Imaginethatyouareanassistantmanager,muchlikeAnneHathawayin
TheDevilWears
Prada.
Yourbosscallsyouintohisorherofficetotalkaboutupcomingeventsandthingsthat
theyneedyoutopreparefor.Suddenlyyouarepushedfromconcentratingonthedetailsofthe
conversationtohavingtonotedowneverythingyourbosssaysandthenhavingtogotypeitup
intoagoogledocumenttothencopyandpasteittoamassemailandgothroughseveralideasof
marketingplansthatyourbosssendstoyoualltobedonewithinthehour.Suddenlyyourfocus
isontenthingsatthesametime,theclockisticking.Areyougoingtobeabletogetitdone?
Yourfocusissplitandyounolongercanmaintaingoingthrougheverymotioninalinear
manner.Thenyou'reconfrontedwithasituationthatoftentimesyouweren'tconfrontedwithon
adailybasisatschool.Didtheyreallychallengeyourhyperattention,whichistheabilityto
focusondifferenttaskswhileyourbrainstreamsininformationfromdifferentsources?Hyper
attentionisacognitivemodethatisoftencharacterizedbyanindividualsabilitytoshiftfocus
rapidly.Hyperattentionisnotsomethingthatshouldbefearedbutacceptedandimplementedin
educationalinstitutionstofurtherpreparestudentsfortheircareers.
Presently,educationalinstitutionsarehavingdifficultycomingtotermswithhyper
attention.Educationalinstitutionselaborateondeepattentionskillsbutcondemnsskillsthat
pertainstohyperattention.AsdefinedbyN.KatherineHaylesinHyper&DeepAttention:The
GenerationalDivideinCognitiveModes,deepattentionisacognitivestylethatis
characterizedbyconcentratingonasingleobjectforlongperiods,ignoringoutsidestimuli
(Hayles187).Recentgenerationsaremovingawayfromdeepattentionandimmersinginto
hyperattention.Educatorsoftenblametheriseofhyperactivityontheriseoftechnologyandthe
explosionofmedia.Theyoftenjokeandsuggestthatstudentscannotreadabookcovertocover.
Hyperattentioncarriesanegativeweight,butitisn'tallbad.Haylesarguesthatthisgeneration
islesscapableofmaintainingdeepattentionthanpreviousgenerations,butitalsoisimportant
tonotethatstudentsareheldatdifferentstandardsbyemployersandtheoutsideworld.
EducatorsemphasizethatthisgenerationrefusestoreadDickenscovertocover,buttheyfailto
cometotermswiththefactthatthemessageDickensisattemptingtoconveydoesnotalways
resonatewiththeadvancementsthatstudentsarefacedwithintodaystechnologicallydriven
society.Inhighereducationalinstitutions,professorsareabletocreateanambiancewhere
studentshavetoexperiencebothdeepandhyperattention.Theytrainmindsintoacceptingthe
realityofbothcognitivemodes.Educatorswanttoengagestudentsandreelthemintocourse
materialbuttheyalsoneedtoreformcurriculumintoacceptinghyperattentiontasksasamethod
ofpreparingstudentsforwhatemployersdemandemployeesthatcandealwithmultitasking.
Ourcultureembracestheconceptoffastpaceeverything.Fastpacecars,food,music,
andtechnology.Thishastrickleddowntoimpactthewaythatwe,asindividuals,takein
informationandperform.Alargedisconnectexistsbetweenthisculturethatwehaveembodied
andoureducationalclassrooms,especiallythoseingradesK12.Theinabilitytofocusonone
thingatatimeandfullyconcentratepushesstudentstousesubstanceslikeAdderall.Adderallis
atypeofdrugthat,asexplainedbyMargaretTalbotinBrainGain,is
astimulantcomposed
ofmixedamphetaminesalts
(Talbot),thatisoftenprescribedtoindividualswhoarediagnosed
withADHD(AttentionDeficitHyperactivityDisorder).Employersdemandpeoplethatcan
dominateboththedeepandhyperattentioncognitivemodestohelpthemfulfilltasks.
Employersrequirethatemployeesbeabletoshiftfromastateofindependentfocuswherethere
isonlyonestreamofinformationbutalsotoastateofmindwheretheycanhandlemultiple
informationstreamswheretheyareactivelyseekingahighlevelofstimulation,andhavinga
lowtoleranceofboredom(Hayles187).Forexample,STEMfieldsrequirejustthat.They
demandtohaveresearchersandengineersthatcanzeroinandcountsmallgroupsofbacteriaand
paycloseattentiontothesmallchangesthatcanoccuronapetridishorbeabletounderstand
themechanicsbehindbuildingaroboticarm.Buttheyalsorequirethatresearchersandengineers
knowhowtocodemultiplethingsatthesame,andconnectresearchtomultipleoutlets,thus
shiftingtheirfocusbackandforthinordertocompletealaborassignmentinatimelymanner.
Educatorsshouldbepushingstudentsintodevelopingandsolidifyingtheskillsneededtobean
essentialpartoftherealworldbystrengtheninghyperattentionskills.
Hyperattentionhasbecomepartofourculture.Ithasbecomeanaspectthatcannotbe
ignored.Educatorsareafraidofapproachinghyperattentionandimplementingskillsthatwould
allowstudentstoshiftfromdeepandhyperattentionintoaclassroomsetting,butwhentheydo
notdothistheyareinadvertentlyarelimitingstudents.Jobsinthetwentyfirstcenturydemand
theseskills,anditwillitisimperativethatasupcomingemployeeswecansatisfytheir
standards.Insteadoffearinghyperattention,educatorsshouldembraceitsimportanceandits
contributionstosuccess.
WorksCited
Talbot,Margaret."BrainGain."N.p.,27Apr.2009.Web.
Hayles,KatherineN."HyperandDeepAttention:TheGenerationalDivideinCognitive
Modes."
MLAJournals:2007(pp.187199)
.ModernLanguageAssociation,2007.Web.
08July2016.
PEERREVIEW:
PROPOSITION:Hyperattentionisnotsomethingthatshouldbefearedbutacceptedand
implementedineducationalinstitutionstofurtherpreparestudentsfortheircareers.
PARAGRAPH1:
Says:educationalinstitutionsarehavingtroubleacceptinghyperattentionlearning.
Does:itcontextualizesthetopicthroughananecdote.
PARAGRAPH2
Says:thereisashiftfromdeepattentiontaskstohyperattentionones.
Does:triestoconnecttotheproposition
PARAGRAPH3
Says:teensuseAderallwhendemandedofhyperattentiontasksandthatemployersdemand
hyperattentiontasksandtherefore,itwouldbemorebeneficialtopreparethemforthesetasksin
schools.
Does:Connectsmoredirectlytotheproposition/offersareason.
HIAMANDA,
Ijustleftreallydetailedcommentsatthespecificplacestheyarerelevant.Itriedto
incorporatecriticismsaswellasproposingwaystofixthem.Overall,youressayintroducesalot
ofdifferentideasthatcanstandaspropositionsontheirown,andIthinkitsbecauseofyour
propositionwhichisabitbifurcated.Thespecificitycomponentofyourpropositioniswell
writtenhowever.Youressaylackscoherencyhowever.Sentencebysentence,eachonecanstand
asitsownpropositions.Ithinkyoushouldexplaintheconnectionstothepropositionmoreand
lessonthesentencesthemselves.Oncethatisachieved,youressaysunitywillfollow.Youwere
abletoincorporatesourcesreallywelltobackupyourclaimshowever,sopleasekeepthatup.
Also,thegrammarandspellingiswelltoo,soIdidnthavetroublereadingyouressay.Your
topicisveryinterestingandcallsattentiontoanopinionatedstancethatIbelievemanypeople
canagreewith.Goodjob!