Davidson Reading Assignment

The passage works by elaborating upon the disparity between two modes of thought : credentialing and crowdsource thinking. They lead to similar solutions but utilize different methods. Crowdsourcing relies on the collaboration of the group ; destroying the hierarchical ladder and leaving more room for varied thoughts. In contrast, credentialing insists that expertise is superior and more worthy to discover solutions. In the passage, Davidson attempts to justify the shift from top-down expertise to crowdsourced thinking. She is able to represent these larger concepts through the iPod experiment. Instead of having readers attempt to scrutinize the vast complexities of crowdsourcing and credentialing, she presents it in simpler terms. Credentialing is embodied by the traditional methods of education, where the path to success is laid out in a straight one directional line. This method is built on a foundation that assumes divergence from the path will ultimately lead to failure. Crowdsourcing, in contrast, is characterized by utilizing non-traditional methods (i.e incorporating products of the ‘digital age’).

For a period of time ‘top-down expertise’ practices sustained themselves sufficiently and helped construct our growing nation. However, with the advent of advanced technology we now see that collaborative efforts and open ears may be more effective in resolving issues. Davidson uses “we” and “us” to provide readers with a sense of unity and a feeling of inclusiveness. Davidson also includes “no matter” as a way of suggesting there are no limits to what we can achieve when we work together and consider multiple alternatives. Davidson utilizes statistics to have us bluntly face the reality of the direction of our education system. We’re paying double the rate of South Korea, which has moved to “our old number one spot” (Davidson 58) and yet our graduation rates “are roughly on par with those of Turkey and Mexico”. We were to lost in our success to realize that perhaps it is now time for reform. This passage epitomizes the central argument and purpose of the iPod experiment. Although at first change may be unwelcome and criticized, after practice one may see unexpected success. As the text stated, the iPod was first seen as nothing more than a audio playing device. However Duke embraced this status; they wanted to take the impossible and make it possible. After the initial year of experimentation, Duke shouldered the movement of transforming the iPod’s reputation as just a music listening device to a piece of technology with enormous potential.