1. Everythingbad… isgoodfor you? A REVIEW AND COMMENTARY OF: EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU: HOW TODAY’S POPULAR CULTURE IS ACTUALLY MAKING US SMARTER BY STEVEN JOHNSON by Marisa Paulson

2. Are the media making us smarter? Comic by Sean McLean, underwhelmedcomic.com

3. Video Games as Learning Tools Digital Journal TV explores the benefits video game playing offers kids and teens. A Pew Internet & American Life Project recently showed that nearly every American teen has played a video game, and most gamers show incredible engagement and other positive traits from their time in front of the screen. Video “How Video Games Can Make Kids Better People from Youtube.com by user digitaljournal. Uploaded 9/19/2008, downloaded 10/17/2010.

5. VIDEO GAMES Often difficult, require time and concentration Usually require engagement with other players, guidebooks, online discussion boards Must complete sequence of events “Probe and telescope,” constantly making decisions and solving problems Engage the brain’s reward system: accomplishments result in feel-good hormone dopamine Video games have progressed from simplistic Pac Man and Tetris, to complex and layered Legend of Zelda and The Sims Then & Now: Photo 1: The Video Game Critic, videogamecritic.net Photo 2: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review, armchairempire.com

6. TELEVISION More passive than video games, but contain complex narratives Many characters and plotlines threaded throughout today’s programs No “flashing arrows,” key elements must be picked up, connections inferred by the viewer Social intelligence developed by reading characters’ emotions and reactions TV shows have progressed from simplistic Dragnet and Dallas, to complex and layered The Sopranos and Lost. Then & Now: Photo 1: University of Calgary,The Rise of Detective Fiction, ucalgary.ca Photo 2: Sopranos on DVD, theage.au

7. FILM Like television, risen to new narrative complexity More characters, plotlines, elements More complex arrangements: reverse chronological, flashbacks and flashforwards, unclear patterns of time Movies have progressed from simplistic Mary Poppins and Star Wars, to complex and layered Finding Nemo and Lord of the Rings. SW Characters: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Grand MoffTarkin, Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Darth Vader LOTR Characters: EverardProudfoot, Sam Gamgee, Sauron, Boromir, Galadriel, Legolas Greenleaf, Pippin, Celeborn, Gil-galad, Biblo Baggins, Gandalf, Saruman, Lurtz, Elendil, Aragorn, Haldir, Gimli, Gollum, Arwen, Elrond, Frodo Baggins Then & Now: Photo 1: Top 25 Movie Franchises, movies.ign.com Photo 2: watchmoviesstreaming.com

8. THE INTERNET Process of acclimating to networked communications has salutary effect on our minds: We are forced to learn new platforms at a rapid rate We function in new channels of social interaction We are more participatory in the interactive nature of the Web “Television and automobile society locked people up in their living rooms, away from the clash and vitality of public space, but the Net has reversed that long-term trend.” (p. 124) Photo 1: Google Instant, stevefolland.blogspot.com Photo 2: Twitter Universe, flowingdata.com

9. CRITIQUE Johnson makes a strong case for the existence of the Sleeper Curve, but little convincing evidence that smarter media is making us smarter. No determined, direct correlation between the media and our brains Little evidence that these skills gained from media are transferable to real-life situations No explanation as to why these skills couldn’t be and are not learned elsewhere Best concrete example: The Flynn Effect Photo 1: Nature vs. Nurture, wilderdom.com Photo 2: What Is Intelligence Cover, coverbrowaer.com

10. Thank you for listening. Questions? Comic by Don Addis, movingimages.wordpress.com