Assignment Description Unit 4

• Prompt and assignment description for unit 4
• Graff, "How to Write an Argument" 

Texts that Respond to Carr

• Shirky, "Does The Internet Make You Smarter?" (pdf,  web page)  This text takes on Carr's claims directly, acknowledging some of his points but complicating the overall argument.
• Pinker, "Mind Over Mass Media" Pinker challenges Carr, mounting a direct and rather dismissive attack on his entire project.
• Howard Rheingold, "Attention Literacy."  Rheingold argues that "you need to learn how to exercise mindful deployment of your attention online if you are going to become a critical consumer of digital media." Rheingold does not believe the internet inevitably produces the effects Carr claims, but suggests that students must be taught how to manage and be aware of how they direct their attention. 
• Encyclopedia Britannica hosted a forum on Carr's text. Many prominent writers responded with some short, lively posts. Here, for example,  is Clay Shirky's "Why Abundance is Good: A Reply to Nick Carr." Some of these texts support Carr, some extend his claims, others complicate, challenge or qualify them.

• Edge magazine hosted an online debate of Carr's article.  Again, there are a lot of short texts by prominent writers and prognosticators, including W. Daniel Hillis, Kevin Kelly, Larry Sanger, George Dyson, Jaron Lanier,Douglas Rushkoff,W. Daniel Hillis, David Brin  

Texts You Can Draw on to "Enter the Conversation"

• PBS video on new media and changes in cognition (10 minutes).  Science correspondent Miles O'Brien looks at what could be happening to teenagers' brains as they develop in a rapid-fire, multitasking world of technology and gadgets. Jan 5, 2011.
• Jones & Hafner, “Information Everywhere" and "Critical Digital Literacy" 
• "Serious reading takes a hit from online scanning and skimming, researchers say." By Michael S. Rosenwald, Published: April 6. 
• Is Online Skimming Hurting Reading Comprehension? Transcript (and audio) of Robin Young's interview with Maryanne Wolf, cognitive neuroscientist at Tufts University. Wolf discusses her concerns and her research. She fears that the practice of the internet is ruining our ability for “deep reading.” 
• Students Reading E-Books Are Losing Out, Study Suggests. By ANNIE MURPHY PAUL. New York Times, APRIL 10, 2014
• To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand Students do worse on quizzes when they use keyboards in class. ROBINSON MEYER, Atlantic Monthly, MAY 1 2014.
• What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades? MARIA KONNIKOVAJUNE 2, 2014 New York Times.
• The World is Digital, But Please Close Your Laptop in Class. By Peter C. Herman. (SDSU Professor) 
•  Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes. Katherine Hayles. Profession 2007. 
• The Flight From Conversation. New York Times, April 21, 2012. Sherry Turkle is a psychologist and professor at M.I.T. and the author, most recently, of “Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other.”
• Why Can’t Johnny Write? Don’t Blame Social Media.  http://mashable.com/2013/03/04/social-media-ffect-on-writing/ 
•   “2b or not 2b?”  David Crystal. The Guardian, July 2008.  Despite doom-laden prophecies, texting has not been the disaster for language many feared, argues linguistics professor David Crystal. On the contrary, it improves children's writing and spelling
•  Talking With Your Fingers By JOHN MCWHORTER, April 23, 2012.
•  John McWhorter, TED talk: Txtng is killing language. JK!!