Reflection on Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky

Reflection on Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky

            Our most recent book study focused on the book, Cognitive Surplus, by Clay Shirky.  In this book, cognitive surplus refers to the free time people have to engage in collaborative activities, with a focus on the tools that web 2.0 has brought forward.   Shirky uses several examples to support his theory that the way people are using their free time now, is much more productive and valuable than it once was.  In chapter one, Shirky compared the Gin Craze in London in the 1720’s and becoming couch-potatoes after World War 2 as examples of how society has and does use its free time in unproductive ways. 
            Shirky explains that watching TV is a very passive activity and lacks interaction.  Although this is true, “Americans watch roughly two hundred billion hours of TV every year.” (pg. 10)  Many people watch TV when they are feeling lonely and the characters in the programs are like “imaginary friends.” (pg. 7)  Today, the resources and opportunities that are available on the web, have given people other options.  Instead of acting as a consumer, people can network, receive information, blog, communicate, and so on.  Shirky states on page 63 that “Flexible, cheap, and inclusive media now offers us opportunities to do all sorts of things we once didn’t do. In the world of “the media,” we were like children, sitting quietly at the edge of a circle and consuming whatever the grown-ups in the center of the circle produced. That has given way to a world in which most forms of communication, public and private, are available to everyone in some form.”  
            This book caused me to reflect on how I spend my surplus of time.  When I think about it, I really don’t have much “free time.”  As an educator, I spend my days teaching and my evenings are usually spent planning or preparing in some way for my job or graduate classes.  This leaves me with limited free time, yet when it does arise, I do spend time online connecting with people, sharing ideas, posting comments, and reading articles.  As Shirky points out in the above comment from page 63, people, myself included, are spending less time watching television and more time interacting on the web.  Furthermore, I like to think that I have some sense of balance in the way that I spend my time outside of sleeping and work related activities. I find time to socialize (face-to-face), read, exercise, shop, in addition to watching television and utilizing the web. 
            After reflecting on the ways I spend my free time, I started to think about how my students (5 and 6 year olds) spend their free time.  When I was growing up, my parents made sure that my brother and sisters and I spent plenty of time being active.   Instead we spent time play make-believe, board games, riding bikes with the neighborhood kids, swimming, and with an occasional TV show or movie.  From what my students share about their interests, many of them do spend an excessive amount of time watching TV, movies, or playing video games. Is this because parents are spending more time on interacting with others the web and creating lolcats, than interacting with their children? Maybe. It is my hope that parents are taking the time to connect and converse with their children whenever it is possible. It really makes me think about how my own life will change when I have children of my own.  Setting an example and modeling appropriate behaviors and interests is one of the most important things that parents do.  I know that once I have children, many of the things I spend my free time doing now will change.
            In conclusion, Shirky makes a great case that the way society spends its surplus of time has changed drastically over time.  I found this book to be an easy read and very though provoking. I was glad to read that people are watching less television, and my hope is that people spend their cognitive surplus in a productive and educational way. 

Reflection on What the Internet is Doing to our Brains The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

Molly Demrow

EDL755

November 5, 2011

            This week our book study focused on The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. This book was very engaging and made some very interesting points about what the Internet and technology for that matter, is used for and what it is doing to our brains. It is clear that the Internet and other technological advances have played a role in our society, culture, learning, and in Carr’s opinion, our brains’ inner workings.  However, has it made all of us shallow thinkers as the title suggests?   

            In chapter one, Carr talks about the changes in the way his brain works by discussing his difficulty in reading and analyzing lengthy texts.  “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” (Carr, 2011, pg. 7)  He is referring to the difficulty he has in immersing himself in a book.  Instead he prefers to scan and skim blogs or online articles to do research. I know this is not the case for everyone, but I can see how Carr would feel that the Internet is changing the way we process information.  Personally, I have difficulty getting into books at times; however that is not always the case.  One of my most important jobs in teaching kindergarten is helping my students gain the skills and knowledge they need to learn to read. I hate to think that once my students get a bit older and spend more time online, that they will ditch their critical thinking skills and look to the Internet as their quick source of knowledge.    

            This lack of critical thinking is a primary concern for Carr, as he elaborates on some recent brain research.  Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel spent a lot of time doing brain research to find that the brain is “massively plastic.”  (Carr, 2011, pg. 26) Our brains change in response to our experiences.  The way that we use technology to locate, store, and distribute information can reroute our neural pathways.  This supports Carr’s opinions about how the fast-paced information library we call the Internet, can actually change how our brain responds to new information.

            In chapter three, Tools of the Mind, Carr talks about different technological advancements and their role in society.  The development of the alphabet, maps, clocks, typewriter, computer, and the Internet changed the way society thought at that time.  For example, the Greeks developed the first complete alphabet around 750 B.C.  The alphabet consisted of twenty four characters and was used as a system for writing and reading. However, “Recent brain studies reveal that considerably less of the brain is activated in reading words formed from phonetic letters than in interpreting logograms or other pictorial symbols.” (Carr, 2011, pg. 53)  This is very easily related to the use of computers and the Internet.  Not long ago (at least I’d like to think it wasn’t long ago), research was done by going to the library and searching for information in stacks of books.  This process took a lot of deep thinking and analytical skill.  Today, with the click of a few buttons, information on any topic you could imagine is readily available.  The deep thinking skills are unnecessary. It seems that while technology developments have made our lives easier, is that really what we want?      

             The Internet and technology have changed the way we find information, but it has also changed how educators meet the needs of their students. When I began my teaching career in 2008, I was lucky enough to walk in to a second grade classroom with all of the latest technological tools at my fingertips.  I had a brand new computer, SmartBoard, document camera, and a LCD projector.  Although I felt very fortunate, I thought back to when I was in second grade and how vastly different our “learning tools” were.  I always enjoyed school and found it very engaging, even though I was only able to use a computer once a week and the most popular technology in classrooms was a tape player.  In today’s world, educators must work hard to prepare students for life outside of the classroom.  This requires technology to be integrated into our teaching every day, however it does not dismiss the need to teach critical thinking skills and promote contemplation and reflection. 

            In my opinion, with society’s dependence on cell phones, iPods, computers, the Internet, to name a few, there is no turning back.  The use of these technologies (with more to come) is now a way of life.  Reading this book really made me reflect on how technology has changed how I live. I realized much to my dismay, that I am very dependent on technology.  I no longer need to know how to read a map, I have a GPS.  I don’t need to go to the library; I can research online and download books to my computer or a Kindle. There is no need to buy stamps, I can pay my bills and write emails online.  It will be interesting to see what technology brings to us in the future!