A few years ago, a book of this type and style could not or would not have been written. This is because, until a few years ago, no real in-depth knowl edge of computers and computerized equipment was at the disposal of those with a nonscience, nonquantitative background. Some people from other disciplines-including business, the arts, and the social sciences-had been working with such equipment, but they had "gone over" and tended to be even more computer-conscious than those whom they served. It is only comparatively recently that people like Elisabeth Gerver with a firm arts and adult education background first of all became knowledgeable and then remained true to that background. To her eternal credit, Elisabeth Gerver, when she became involved, avoided being sucked into the world of the jargon or even that of the thinking of the computer scientists and the electronic engineers. On the contrary, she insisted that she was an educated woman dealing with other educated people, and that they would all speak in the language of everyday discourse. It worked! One consequence of her experience and her thought is this remarkably lucid and readable book. It will prove to be of immense value to many in the world of adult and community education. But the beneficiaries will run beyond those sectors of society. Other people with a nonscience, nonquantitative background will surely find it of immense value in their early, inevitably hesitant and faulty, grappling with the world of new technology.

A leading venture capitalist offers surprising revelations on who will be driving innovation in the years to come.

By highlighting the use of emerging technologies in pedagogy and drawing on real-life case studies, the authors in this volume address the ongoing debate that technology brings a positive effect on education and beyond. They demonstrate how technology continues to fulfil the challenges of creating a more democratic educational environment.

MCN's 2018 conference, Humanizing the Digital, explored how museums can use technology to foster human connection and dialogue, advance accessibility and inclusion, and champion inquiry and knowledge. After witnessing the presentations and rich conversations that arose from them, a group of practitioners came together to explore how best to capture and disseminate the learnings that occurred at the conference. The outcome was a decision to solicit and publish a book inspired by the conference and its ideas. Humanizing the Digital: Unproceedings from the MCN 2018 Conference contains 17 conference-inspired responses to the state of museum technology in 2018, including essays, reflections, case studies, conversations, and an experimental in-book zine. The topics explore areas as diverse as calm technology, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, visitor-centered communication, interpretation and programming, empathy, inclusion and slow change.NOTE: All profits from books purchased directly from the publishers will go towards the MCN scholarship program, which helps new people attend the MCN conference. We encourage attentive online shopping choices, as purchases from other sellers will decrease contributions to support the MCN community.

The role of information technology (IT) has becoming increasingly important in both private and public sectors over recent years. The advent of personal computers, information networks, and the Internet has engendered an information revolution, which has created new means of production, new communication patterns, and new work processes. The ability to buy and sell goods and services via the Internet has led to new private sector industries and new business and government models. Furthermore, there is an emerging realization that implementation of IT is more than just a shift in communication patterns or mediums. At least potentially, it involves a transformation of an organization's culture.

This 32nd JIS thematic volume on "The Digital Challenge" explores the promises and pitfalls of digital technologies and their impact on individuals, society, and culture. We live in an era of computerization of everyday life. Automation pervades all aspects of work and leisure, from the shop floor to education and dating services, with limitless possibilities for instant communication via smartphones, the Internet, social media. Is humanity becoming overly dependent on machines? Book's thesis: Future of humanity may well depend on scientists and humanists' willingness and ability to bridge C. P. Snow's famous The Two Cultures conceptual divide in order to humanize technology and promote individual fulfillment and social felicity in the global village. In 2020, U.S. higher education is grappling with novel challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic. Michael Meagher chronicles an educator's journey from classroom to online instruction, while Corine Sutherland describes the ethical challenges of online-learning which include positives for college students obtaining an education long-distance, and negatives such as novel opportunities for cheating. Sutherland draws on Isaac Asimov's rules for robots, adapting them as ethical codes for students. Indeed, the ethical dimension looms large in humanizing digital technologies. Martin Yina examines the continuing digital divide between developed and developing countries like Nigeria. This inter- and intra-societal digital divide was noted already in 2002 by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications' Ethics in Internet. Bruce Lundberg's "The Virtues of Leonhard Euler," a famous eighteenth-century mathematician, concludes that: "As ethics enable and embody an ethos, so technologies are means and manifestations of a telos. Thus, thought and action for thriving through the digital needs to contemplate and conciliate the ends of humans and of the digital." Daniel Topf's Judeo-Christian anchoring of the self in the intrinsic worth and dignity of human beings contrasts with Yuval Noah Harare's claim that automation and robotics--machines-could replace humans. Milo? Dokulil probes Kurt Gödel's religious worldview, with a Response by Daniel Hollis. Special Section: George Seaver's study of Harvard University, 1969-2019, examines costs and benefits of "diversity" and "social justice." Book stresses Judeo-Christian moral and spiritual values for rethinking the digital challenge.

The book is a collection of chapters written by the participants of a free open course on the Canvas Open Network entitled Humanizing Online Instruction. In the course, a variety of methods for increasing presence in online courses were shared in this multi-institutional, international, online professional learning opportunity.