Glen Bull’s article discusses the possibility of recognizing and utilizing technology that students are already using outside of class and being able to harness it and the hours of passive engagement towards some academic goal. Cognitive surplus is the excess brain power not being utilized while people are engaged in passive activities such as watching TV.
Question 1- “Shirkey highlights the expanded range of participatory media options as a key social difference between the 20th century and today” But is this a positive difference that has led to benefits for students or society as a whole? Although there has been a degree of expansion in media that people actually participate in I don’t think that this is inherently been a positive thing. More than anything it seems that these people are engaging with the technology as opposed to other human beings such as with mp3 players, video games. The internet as a whole allows for people to simply place mirrors in front of their faces and consume and engage in things and ideas that they already think or know as opposed to having to interact with new or contradictory perspectives.
Question 2- “How to connect out-of-school activities with academic goals” ? Some of the most used technologies used out side of school are video games, phones, and the internet. One way to make connections and make these things pertinent is to have students write or produce projects on how they use these things or what they represent. One example could be video games and a project could be to have them choose one of their favorite games and have them break down every aspect of the game such as; who made it, who is it marketed to, what social construct does it enforce or expose, who does it benefit, what are the cultural, historical, and political aspects of the narrative that the designers used? These are questions and a mindset that more often than not students do not have while buying or playing these games but academically, and for life in general, it is imperative.
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