Virtual You: How Building Your Digital Twin Will Revolutionize Medicine and Change Your Life

Coverney, Peter and Roger Highfield. Virtual You: How Building Your Digital Twin Will Revolutionize Medicine and Change Your Life. 2023. 332p. ISBN 9780691223278.

The evolution of medical knowledge and of medical technologies has led to something unthinkable even a few years ago. It is now possible to build an exact replica of you digitally, which can then be experimented on to determine best treatment options, as well as model the impact of several decisions, such as lifestyle changes, diet improvement, or therapies that could extend your lifespan or diagnose diseases before they even occur.

Computers, machine learning, and artificial intelligence now combine to analyze and sequence your DNA, allowing the genetic code that makes you to be digitized. It is then simply a question of running your DNA through tests and scenarios to see what happens to you. Virtual You describes the process of creating a digital copy of you, from all of the intricacies of the human body to more philosophical questions, such as the impact that predictive medicine would have on people, especially in its infancy where only those who can afford it would benefit from it. One step removed will be the interaction of your digital twin with the digital twins of other people. Would you like to know you might have colon cancer in your 50s when you are 15? What your child could look like and be like based on the digital twin profile of a prospective lover? Would you change how you live based on a prediction? 

Fans of medicine and of what the future will look like will appreciate the latest scientific advances described in Virtual You, and how these will change society in the years to come.

E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

Clark, Ruth and Richard Mayer. E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning. 2016. 528p. ISBN 9781119158660. 

The shift to e-learning has led to an explosion of multimedia options. Online courses can now incorporate presentations, videos, audio, and text-based discussions to facilitate learning. Many of these tools, however, are not used properly. Cognitive psychology and principle of learning often contradict each other, and changes in how we understand the way the human brain works continue to add to our knowledge of cognitive science. 

Designed for course instructors and for multimedia creators, E-Learning and the Science of Instruction explores the psychology behind how we learn and presents the most effective techniques to ensure that the communication of information to learners is as effective as possible.

The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Traning and Education

Kapp, Karl M. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Traning and Education. 2012. 302p. ISBN 9781118096345.

In the last 30 years, the arrival of computers in schools changed education from a process driven by a teacher standing in front of the classroom distributing information while students took notes, to one where students are increasingly more responsible for guiding their own learning. One of the major change that has occurred has been the addition of games in educational settings, particularly video games. Used as engaging tools to develop skills and deliver content, digital games have evolved from off-the-shelf commercial games adapted for narrow purposes in specific school programs, to a bevy of educational games developed specifically for the educational market and its 1:1 program of providing a device for every student.

Digital engagement is important to motivate students and foster curiosity, but games can do so much more, from developing life-long interests to exploring topics in a safe and secure manner. Ultimately, gamification gives the student more control over their own educational outcomes. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction explores what gamification is, and how games can be developed to achieve specific learning goals and objectives. Learning theories are explored and applied to gamification, and the results of decades of research is presented to explain how games can be effective in education. The various types of game players are examined, before delving into the role of novice and expert players. Finally, gamification design processes are outlined. 

Those interested in how games can be implemented in a classroom will appreciate the details presented in this book that remains factual almost a decade after being first published.

Digital Games and Learning: Research and Theory

Whitton, Nicole. Digital Games and Learning: Research and Theory. 2014. ISBN 978-0-415-62939-3.

Though educational computer games have existed for decades, the arrival of the iPad and competing tablets suddenly trust the educational market wide open for developer of apps and for those who were interested in creating and sustaining motivation while learning digitally. In this well-researched book, Whitton discusses the theoretical underpinnings of motivation and how these apply in the world of digital learning. She dives into game theory and how it can be used to foster learning and interest. She considers how gamification and play can be implemented in almost every facet of the educational world, helping students learn from each other and being empowered to guide their own learning. Teachers transform into guides who support students in their exploration, providing structure and resources while students explore topics of interest to them.

Whitton predicted three trends in game-based learning. First, game-based learning will quickly saturate and force a move towards more playification, which embeds both exploration, creation, and higher-order thinking. This trend has already started, with students no longer satisfied with leaderboard positions or badges, but wanting more ability to customize and guide their own learning. The second trend she predicts is the development of game-making capabilities instead of game-using. Though there are many games that can be used to create user material, these are by no means the norm, and most educational games remain focused on delivering content instead of allowing users to create their own. The third trend she predicts is the rise of mobile gaming, where the learning spaces can be adapted to physical and virtual environments. Augmented reality, such as Pokemon Go, and Virtual Reality such as Half Life, are already here, and better gear is being developed to incorporate these new modes of displaying information in devices such as phones and tablets. Only seven years have passed since Whitton’s predictions, but despite her warning that they were unlikely to happen during her lifetime, it is clear that education is changing, and that digital games will play an outsize role in guiding students in their learning.

Fake News and the Factories that Make It

Heitkamp, Kristina Lyn. Fake News and the Factories that Make It. Part of the Critical Thinking About Digital Media series. 2019. 80p. ISBN 978-1-978504-72-1. Available at 070.43 HEI on the library shelves.

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 was marred by Russian meddling and the spreading of what became known as "fake news." This phrase has entered the lexicon and has permeated the national discourse, and has been used repeatedly by the President to decry news that are not fake but rather unflattering to himself. This is not the first time that the words "fake news" have been used, however. American history is replete with yellow journalism and sensationalistic headlines, from Benjamin Franklin's completely fabricated reports of British and Indian atrocities against American settlers to today's social media trolls enhancing and promoting disinformation.

What is "fake news"? At their heart, fake news are information that are not accurate. They range from reasonable mistakes in reporting to disingenuous pieces of propaganda designed to sway public opinion one way or another. They can come from citizens who do not take the time to fact check their information, or they can come from aboard where people create articles to drive traffic to their websites and generate advertising revenues.

It is dependent on readers to carefully consume information and seek confirmation from different sources. If a headline appears too sensational or unbelievable, it probably is. An informed citizenry is essential to a thriving democracy, and fake news, if not checked, will undermine the nation's stability.