Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives

Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives

An ACMHE webinar with David Levy
Professor in the Information School at University of Washington
Originally broadcast Tuesday, January 17th, 2:00-3:00pm ET

View the webinar recording:

Today’s digital devices and apps are both powerful and powerfully distracting. Indeed it has become increasingly clear that they can serve both as instruments of learning and connection, on the one hand, and of distraction and disconnection, on the other. The challenge we face is to use them to their best advantage, and to ours, and to understand when to use them and when to abstain from them.

For a number of years, through his research and teaching, Dr. David Levy has been developing methods to help students (as well as faculty, staff, and adult professionals) investigate and improve their relationship with their digital devices and apps. In this webinar, Dr. Levy will present some of the contemplative exercises and methods used in his courses and seminars. He will also discuss the philosophy underlying them, which places the emphasis on student discoveries through mindful observation and reflection, rather than on general rules that everyone should, or must, obey.

About the Presenter

David M. Levy is Professor at the Information School, University of Washington in Seattle. He earned his Ph.D. in computer science at Stanford University and a diploma in Calligraphy and Bookbinding from the Roehampton Institute in London. For nearly twenty years he was a researcher at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, exploring the transition from paper and print to digital media. At the University of Washington since 2000, he has focused on bringing mindfulness training and other contemplative practices to address problems of information overload and acceleration. His new book, “Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives,” was published in January 2016 by Yale University Press.