TwoDifferentWorlds

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!