I am reading “The Shallows: How the Internet Affects our Minds” by Nicholas Carr and I came across the May 10 article in the NYTimes Science News on how kids with Attention Deficit Disorder can spend hours in front of a screen.

In fact, a child’s ability to stay focused on a screen, though not anywhere else, is actually characteristic of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. … Children with A.D.H.D. may find video games even more gratifying than other children do because their dopamine reward circuitry may be otherwise deficient.

The Shallows” postulates that it much harder to have Deep Learning and Deep Thinking when screen sucking. When reading online, every link requires a decision “Do I Click?” and that keeps the thinking shallow. The shallow thinking explains why it is so hard to learn to design websites online. When I am seeking an answer to question A, I am always distracted by the offer of a solution to a tangential problem. This may be why people sign up for classes taught the conventional way, in a classroom. Do you learn better staring at a screen, fully absorbed, or do you prefer a textbook or a class?