Summer is a great time for renewal and rejuvenation. It is time to pick up a great book and read, giving time to let the ideas percolate while you reflect on the concepts and ideas presented inside.

This summer, the members of the executive board of ISTE’s Independent School Special Interest Group have selected Cathy Davidson’s Now You See It:How Brain Science Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn  for its 2012 Summer Reading selection. The book can be purchased in hard cover (http://www.amazon.com/Now-You-See-Attention-Transform/dp/0670022829/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0), paperback as of July 31st, (http://www.amazon.com/Now-You-See-Technology-Transform/dp/014312126X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0) or in various ebook editions (http://www.amazon.com/Now-You-See-Attention-ebook/dp/B004IYIJ98/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2).

Cathy Davidson teaches at Duke University and writes for the Washington Post, the Harvard Business Review, and other publications. She was the provost at Duke when they handed 1800 incoming freshman iPods in the fall of 2003. In this volume, she challenges readers to think about how changes brought by computers and the internet have not changed the ways that our schools and work places function. She implores us to think about the how we learn, to break down the patterns and biases about how we learn to unlearn, and the relearn to take advantage of technological advances. She also discusses the need to be more collaborative, problem solving oriented, and appreciative of learning differences and stay relevant in our teaching, learning, and work.

There are several ways which SIG-IS will support conversation and discussion about Now You See It. The first way will be via the ISENET Ning (http://isenet.ning.com/forum/topics/now-you-see-it-by-cathy-davidson-iste-sig-is-2012-summer-reading). Beginning June 25th and running through August 24th, a new discussion question will be added each Monday. The second way discuss the book is during one of the #isedchat Twitter chats on July 26th. These chats run every Thursday evening at 9:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. MT/6:00 p.m. PT. Simple create a Twitter account and connect with other educators for an hour long discussion of the book. You can follow the #isedchat hash tag using a service such as tweetchat.com. We are working on a culminating event and details will be available soon.

We look forward to the conversation and collegiality.