Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Internet’s Effects on Children and Adults: Re-Wired Brain?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

So we've seen this criticism made over and over: the idea that computer use destroys concentration. "Carr noticed changes in himself. "I'm not thinking the way I used to think [especially when] reading... I'd spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose... Now my concentration starts to drift after a page or two." The problem is always assumed to be in the person, but maybe it's in the material. After all, the same person who "can't concentrate" will also spend twelve hours glued to a computer game. Once you've seen the alternative, you begin to realize how bad long stretches of unbroken text are as an interface. Students aren't more distracted; they're more discerning.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Feb 03, 2025 01:01 a.m.

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