Resources

Loving and Learning Conversation, interview with Claudia by Michael Toms

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle

Sherry Turkle has been studying human-technology interaction for 30+ years. If you read only one book, this is it. Sherry is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT.

Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives by David M. Levy

David Levy was an early adopter, working in computer science and AI in Silicon Valley at Xerox PARC where the networked personal computer was invented. He’s on the faculty at the University of Washington’s Information School where he does research and teaches about digital developments. Calligraphy provided his entrance into contemplative practice. This book brings David’s fast world, high-tech experience together with slow world contemplative practice, offering Mindful Tech exercises from his work with students at the I School.

The Triple Focus: A New Approach to Education by Daniel Goleman and Peter Senge

This book is a good follow up book to read after Reclaiming Conversation. You’ll notice parallels between Thoreau’s 3 chairs in Turkle’s book with Goleman and Senge’s three focuses—inner, other, outer. It’s a beautiful and important book.

Peter Senge is an organizational learning and systems thinking visionary at MIT and author of The Fifth Discipline. Daniel Goleman is author of Emotional Intelligence, and a founder of the movement for social and emotional learning.

It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens by danah boyd

danah boyd is a media scholar and Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, and Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. This book is based on extensive interviews danah did with teens about their use of social media from 2005 to 2012.

danah communicates the nuances of the networked lives of today teens, offering a perspective I have not seen anywhere else.

Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age by Yalda T. Uhls, PhD

Yalda T. Uhls brings her unique background as a media producer, child psychologist, and parent of two “digital” teens to the exploration of digital life in the family. She works with Common Sense Media as their director of creative community partnerships and does research with UCLA. Her research focuses on how older and newer media impact the social behavior of preadolescents.

I appreciate how Yalda combines research with actionable tools for parents helping their kids navigate digital life.

Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain by Daniel J. Siegel MD.

Brainstorm will reframe how you think about the teenage brain. If you have a tween or teen in the house, read the book. Dr. Daniel Siegel is clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and founding co-director of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center.