[iDC] (no subject)

[Caroline Buck]

Hello everyone!

I am very excited to have the opportunity to facilitate the IDC
discussions, particularly those that will take place surrounding
MobilityShifts with many distinguished and diverse participants. As a
rising senior at Duke University, I am at the heart of experiencing
the changes in education and the influence of digital media - not to
mention the "student loan debt bubble". I will be graduating with a
B.A. in International Comparative Studies, a minor in Cultural
Anthropology and a certificate in Information Studies & Information
Science. I also recently completed a semester studying abroad in
Madrid, Spain, where I was immersed in a completely new and different
education system compared to what I have grown up with. This led me to
become very interested in the global differences in education, and I
am now Co-President of the Global Education Office Student Committee
at Duke.

Throughout my time at Duke I have explored these different fields of
study in hopes of focusing on global social change and digital media
technologies in my post-graduate endeavors. My most recent and
eye-opening immersion in this area was through Professor Cathy
Davidson’s course “This Is Your Brain On The Internet.” She introduced
me to emerging initiatives and summits such as MobilityShifts, and I
have realized that discussions like these and the ones we will be
having through the IDC list are essential, particularly on a global
scale, to expanding the debate of digital learning.

While we are so exposed to the new technological advances and use
these in our learning, it is my experience that the gap between
incorporating these technologies into our lives and having them at the
forefront of our instruction and institutions is wider than it should
be. Having had a "traditional" college experience myself, I am aware
that not everybody is ready to accept and understand the connections
between self-learning, the Internet and mobile platforms, within and
across all disciplines. What's great is that there are more and more
people becoming interested and involved in these projects, and the
conversations surrounding these themes are gaining momentum.

The first discussion is going to be led by Cathy Davidson, and will
begin THIS Saturday June 18th and run through June 21st. That's not
much time, so be sure to take part in the discussion as soon as
possible! Although Dr. Davidson will be introducing herself shortly,
some of her accomplishments include serving as the Ruth F. DeVarney
Professor of English at Duke University since 1996 as well as the John
Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary
Studies since 2006. In 2002, she co-founded (with David Theo Goldberg)
the virtual organization HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and
Technology Advanced Collaboratory). In December 2010 President Obama
appointed Dr. Davidson to the National Council on the Humanities. Her
most recent book, Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention
Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn will be published by
Viking Press in Fall 2011.

I look forward to engaging in great discussions with you all and can't
wait to get started!

Best,
Caroline


Relevant Links to Cathy Davidson:
http://www.hastac.org/
http://nowyouseeit.net/
http://www.futureofthebook.org/
http://www.cathydavidson.com/
http://bit.ly/jRDVu1
http://spotlight.macfound.org/all/by-author/a5/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk_pntvDG2g
http://twitter.com/catinstack
http://bit.ly/fIOqAH