Digital Textbooks, Future of Cash, Paying Attention

The Matt Townsend Show - Season 6, Episode 215

Sep 9, 2017 4:00 pm
2:26:48 mins

Textbooks in the digital world (19:03) Nicole Carter Luthy is Director of Outreach and Engagement in the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement at The Ohio State University. During her career in education—which began as a classroom teacher—Nicole has led numerous state projects and worked extensively in e-learning, curriculum, and professional development. Another school year is underway for many students across the country. In the past that meant students being assigned textbooks or if in college the student would have to purchase textbooks. But with advances in technology, many textbooks are now available in digital copy formats. Does all of this technology spell the end of traditional textbooks? And if so, is that actually a good thing for students and teachers? Nicole Carter Luthy explains. Cash is falling out of fashion (1:07:48) Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Senior Associate Dean of International Business & Finance at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC). Virtual money, credit cards, and debit cards have made cash almost useless. Once you could use cash to get almost anything you wanted. Apps like Venmo and Paypal makes it so that you can send friends money at the press of a button. Some airlines will not accept cash to buy things on planes. So here is the question: Is cash still king? Bhaskar Chakravorti explains how cash is falling out of favor across the globe and shares with us his ideas on what the future of cash may be. Practice can make your brain better at focusing (1:56:16) Sirawaj Itthipuripat is a research fellow at learning institute, King Mongkut University of Technology in Thailand. And will work at Vanderbilt University in a few months. He is a recently graduated Ph.D. student in the Neurosciences program at the University of California, San Diego. When we have to learn new tasks or skills it can be a tough process. Over time, with practice, the task or skill may become more natural. A new study shows that paying attention can improve performance on a new task and possibly change the way the brain processes information. Sirawaj Itthipuripat explains his research and how paying attention can change brain processes.

Episode Segments

Episode Segments

Textbooks in the digital world

49m

Nicole Carter Luthy is Director of Outreach and Engagement in the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement at The Ohio State University. During her career in education—which began as a classroom teacher—Nicole has led numerous state projects and worked extensively in e-learning, curriculum, and professional development. Another school year is underway for many students across the country. In the past that meant students being assigned textbooks or if in college the student would have to purchase textbooks. But with advances in technology, many textbooks are now available in digital copy formats. Does all of this technology spell the end of traditional textbooks? And if so, is that actually a good thing for students and teachers? Nicole Carter Luthy explains.

Cash is falling out of fashion

48m

Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Senior Associate Dean of International Business & Finance at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC). Virtual money, credit cards, and debit cards have made cash almost useless. Once you could use cash to get almost anything you wanted. Apps like Venmo and Paypal makes it so that you can send friends money at the press of a button. Some airlines will not accept cash to buy things on planes. So here is the question: Is cash still king? Bhaskar Chakravorti explains how cash is falling out of favor across the globe and shares with us his ideas on what the future of cash may be.

Practice can make your brain better at focusing

31m

Sirawaj Itthipuripat is a research fellow at learning institute, King Mongkut University of Technology in Thailand. And will work at Vanderbilt University in a few months. He is a recently graduated Ph.D. student in the Neurosciences program at the University of California, San Diego. When we have to learn new tasks or skills it can be a tough process. Over time, with practice, the task or skill may become more natural. A new study shows that paying attention can improve performance on a new task and possibly change the way the brain processes information. Sirawaj Itthipuripat explains his research and how paying attention can change brain processes.