of emerging technologies on various mental functions has been a topic of some consternation for decades, if not centuries.
- Printing press > distribution of books > negative impact on memory
- Digital technologies > negative impact on people (memory, capacity for social interaction, foundational cognitive functions)
… while there is much discussion about the potential negative impacts of technologies, there are few examples of robust research findings across different levels of analysis to support this claim.
Lodge, J. M., & Harrison, W. J. (2019). Focus: Attention science: The role of attention in learning in the digital age. The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 92(1), 21.
Word of the podcast
Attention
Phrase of the podcast
It’s been a long week!
Question of the podcast
How can we leverage our abilities and technology to help us pay attention to what we are learning?
Thanks as ever for spending the time with us! Until whenever’s next!
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