Summary:
This chapter sums up the entire book. In the beginning of this chapter Cathy talks about when a professor had his students shut their phones and laptops and to close their eyes. The professor encourages them to try to stay focused on one thing. This goes on for about 5 minutes. The students say that they had trouble staying focused on one thing and that their mind wondered to many different things. Cathy gives a fact to support this, "Neurologist Marcus Raichles's research at Washington University has recently determined that an astonishing 80% of our neural energy is taken up not by external distractions at all but by the mind talking to itself." She talks about how our era now is obsessed with attention, distraction, and multitasking.
Critical Commentary:
I liked this chapter probably the most out all the other chapters because it was shorter and more to the point. It made it easier to read. I think the idea of the book is a good idea, but I think it kind of went into too much detail and made it boring and hard to read. But Cathy does a very good job of supporting her argument with facts, stories, examples and more. The most convincing fact that supports her argument is in this chapter and its when she says that 80% of our distractions are internal not external. For me, this was the one fact that really proved her point. The others did as well, but I think this one was the best. I like how she ended the book with the title and saying that if we change the way we do things and see things, it will help us to "see it". "It", being how we need to change in order to keep up with technology and the way the real world is.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Chapter 8 Now You See It
Summary:
The chapter starts out with Cathy Davidson telling a story about when she was on vacation and injured her arm. She talks about how she had to go through rehab for about 6 months. She would watch the students come into rehab and saw how they didn't give up and kept pushing themselves to get better and this inspired her. She also talks about the "phantom limb". Another person that inspired Cathy was Sadiik, a Somali taxi driver, who drove her to rehab everyday for those 6 months. Cathy says that Radonna said, "Age gets blamed a lot of the times when the operative word should be lazy." This chapter was basically about how people often are just lazy or give up too easily on things, when they should try harder and never give up.
Critical Commentary:
I thought that the way Cathy started this chapter out with a story about her injuring her arm made an interesting way to start the chapter and kind of got you reeled in, so that you want to read more. When she also talks about how she didn't give up on fixing her arm, this gives her good ethos because it shows determination. I also thought it was interesting when she brought up the VCR and how it was a "crappy technology" and how it separated young from old and male and female. Cathy provides many other good stories and examples in this chapter. One of the things I liked was when she quoted Radonna about how a lot of the time people use age as an excuse when its really because they are lazy. Cathy also provides a lot of facts in this chapter. For example, she says that now over 80% of Americans between 50 and 54 are now online.
The chapter starts out with Cathy Davidson telling a story about when she was on vacation and injured her arm. She talks about how she had to go through rehab for about 6 months. She would watch the students come into rehab and saw how they didn't give up and kept pushing themselves to get better and this inspired her. She also talks about the "phantom limb". Another person that inspired Cathy was Sadiik, a Somali taxi driver, who drove her to rehab everyday for those 6 months. Cathy says that Radonna said, "Age gets blamed a lot of the times when the operative word should be lazy." This chapter was basically about how people often are just lazy or give up too easily on things, when they should try harder and never give up.
Critical Commentary:
I thought that the way Cathy started this chapter out with a story about her injuring her arm made an interesting way to start the chapter and kind of got you reeled in, so that you want to read more. When she also talks about how she didn't give up on fixing her arm, this gives her good ethos because it shows determination. I also thought it was interesting when she brought up the VCR and how it was a "crappy technology" and how it separated young from old and male and female. Cathy provides many other good stories and examples in this chapter. One of the things I liked was when she quoted Radonna about how a lot of the time people use age as an excuse when its really because they are lazy. Cathy also provides a lot of facts in this chapter. For example, she says that now over 80% of Americans between 50 and 54 are now online.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Chapter 7 Now You See It
Summary:
This chapter is all about people changing themselves in order to be able to improve working skills. One of things we need to do is see ourselves as others see us. An example of this is when Tony/Lawanda O'Driscoll talks about how we usually don't see ourselves as others see us. If we change this and attempt to see what others see, then we could improve ourselves. Another things we should do is see talents where others see limits. This is basically saying to try to be more positive and see the bright side of something versus the negative. Also, we need to see work as a part of life. Something else we can do to improve ourselves, is to see how and when we can work best together. Other things we need to do are, see the possibilities of mass collaboration, and see the future of work by refusing its past.
Critical Commentary:
When Cathy gives the 6 tips in this chapter about how to improve ourselves when it comes to working, this gives her good ethos, because it kind of shows that she cares and that she is willing to share advice on how to improve ourselves. I like how she has this chapter set up. She gives a tip then some information and examples about it. She uses many good examples to prove her argument. All of them support her argument very well. It was a little confusing when Cathy was talking about Tony/Lawanda O'Discroll. She kept switching from she to he. I'm not quite sure what the point of that was. But even though that part was confusing, I still got the message of that example: We never know where our life is going to go. Things are constantly changing. We could be working in business one day and the next be in the armed forces, for example. I think that all of the tips Cathy gives are very good and will help improve workers.
This chapter is all about people changing themselves in order to be able to improve working skills. One of things we need to do is see ourselves as others see us. An example of this is when Tony/Lawanda O'Driscoll talks about how we usually don't see ourselves as others see us. If we change this and attempt to see what others see, then we could improve ourselves. Another things we should do is see talents where others see limits. This is basically saying to try to be more positive and see the bright side of something versus the negative. Also, we need to see work as a part of life. Something else we can do to improve ourselves, is to see how and when we can work best together. Other things we need to do are, see the possibilities of mass collaboration, and see the future of work by refusing its past.
Critical Commentary:
When Cathy gives the 6 tips in this chapter about how to improve ourselves when it comes to working, this gives her good ethos, because it kind of shows that she cares and that she is willing to share advice on how to improve ourselves. I like how she has this chapter set up. She gives a tip then some information and examples about it. She uses many good examples to prove her argument. All of them support her argument very well. It was a little confusing when Cathy was talking about Tony/Lawanda O'Discroll. She kept switching from she to he. I'm not quite sure what the point of that was. But even though that part was confusing, I still got the message of that example: We never know where our life is going to go. Things are constantly changing. We could be working in business one day and the next be in the armed forces, for example. I think that all of the tips Cathy gives are very good and will help improve workers.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Chapter 6 Now You See It
Summary:
This chapter talks about how the workplace has continued to change. Worker productivity has increased, and not decreased. Cathy also says that we need a workplace makeover just as bad as we need a classroom makeover. She says that most workplaces don't allow "distractions" like the internet, because they believe that it will cause workers to not get their work done as efficiently as they could be. Cathy Davidson thinks the opposite. She also talks about how in the twenty-first century, we need to be able to be able to solve problems in many ways, not just one. Classrooms and most workplaces don't prepare us to do this. Cathy talks about Gloria Mark, who studies multitasking and the mind. Mark says that almost half of our distractions are internal.
Critical Commentary:
I agree with Cathy Davidson when she disagrees that the internet would stop us from getting work done at work. I think that just knowing, I couldn't check my email or get on Facebook would distract me, because that would make me want it even more. Cathy provides many good examples in this chapter, as well as the others, to support her argument. When she talks about Gloria Mark and how she discovered that almost half of distractions are internal, this helps prove Cathy's argument, because it's saying that not all distractions are caused by the internet or technology, therefor it should be allowed in the workplace. I agree with Cathy when she says that the workplace needs a makeover just as bad as the classroom. It is very true. If the workplace doesn't allow "distractions" from the internet, then it makes it seem outdated. We use technology everyday, so it should never be banned. If it can be proven that distractions can help us learn or think better, then that should prove that it should be encouraged in the classroom and in the workplace. This is what Cathy is proving in this chapter and she does a good job of it by giving examples, showing good ethos and providing facts from specialists.
This chapter talks about how the workplace has continued to change. Worker productivity has increased, and not decreased. Cathy also says that we need a workplace makeover just as bad as we need a classroom makeover. She says that most workplaces don't allow "distractions" like the internet, because they believe that it will cause workers to not get their work done as efficiently as they could be. Cathy Davidson thinks the opposite. She also talks about how in the twenty-first century, we need to be able to be able to solve problems in many ways, not just one. Classrooms and most workplaces don't prepare us to do this. Cathy talks about Gloria Mark, who studies multitasking and the mind. Mark says that almost half of our distractions are internal.
Critical Commentary:
I agree with Cathy Davidson when she disagrees that the internet would stop us from getting work done at work. I think that just knowing, I couldn't check my email or get on Facebook would distract me, because that would make me want it even more. Cathy provides many good examples in this chapter, as well as the others, to support her argument. When she talks about Gloria Mark and how she discovered that almost half of distractions are internal, this helps prove Cathy's argument, because it's saying that not all distractions are caused by the internet or technology, therefor it should be allowed in the workplace. I agree with Cathy when she says that the workplace needs a makeover just as bad as the classroom. It is very true. If the workplace doesn't allow "distractions" from the internet, then it makes it seem outdated. We use technology everyday, so it should never be banned. If it can be proven that distractions can help us learn or think better, then that should prove that it should be encouraged in the classroom and in the workplace. This is what Cathy is proving in this chapter and she does a good job of it by giving examples, showing good ethos and providing facts from specialists.
Chapter 5 Now You See It
Summary:
This chapter starts out talking about Voyager Academy. It's a publicly funded charter school in North Carolina. This school allows kids to come up with their own ways to to work toward solutions to problems and relates them to real world situations. There is a huge waiting list to get into this school. One of the students at this school, a boy, who is very far behind in everything, succeeds in this class.Cathy also talks about how games provide an opportunity with a built-in safety net, a place where we aren't limited in options to explore and discover. Games provide distractions. Lots of people play games now. Games can teach us many lessons, like hand-eye coordination, precise fin motor skills and much more.
Critical Commentary:
When Cathy Davidson talks about Voyager Academy, it makes the introduction to the chapter interesting. Instead of going right into what the chapter is all about, she kind of tells a story to grab your attention. This story about the school helps her prove her argument by providing evidence about, how a school taught in a way that goes along with her argument, is successful, therefor all schools should be this way. By her saying that, even a student that was failing and so far behind, even succeeded in the class, tells you that it is a great class. Also, when Cathy talks about video games and how they can really teach us a lot, this helps prove her argument by giving an example of a distraction (video games) and discussing how they can improve our learning. I agree with this to an extent. I do believe video games are a distraction and can help us learn. Even if its an educational game, it can make learning fun and even though its a distraction, it still helps you learn.
This chapter starts out talking about Voyager Academy. It's a publicly funded charter school in North Carolina. This school allows kids to come up with their own ways to to work toward solutions to problems and relates them to real world situations. There is a huge waiting list to get into this school. One of the students at this school, a boy, who is very far behind in everything, succeeds in this class.Cathy also talks about how games provide an opportunity with a built-in safety net, a place where we aren't limited in options to explore and discover. Games provide distractions. Lots of people play games now. Games can teach us many lessons, like hand-eye coordination, precise fin motor skills and much more.
Critical Commentary:
When Cathy Davidson talks about Voyager Academy, it makes the introduction to the chapter interesting. Instead of going right into what the chapter is all about, she kind of tells a story to grab your attention. This story about the school helps her prove her argument by providing evidence about, how a school taught in a way that goes along with her argument, is successful, therefor all schools should be this way. By her saying that, even a student that was failing and so far behind, even succeeded in the class, tells you that it is a great class. Also, when Cathy talks about video games and how they can really teach us a lot, this helps prove her argument by giving an example of a distraction (video games) and discussing how they can improve our learning. I agree with this to an extent. I do believe video games are a distraction and can help us learn. Even if its an educational game, it can make learning fun and even though its a distraction, it still helps you learn.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Chapter 4 Now You See It
Summary:
This chapter talks about how students criticized Cathy for not changing her grading policy for her course. She talks about how everything else has changed or is changing; so should the grading and testing. So she decides to allow students to alternate weekly and grade each other's blog posts. Cathy says that the tests we use now are way outmoded, like we structure classrooms. She talks about how we "measure things" being not as effective as it should be. Cathy also talks about IQ tests in this chapter. She says that three features of how we measure things came together in the machine age. She is saying in this chapter that just because someone does "bad" on a test, doesn't mean they aren't "smart". Also, Cathy says that teachers are teaching students so that they will do good on tests, not so that they will learn.
Critical Commentary:
Cathy shows good ethos in this chapter by admitting that she made a mistake according to her students. The fact that she fixed the problem shows she has good character. I think that it would be a good idea to change how we measure things in school, because in high school, especially, it seems like all the teachers care about is us doing good on tests, not about learning so we will remember the material after the test. Teachers should be more focused on learning and not so much on "grading". I think Cathy's way of changing how she measures is a good idea, but it could also go wrong. If students don't like another student, they might give them a bad group, just because they don't like them. Or they might give someone a good grade because they are friends. But overall I think it is a good idea. Cathy provides many details and examples to help prove her argument. She also gives facts. This makes her writing more convincing and believable.
This chapter talks about how students criticized Cathy for not changing her grading policy for her course. She talks about how everything else has changed or is changing; so should the grading and testing. So she decides to allow students to alternate weekly and grade each other's blog posts. Cathy says that the tests we use now are way outmoded, like we structure classrooms. She talks about how we "measure things" being not as effective as it should be. Cathy also talks about IQ tests in this chapter. She says that three features of how we measure things came together in the machine age. She is saying in this chapter that just because someone does "bad" on a test, doesn't mean they aren't "smart". Also, Cathy says that teachers are teaching students so that they will do good on tests, not so that they will learn.
Critical Commentary:
Cathy shows good ethos in this chapter by admitting that she made a mistake according to her students. The fact that she fixed the problem shows she has good character. I think that it would be a good idea to change how we measure things in school, because in high school, especially, it seems like all the teachers care about is us doing good on tests, not about learning so we will remember the material after the test. Teachers should be more focused on learning and not so much on "grading". I think Cathy's way of changing how she measures is a good idea, but it could also go wrong. If students don't like another student, they might give them a bad group, just because they don't like them. Or they might give someone a good grade because they are friends. But overall I think it is a good idea. Cathy provides many details and examples to help prove her argument. She also gives facts. This makes her writing more convincing and believable.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Chapter 3 Now You See It
Summary:
This chapter is about how technology is advancing and classrooms are not. They are pretty much the same as they always have been. Cathy talks about how at Duke University, an experiment with iPods. They gave iPods to all the Duke students and had them create educational apps for it, to prove that iPods can, in fact, be educational and so can all technology. She also talks about how most students used to be treated all the same and that this is a mistake because everyone learns differently. Also, Cathy says that all of the technology is a great communication source. She also discusses that adults who grew up mostly without technology had to adjust to this new way of life, where technology is used constantly.
Critical Commentary:
Cathy uses a lot of logos in this chapter, as well as the others. She helps prove her argument with sharing the iPod experiment. This proves that something known as a distraction can be very educational and useful when it comes to learning. The fact that the students got to help create educational apps for the iPod allows them to invent and use creativity which is a way of learning. She also uses ethos to prove her argument when she says that when she was in school she didn't have the choice of an iPod or technology. But since she now she uses technology, it proves that she adjusted and so can others. She also shows ethos when she wants her students to use their knowledge to make Wikipedia better, instead of just banning it like most teachers would do. Cathy shows ethos and logos when she talks about how students writing was significantly better when it was in their blog than a traditional term papers. I agree with Cathy when she asks the question "What if bad writing is a product of the dorm of writing required in school...?" I agree with this because when I am being forced to write an essay about a certain topic in a certain way, I just don't enjoy doing it and I get writers block a lot, which can create bad writing.
This chapter is about how technology is advancing and classrooms are not. They are pretty much the same as they always have been. Cathy talks about how at Duke University, an experiment with iPods. They gave iPods to all the Duke students and had them create educational apps for it, to prove that iPods can, in fact, be educational and so can all technology. She also talks about how most students used to be treated all the same and that this is a mistake because everyone learns differently. Also, Cathy says that all of the technology is a great communication source. She also discusses that adults who grew up mostly without technology had to adjust to this new way of life, where technology is used constantly.
Critical Commentary:
Cathy uses a lot of logos in this chapter, as well as the others. She helps prove her argument with sharing the iPod experiment. This proves that something known as a distraction can be very educational and useful when it comes to learning. The fact that the students got to help create educational apps for the iPod allows them to invent and use creativity which is a way of learning. She also uses ethos to prove her argument when she says that when she was in school she didn't have the choice of an iPod or technology. But since she now she uses technology, it proves that she adjusted and so can others. She also shows ethos when she wants her students to use their knowledge to make Wikipedia better, instead of just banning it like most teachers would do. Cathy shows ethos and logos when she talks about how students writing was significantly better when it was in their blog than a traditional term papers. I agree with Cathy when she asks the question "What if bad writing is a product of the dorm of writing required in school...?" I agree with this because when I am being forced to write an essay about a certain topic in a certain way, I just don't enjoy doing it and I get writers block a lot, which can create bad writing.
Chapter 2 Now You See It
Summary:
This chapter is about the biology of our brain when we are learning something. It talks about how we have patterns of attention. It says that neurons are the most basic cells in our nervous system. She also says in this chapter about how just about everything we do requires multitasking. Most of the time we don't even realize this. She gave the example about driving a vehicle. We don't think, "that's a red light, I'm going to take my foot off the gas and put it on the brake so that I can stop". We think, "I see the red light, I'm going to stop". We don't think about all the steps as we do them; we just do them. Cathy also mentions the Hebbian principle: Neurons that fire together, wire together. She also talks about how we have to unlearn things in order to learn new things.
Critical Commentary:
In this chapter, Cathy uses a lot of logos. She provides a lot of facts and scientific information to help prove her argument. When she talks about the biology of our brain when we learn, this makes her argument more convincing by making it more believable because it has scientific evidence to back it up. When she uses the infant example, like she did in the previous chapter, it gives a simple way to understand what she is saying. When Cathy talks about how walking is a simple task that requires almost no thinking for us, but for a young baby just learning to walk it is very complex. This proves that we must unlearn things, because once the child is a little older and walking all of the time, they must unlearn to think about what they are doing when they walk and learn to not think about it and just do it. Cathy does a pretty good job or proving her point in this chapter, as well as the previous. She gives many examples to help you understand.
This chapter is about the biology of our brain when we are learning something. It talks about how we have patterns of attention. It says that neurons are the most basic cells in our nervous system. She also says in this chapter about how just about everything we do requires multitasking. Most of the time we don't even realize this. She gave the example about driving a vehicle. We don't think, "that's a red light, I'm going to take my foot off the gas and put it on the brake so that I can stop". We think, "I see the red light, I'm going to stop". We don't think about all the steps as we do them; we just do them. Cathy also mentions the Hebbian principle: Neurons that fire together, wire together. She also talks about how we have to unlearn things in order to learn new things.
Critical Commentary:
In this chapter, Cathy uses a lot of logos. She provides a lot of facts and scientific information to help prove her argument. When she talks about the biology of our brain when we learn, this makes her argument more convincing by making it more believable because it has scientific evidence to back it up. When she uses the infant example, like she did in the previous chapter, it gives a simple way to understand what she is saying. When Cathy talks about how walking is a simple task that requires almost no thinking for us, but for a young baby just learning to walk it is very complex. This proves that we must unlearn things, because once the child is a little older and walking all of the time, they must unlearn to think about what they are doing when they walk and learn to not think about it and just do it. Cathy does a pretty good job or proving her point in this chapter, as well as the previous. She gives many examples to help you understand.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Chapter 1 Now You See It
Summary:
In this chapter, Cathy talks about the Cymbalta ad. She talks about how the company who made and designed the ad, try to make it more appealing to the viewers. They do this by making sure to grab our attention in the first few seconds of the commercial. According to Draftfcb's motto (the company who produced the Cymbalta commercial), a typical viewer only pays attention to 6.5 seconds of an ad. She also talks about how they use distraction in the commercial. When they name off all of the dangerous side effects, they show happy images and music, to distract the viewer from noticing all the bad things about the product. She also mentions that we are more likely to remember positive things than negative things. Another thing Cathy talks about in this chapter is how we learn about distraction when we are infants and how differently, different cultures interact with their children and how it can affect how the child sees things when they are older.
Critical Commentary:
I think it is interesting about how companies who produce ads, plan everything out to make sure the viewer pays attention to the main point of the ad; the product they are trying to sell. I also think it's crazy, but somewhat believable, that most viewers only pay attention to 6.5 seconds of an ad. In this chapter, Cathy does a good job of grabbing your attention in the beginning of the chapter, so that you start out interested. She does this by describing what she is going to talk about in the chapter, without directly telling you at first. This makes you want to find out what it's about. It is very interesting when she talks about the differences of different cultures when they interact with their children. I never really realized how different it was. Cathy uses a lot of repetition, in her writing. This can be a good thing, but can also be bad. It can be good, because it makes her point or objective stand out. It can be bad because it can make the reading a little boring somethings and it seems to drag on. Cathy provides many interesting facts in her writing, which makes her argument seem more convincing. One of the interesting facts she uses is "A study conducted in 2009 revealed that newborns cry in the language patterns they hear in utero." Her argument in the book is that distraction is a good thing, but this chapter specifically talks about how we learn from distraction.
In this chapter, Cathy talks about the Cymbalta ad. She talks about how the company who made and designed the ad, try to make it more appealing to the viewers. They do this by making sure to grab our attention in the first few seconds of the commercial. According to Draftfcb's motto (the company who produced the Cymbalta commercial), a typical viewer only pays attention to 6.5 seconds of an ad. She also talks about how they use distraction in the commercial. When they name off all of the dangerous side effects, they show happy images and music, to distract the viewer from noticing all the bad things about the product. She also mentions that we are more likely to remember positive things than negative things. Another thing Cathy talks about in this chapter is how we learn about distraction when we are infants and how differently, different cultures interact with their children and how it can affect how the child sees things when they are older.
Critical Commentary:
I think it is interesting about how companies who produce ads, plan everything out to make sure the viewer pays attention to the main point of the ad; the product they are trying to sell. I also think it's crazy, but somewhat believable, that most viewers only pay attention to 6.5 seconds of an ad. In this chapter, Cathy does a good job of grabbing your attention in the beginning of the chapter, so that you start out interested. She does this by describing what she is going to talk about in the chapter, without directly telling you at first. This makes you want to find out what it's about. It is very interesting when she talks about the differences of different cultures when they interact with their children. I never really realized how different it was. Cathy uses a lot of repetition, in her writing. This can be a good thing, but can also be bad. It can be good, because it makes her point or objective stand out. It can be bad because it can make the reading a little boring somethings and it seems to drag on. Cathy provides many interesting facts in her writing, which makes her argument seem more convincing. One of the interesting facts she uses is "A study conducted in 2009 revealed that newborns cry in the language patterns they hear in utero." Her argument in the book is that distraction is a good thing, but this chapter specifically talks about how we learn from distraction.
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