Clay Shirky Summary Response Larissa Ibarra

    Clay Shirky's "How cognitive surplus will change the world" describes the importance of using cognitive surplus to civic work. He defines cognitive surplus as, "the ability of the worlds population to volunteer and to contribute and collaborate on large sometimes global projects" (Shirky). Shirky talks about how most of the information humans encounter on the internet is communal, communal information is information made by the participant for the participant. On the other hand civic information is created by the participant for the entire world to enjoy. He highlights a website,Ushahidi, dedicated to having and sharing information about Kenya called "crisis mapping".  After Shirky speaks about Ushahidi he makes the point that most spend their time on the internet on things that do not benefit the world, but if everyone devoted some of their free time to helping the rest of the world, the whole world could change by helping each other.

    “How cognitive surplus will change the world” by Clay Shirky effectively portrays how valuable it is to contribute to digital technology to help others because of how much free time the world has to be making a difference. If everyone gave some of their time to spread the information on somewhere like Ushahidi the world would be able to see what is going on in the rest of world and could help. This idea of using cognitive surplus to spread information could benefit schools because relief projects could be started in school if even more websites were created around the world. A crisis mapping website could even be created for schools, if there is a problem such as a broken water fountain or a leak in the roof it could be posted on the website by students or staff members so it could be fixed and all of the information could be kept in one spot. Shirky’s presentation style was very visual which made the information easier to take in because there was a lot of different connects made throughout his talk. He also had a growing graph within his presentation which was nice to have because instead of have all of the information thrown at you at once it only revealed the information he was discussing at the time.

 

 

Shirky was also very descriptive with his hands used his gestures to convey the movement of something of to show emphasis on it.

The Ted talk was told a story, which from Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind is the best way to give a message or tell information. “How cognitive surplus will change the world” can help me with my own Ted talk because of the visuals and how they captivate the audience. Clay Shirky defines cognitive surplus and show how it can be used to benefit the whole world.

Dan Pink Summary Response Larissa Ibarra

Dan Pink’s “Motivation” shows how extrinsic motivation does not always work for open solution problems. Pink discussed how The Candle Problem can not be motivated by a material reward. A loose, flexible work space also proved to result in better work and worker turnover declines. Intrinsic motivation, working for a greater cause, is more successful for motivating someone to complete a problem that could potentially have multiple solutions, it also helps creativity flow. When given a problem with only one clear solution extrinsic motivation such as money or some type of material reward is successful. However, for a creative, overall good work environment intrinsic motivation works better. Pink presents a case that can not be argued with along with a new way of thinking.

“Motivation” by Dan Pink effectively portrays how extrinsic motivation is not the only effective means of motivation. Results Only Work Environment is more drastic example of how intrinsic motivation receives better work results than extrinsic. Pink also presents the results of The Candle Problem, two groups of people were told to solve the candle problem. One group was told that if they were in the top 25% people to solve the problem they would receive five dollars and if they were the fastest 20 dollars. The results were surprising, the group that had the extrinsic motivation finished three and a half minutes slower than those with no rewards. If schools started demonstrating more intrinsic is could change how students worked and could unlock new creativity in students’ minds. If big projects or essays were motivated less with the hope of a good grade and more of having the students do it for the hope that it will benefit the rest of the world or the class the projects or essays could get results of a more creative project or expanding beyond the requirements. If this idea of intrinsic motivation being used in the workplace was implemented in all work placed the world would be flowing with new ideas, creativity and overall better production rates. This type of motivation has been very successful at big companies such as Google, “20% time -- done, famously, at Google -- where engineers can spend 20% of their time working on anything they want. They have autonomy over their time, their task, their team, their technique. Radical amounts of autonomy. And at Google, as many of you know, about half of the new products in a typical year are birthed during that 20% time: things like Gmail, Orkut, Google News” (Pink). Pink presented his Ted talk like a court case, “I want to make a case. I want to make a hard-headed, evidence-based, dare I say lawyerly case, for rethinking how we run our businesses” (Pink.) Presenting the information is this way ensured that it was factual and made it seems more believable because he was almost trying to persuade the audience. Pink did not directly interact with the audience but the way he gave the information keep you on your toes and made you want to dig deeper into the subject. As well as speaking in an upbeat tone he used hand gestures and moved around the stage to keep the audience captivated.

Dan Pink’s talk was interesting and could applied to my own life if I based my talk on fact but still kept it intriguing and genuine the audience would be attentive and interested in the subject. Dan Pink’s “Motivation” conveys how any work space should be motivated by the greater good instead of a material reward.

Sarah Kay Summary Response Larissa Ibarra

Sarah Kay’s “If I Should Have a Daughter” displays how she tries to walk through life with an open heart and mind. She also discusses how she always tries to stay simple with who she is and tries to stay true to herself. Another topic she discusses is how she really became a poet and how when teaching teenagers to write poetry she always tells them to write down 10 things they know to be true. Sarah Kay spreads the idea of truth and openness through “If I Should Have a Daughter.

Through “If I Should Have a Daughter” Sarah Kay demonstrates how open mindedness, open handedness, and open heartedness can improve the world because of how understanding different cultures or people would be. If someone is closed off completely they could miss the most important details of life as well as not experience anything wholeheartedly. If teachers were more accepting of every learning types and saw different perspectives new curriculums and teaching systems might be implemented. If the same philosophy was to be used by everyone in the world there would be no war, all cultures would be accepted, and there would be no prejudice. Sarah Kay was also very captivating. She had a great use of words and is honest with the audience, “my knees still buckle” (Kay). Kay also used very expressive hand gestures. One could also tell how honest and real she was being with the audience by her tone. Along with her tone she included the audience with having the audience write down three thing they know to be true. One way I could use Kay’s talk with my own is her tone, it was calming and also very honest. “If I Should Have a Daughter” shows how one’s talk can be playful, honest, and still make you think about your decisions.

Ken Robinson Summary Response Larissa Ibarra

In “How Schools Kill Creativity” Ken Robinson discusses how the arts have been considered an inferior subject for students to be invested in. He states that all children have natural talents they can offer the world, but school systems squander the hope of having an artistically inclined career. Robinson also makes the point that intelligence can come in many ways and can be experienced in many ways. Overall the video conveys that everyone has a great deal of creativity to offer.

Ken Robinson’s “How Schools Kill Creativity” effectively portrays how much students have to offer and also how schools tend to oppress the artistic, creative side of children. Robinson speaks about how intelligence is experienced through many things and how it can differ depending on the person, “And the third thing about intelligence is, it's distinct” (Robinson). Robinson also talks about a woman, Gillian Lynne, who was always told that she had learning problems. However, she just learned differently and ended up becoming a successful choreographer. If schools started catering to the arts just as much as math and science a generation of creators and new thinkers would rise. The world would become a place of efficiency and well as beauty if the artistic types were not told to hide their creativity. Along with wonderful insight on creativity Robinson also presented the information in a very effective way. He was straight forward and also included the audience with questions that made the audience want to dive deeper into the subject. While he was straight forward he also made some parts humorous a which was a good relief from all of the information. I think Robinson’s style could help me with my Ted Talk in the way that I would like to add some bits of humor into mine along with pieces that really gets the audience thinking. “How Schools Kill Creativity” shows how every person’s intelligence should be highlighted and celebrated.  

Scribe 2/27/15

Work time

Conclusion Paragraph- Solutions, can be video, concept map, basically anything

Have writing and your website done

peer editing Monday and Tuesday 

Question for Cory Doctorow

Do you think our government will ever get like the one in Little Brother? 

Larissa Ibarra Franklin Quote Summary Response

A quote by Ben Franklin states that those who are willing to give up their freedoms should not be granted safety or freedom.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety", said by Ben Franklin, correctly portrays the American way of thought on security and freedom. Humans will sacrifice their privacy to a point where they have none just for temporary security. One can see how the American society is constantly allowing its government to invade their privacy. Letting the government have access their daily activities and searches in order to be protected from terrorism is almost outrageous. Most would rather have their privacy rather than temporarily be safe from terrorism, “More than 60 percent of respondents said they value privacy over anti-terror protections” (Associated). Many would rather have some parts of their life private instead of only being protected for a short period of time against terrorism. Being protected is a priority in American society, but terrorism is always updating and changing, there is almost no possible way for the government to keeps Americans safe from every attack. When the people of the United States' students start being tracked it becomes excessive, "the technology was easy to acquire, meaning people outside a school might be able to monitor a student if they obtained the student’s unique tracking number" (Chammah). The school started putting these tracking devices in the school ids for attendance purposes but with the technology so easy to access it puts the students at risk. The devices are doing more harm than good, they invade the students' privacy as well as endanger them.

However, giving up privacy can be worth sacrificing if it means being safe. In some instances letting go of some privacy can be essential to staying safe. Being protected from terrorism sometimes is more important than privacy, "A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, and most support the blanket tracking of telephone records in an effort to uncover terrorist activity” (Cohen). The government's efforts should be spent keeping America safe and if that means sacrificing personal privacy than American society should be willing to have their telephone records tracked. Everyone wants to have their privacy but some value their safety more. Some want their everyday activities to stay private and if they give up their privacy for security but they end up not being safe, all of their sacrificing was almost a waste. Security can only be kept temporarily and privacy is not worth giving up for a short period of safety.

At first glance giving up privacy seems like a reasonable price to pay for safety. This position seems reasonable because if a terrorist attack occurs then one would be willing to have the government track them if it meant catching and stopping a terrorist. But it's more complicated than that, if the government if busy tracking and monitoring everyone and honing in on anyone that looks suspicious then anyone can look like a terrorist or threat. With all of the government's energy being spent on monitoring everyone the chances of them catching a terrorist is very slim and they can only guarantee safety if they actually catch a terrorist. Also, there will always be another threat the government can not protect its people from everything therefore giving up all of one's privacy is pointless.

   

Works Cited

ASSOCIATED PRESS. "Poll: Americans Value Privacy over Security." POLITICO. Politico, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 04 Feb. 2015.

                  Cohen, John. "Most Americans Back NSA Tracking Phone Records, Prioritize Probes over Privacy." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 10 June 2013. Web. 04 Feb. 2015.

Chammah, Maurice, and Nick Swartsell. "Student IDs That Track the Students." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Oct. 2012. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.