Cathy Davidson Holds Online ‘Office Hours’ on Digital Learning Sept. 3
Davidson will discuss learning in a digital age during the interactive webcast
The latest Beloit College Mindset List says that students in the college class of 2014 don't know how to write in cursive and think email is too slow. Duke professor Cathy Davidson will discuss how students are learning in a digital age during a live "Office Hours" webcast conversation Friday, Sept. 3, beginning at noon on the Duke University Ustream channel.
Online viewers are invited to ask Davidson a question, in advance or during the session. To do that, send an email to live@duke.edu, tweet with the tag #dukelive or post a comment on the Duke University Live Ustream page on Facebook.
Davidson, the Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English and John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, raised eyebrows when she created a grading scheme for her course "This Is Your Brain on the Internet," in which students evaluated one another. "What this teaches my students is responsibility, credibility, judgment, honesty and how to offer good criticism to one's peers -- and, in turn, how to receive it," she explained.
"We're good at learning from authority, but how do we learn to question authority?" Davidson asks. "That's a huge skill in a collaborative, Internet age."
Among other books, Davidson has authored "The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age" and "Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America." She is a co-founder of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, on whose website she blogs. And, yes, she is on Twitter and Facebook, but hasn't take to the Kindle.
Office hours at a university are times when professors leave their doors open for individuals to stop by and discuss issues such as current events and developments in their fields. Duke's "Office Hours" series aims to bring the expansiveness and sparkle of these conversations to anyone with an Internet connection and an interest in the ideas bubbling up at Duke. To date, topics have ranged from patenting genes to political cartoons, the economics of the Islamic world and caring for people with cancer. You are invited to join the conversation.