Jan 13 – Reading Group – The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr

Belk Library Rm 114 - 12:00 to 2:00 pm

Teaching and Learning Technologies – Conference Room – Belk Library 114

12:00 noon – 2:00 pm

Wed, Jan 13: Part 1 – One Machine and Part 2 – Living in the Cloud

“All technological change is generational change. The full power and consequence of a new technology are unleashed only when those who have grown up with it become adults and begin to push their outdated parents to the margins. As the older generations die, they take with them their knowledge of what was lost when the new technology arrived, and only the sense of what was gained remains. It’s in this way that progress covers its tracks, perpetually refreshing the illusion that where we are is where we were meant to be.”

This is the thought-provoking last paragraph of Nicholas Carr’s latest book, The Big Switch. In this book, Carr maintains that, like the production and provision of electricity has evolved from home generators to a massive, interconnected grid of corporate and government entities, computing will follow a similar course in the near future. What kind of world will it bring? How will it affect our responsibilities as educators? How and why will it affect the way we teach and the way our students learn?

These, and whatever other issues and questions you choose, will be the focus of a two part discussion of Carr’s work. The first session (January 7) will cover part one of the book, “One Machine,” and the second session (January 13) will cover part two, “Living in the Cloud.”

Questions?  Contact  Cheri Schauer-Crabb