Two Minds Blog

Antidepressant medications are one way to address symptoms of depression. They certainly aren't the only way, with psychotherapy having equivalent benefits in most cases, and exercise outperforming both of these options. I have also taken issue in the past with the way that antidepressants' beneficial effects have created a "brain disease" narrative around depression, which is about how we feel and behave more than it's about the way our brains are wired -- a functional problem rather than a structural one. Still, I recognize that antidepressants are lifesaving for many people, and I would never give blanket advice to suggest that people shouldn't take them. Some folks in the popular media right now are doing just that. The question of whether or not it was a good idea to take antidepressants was common in the early 1990s, when Eli Lilly's new medication fluoxetine (Prozac) had revolutionized the neurochemical treatment of depression. The book Listening ...

I recently came across a book by Professor Gilly Salmon titled  eModerating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online , published in the year 2000. I was just getting started as a college instructor that fall, and wouldn't dabble in online education for a few years more. Over the years I have attended my share of workshops about e-learning, online education, technology-assisted teaching, massive open online courses, micro-credentials, and whatever else was the buzzword of the day. A lot of what's in the book feels quaint at this point (teach your students that in online culture, capital letters suggest SHOUTING!). But there's a chapter toward the end that felt almost prophetic, in which the author identifies four potential futures for online teaching and learning: 1. On Planet Contentous , "content is king." Information flows from experts to novices, content-oriented online courses can have thousands of learners simultaneously (MOOCs, anyone?) and technology is ju...