Supporting Student Attention in a Technological Age
Friday, Sept. 19
9 a.m. – Noon
Bryant Conference Center
New technologies are increasingly intertwined with our daily work as educators, and we are learning disturbing lessons about the costs of attention loss in our lives and the lives of our students. Digital technologies like smartphones can hijack our attention, while artificial intelligence technologies promise to make it redundant.
The most important education students might need for the future will be why and how to control their attention and use it to achieve meaningful learning goals. Drawing ideas from philosophy, psychology and educational practice, this talk will present creative strategies that teachers can use to enhance their courses, assessments and classroom experiences with the power of attention.
Dr. Lang will present from 9-10:15 a.m. followed by a workshop-style session after a brief break for attendees to enjoy a breakfast buffet. Participants are welcome to attend one or both sessions as their schedule allows. This event is free and open to all UA faculty and instructors.
Meet the Speaker
James M. Lang, PhD, is a professor of practice at the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Notre Dame. He has authored six books, the most recent of which are Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2020), Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2016) and Cheating Lessons: Learning From Academic Dishonesty (Harvard University Press, 2013). He also holds the title of Emeritus Professor of English at Assumption University, where he founded and directed the university’s teaching center.
Jim writes a regular column on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education; his work has been appearing in the Chronicle since 1999. He founded a popular book series on teaching and learning in higher education for West Virginia University Press, and he currently co-edits a new series with Michelle Miller for Oklahoma University Press.
A dynamic and highly sought-after public speaker, he has delivered conference keynotes or conducted workshops on teaching for faculty at more than three hundred colleges, universities and high schools in the United States and abroad.
