In 2004 the inventor Saul Griffith, then young grad student at MIT, won the prestigious Lemelson-MIT prize, based in part on his invention of desktop device to manufacture inexpensive eyeglass lenses on demand. Griffith was motivated by a concern for underserved...
Praising partisanship might seem like a strange thing to do—at least for a non-partisan organization like the Interactivity Foundation. In the discussions we facilitate, whether in our “Discussion Projects” or our ensuing “Public Discussions,” we don’t seek to...
In our lives most of us have had the pleasure of relationships that seem to involve a long and constantly growing conversation. Maybe it’s with a good friend. Maybe it’s with a family member or a mentor. It’s not that you’re talking with each other all the time,...
In our lives most of us have had the pleasure of relationships that seem to involve a long and constantly growing conversation. Maybe it’s with a good friend. Maybe it’s with a family member or a mentor. It’s not that you’re talking with each other all the time,...
For those of you teaching an IF sponsored course this spring, your fourth blog post should tell us about some of the facilitation, discussion, or communication skills that you’ve focused on with your students. You might find it helpful to review Section Five and...
If you’re thinking about taking part in one of our Sanctuary Discussion Projects, you might wonder about the directions the discussions might take. You might wonder whether the discussion Facilitator, or the Interactivity Foundation, has in mind some particular...
Discussion Projects are one of our core activities in the Interactivity Foundation. In these projects we use two parallel discussion groups or panels. These panels run independently of each other for most of the project. One panel is made up of citizens who are...
For those of you teaching an IF sponsored course this spring, your third blog post should share some of your thinking about and experiences with integrating your course content into a student-centered discussion class. You might find it helpful to review Sections...
For those of you teaching an IF sponsored course this spring, your second blog post should focus on the ways you are providing feedback and guidance to your students, whether as discussion facilitators or as discussion participants. As you think about these issues,...
In his novel So Yesterday, Scott Westerfeld explores questions about innovation, about how the new can come into society, and about how the next cool thing can become yesterday’s news in the steady advance of consumer culture. The book deals mostly with fashion and...