This fall, the Institute for Educational Advancement’s听Academy program will be offering a wide variety of classes, including the online class “What is the Internet Doing to Our Brains?” For students ages 9 through 14, this class is based on the New York Times Best Seller “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” by Nicholas Carr. What’s this class all about? To find out, we asked the instructor, Nicholas Brown.

When you first read Nicholas Carr鈥檚 book 鈥淭he Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain,鈥� what inspired you to turn it into a class?

One of the initial things the book starts off saying is that it鈥檚 not about analyzing the content of the internet, but how we use the internet. Really, it鈥檚 an amazing journey into how humanity has used tools over time and how the internet happens to be the most recent tool that is greatly impacting how we live, how we think, and how we function as human beings.

There are lots of discussions we can have about the content of the internet and what gets put up from videos to tweets to 鈥� everything鈥檚 on the internet 鈥� but the book dives into how it鈥檚 impacting how our brains work.

What鈥檚 an example of this that you would discuss with the class?

One example the book brings up is the fact that our brain really, really, likes to be stimulated. Every single time we scroll down a feed on whatever social media feed or website we might be on, each time we see some new thing our senses are stimulated. It鈥檚 almost as though we鈥檙e rewarding the brain and our brain craves it more and more. With the ease of being able to see and scroll, the never ending loop that the internet is, the more we do it, the more we crave doing it. There鈥檚 a behavior reinforcement behind every single moment we spend on our phones or on the internet.

What should parents expect from this class? What kinds of lessons or themes do you hope to impart?

I don鈥檛 think that the students will ever see the use of the internet the same way again. I think reading this book will change the way they see the internet forever. I鈥檝e always allowed my students to come to their own conclusion to things, to not put words in their mouth, but merely bring up questions. For them having the chance to see for the first time what the internet has done, it will be very interesting for them. I鈥檒l give them a chance to decide for themselves if it鈥檚 good or bad, or what the next step is.

The amazing thing that occurs when you read this book is that it invites the practice of meta-cognition, which is the process of thinking about your thinking. For a young person, for a teenager or adolescent, it鈥檚 a really great primer into meta-cognition. It鈥檚 a great opportunity to practice it.

It seems like people would appreciate learning new skills or concepts. What鈥檚 the value of meta-cognition to young people?

Thinking is something we鈥檙e always doing, you can鈥檛 get around it, you may choose to think more or more deeply about things, but everyone is always thinking. For someone to be aware of how their thinking develops or changes or how it can be impacted by the outside environment, I think that鈥檚 a powerful tool.

Why should a student want to take a class like this, or study this book?

It鈥檚 an amazing journey because the book itself goes beyond talking about the internet and is more of a journey into all the tools that humanity has come across. For example, we used to not use maps. [After we started using maps,] that changed the way we think about our world, and we began to think about our world in a more abstract way.

I think that we鈥檙e always practicing using the internet but giving students a chance to read through an entire book and practice using that as a tool to impact their thinking, that鈥檚 going to be a fantastic thing as well. They鈥檒l get to compare the practice of using a book and compare it using the internet. That鈥檚 not to say one is better than the other, they will just develop how you think in different ways.

Is there anything else about the class you鈥檇 like to tell people about?

We will be using Socratic seminar to engage in discussions about the book鈥檚 content. I鈥檝e had a lot of students in the past that have been excited about doing that, but it鈥檚 not just a fancy term for me, it鈥檚 something I build my education practice on. That will be something that, like I鈥檝e said before, I鈥檓 not here to give students the conclusions. I鈥檓 excited about them coming to their own conclusions, but I鈥檒l be coaching them long as they develop their ability to think about these sorts of things.“What is the Internet Doing to Our Brains?” is an online Academy class for ages 9 through 14, taught on Thursdays from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. For more information about the class, as well as information about registering for Academy,

听鈥淭he art and science behind questions is the source of all knowledge鈥� –Thomas Berger, novelist

On occasion, I remember to ask my husband questions like, “If you had to write a book, would you write a science fiction novel or historical drama?” Such a question invariably leads to a series of other questions, which then leads to a rabbit hole of sorts in which I discover answers to questions that I had no idea I wanted to ask.

And so begins a blog about questions.

We know from experience that questions can make us squirm, laugh, cry and dance. Questions can make us ask, “What’s the difference?” or “Why are you asking?”. We know that questions rarely result in a complete lack of new information, as even a silent reply is telling. But what is the difference between questions that truly engage and questions that shut things down?

For young inquisitive minds, the right question can ignite imagination, inspire surprising solutions, and validate multi-faceted perspectives that strengthen their purpose and place in the world. No matter where they are or who they are in conversation with, the right question can be the sorcerer for a special kind of magic.

For the gifted learner who is exploring truly challenging curriculum, posing what are known as closed questions can be likened to offering a friend who is thirsty a tall 32 ounce glass of salt. Although these closed (or “skinny”) questions can be utilized for a number of valid purposes, they can’t provide a direct pathway to reflection and discovery. Furthermore, a听 key difference between closed and open questions is that, short of providing what would be considered an incorrect answer, closed questions offer little to no opportunity for a variety of responses. Therefore, regardless of sophistication of topic or theme, closed questions leave no room for the wellspring of one鈥檚 being: expression of self.

As an early career teacher, I thought that anything I asked introduced by a what, how, or why qualified as an open question. If I didn’t get a Yes/No answer, I thought I was doing alright. However, I came to find out (think about that expression for a second) that both open and closed questions can have similar interrogative constructions. It is only by considering a question鈥檚 versatility as a tool for empowered learning that a student can explore possibilities beyond what is expected and known. Therein lies the art and science of questioning.

Below are examples of open-ended questions taken from an article that I like called , by Glenda Pearce. In it she delves into the why and what-for of investigative strategies, and explores six categories of Socratic questioning as conceived of by fellow author Dr. Richard Paul:

Questions of clarification

What do you mean by that?

Can you give me an example?

Questions that probe assumptions

What is being assumed?

Why would somebody say that?

Questions that probe reason and evidence

What are your reasons for saying that?

What criteria do you base that argument on?

Questions that probe implications and consequences

What might be the consequences of behaving like that?

Do you think you might be jumping to conclusions?

Questions about viewpoints or perspectives

What would be another way of saying that?

How do Maria’s ideas differ from Peter’s?

Questions about the question

How is that question going to help us?

Can you think of any other questions that might be useful?

If you found these questions to be compelling, you can find additional illuminated strategies .

In closing, I would like to offer a final question for possible exploration in future posts: Why is it, when we ask questions inviting deep thought, can they seemingly fail to give us the answers we had hoped for?

Until then, I take comfort in knowing that when a question is asked, an answer exists, even if down in a rabbit hole.

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