Mod 4 Assignment
Does the web facilitate deeper reading, learning, and thinking?
This is an interesting question that concerns when using the web does it help or hurt
a students learning ability? There are many good and bad points when using the computer
for web information. This paper will cover information about why it is good and why it can
be bad for students to use the web.
How it can be good?
Students that want to read and improve their reading and/or learning skills will read
more productive information on the computer i.e. articles, newspapers, etc. Students that
use the internet with a higher interest in sites that have information that is at a higher level
of educational aptitude. The computer can be a great tool to educate people that will use
for it for the purpose to learn and become educated and not spend time on social networks.
Students need to remember that reading skills are so important when going to college and
looking for employment. Even though reading social network sites may not improve vocabulary
but it could improve reading skills. “According to federal statics, students who say they read for
fun once a day score significantly higher on reading tests than those who say they never do” stated
by, Motoko Rich, who wrote, Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?
It is said that we may be reading more now than compared to the 70’s and 80’s when
television was the medium of choice. Reading has defiantly changed with a different kind of
reader that makes the learner a different kind of thinker. Students that have created a different
kind of thinking can help their sense of worth. Exploring the web can open new ideas and information
to students that would not have exposed themselves to if they were not using a computer.
Another interesting study that has been discovered is when low-income students have been
given home internet access; it has improved the standardized reading test scores and school
grades. These students would not be reading anything if they did not have access to the internet.
Is this case it seems to help students with reading no matter what they read; if it is a social network
or educational information? The goal is to have students read no matter what they are reading,
according to this study, stated by, Motoko Rich, who wrote, Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?
How it can be bad?
Students that do not want or care to read will spend time on the computer doing unproductive
reading, i.e. video games, social networking sites, that have a ton of bad grammar, and the language
is not something I would want my child reading. According to the article Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?
stated by, Motoko Rich, “some traditionalists warn that digital reading is the intellectual equivalent of empty
calories”. This statement is understood that web reading is not improving a students reading ability. It has
also been stated by, Mr. Gioia of the NEA, “I would believe people who tell me that the Internet develops
reading if I did not see such a universal decline in reading ability and reading comprehension on virtually
all tests”. The question continues to be asked if reading on the internet does not improve reading skills.
It seems that readers are not taking the time to sit and read a whole article but they tend to read “shortcuts”
that give the reader a quick “taste” of the information they are reading. If this is the case, do students
understand the concept of the article? If they are not reading the whole articles then what are they
getting out of the information? As teachers we need to instruct the students to read everything that is
presented on the internet and not read parts of the information.
When reading information from a computer we have become a “mere decoder of information”,
according to Maryanne Wolfe, author of Proust and Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.
She also explained that our “ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form
when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged”. This is an interesting
statement and hard to understand if we are interpreting the information correctly. Will we be able
to retain it? If we are not interpreting the information correctly we will be disengaged in the
information we need to comprehend.
My thoughts:
The internet can be a positive way of learning if used properly. I feel that parents need to
monitor what their children do on the computer same as TV. When using it to write and read
social networking sites that trash-talk each other, I don’t agree this is productive reading. If a
student wants to learn about specific topic than the computer can be a great resource for the
information they are seeking.
My experience as a substitute teacher is that students use the computer to answer any type
of question and never take the time to look up information using books or good resources
from the internet. I feel some students need to take the time to learn how to find answers
by researching the question using the internet and write the answer in their own words
and not just copy and paste the information. The purpose is to keep students reading and
understanding what they read by using the internet. Even though they may read information
that is not educational the goal is to keep them reading. According to Daniel Rosenbaum for
The New York Times stated, “ future trends in search may also be helpful to children. The
move toward voice-activated search like the Google voice search on iPhones and Android
phones and audio search will prove beneficial to children with limited abilities, experts say”.
I would agree with this information to assist students with disabilities for them to be able to
search with web with the help voice activation.
I believe some internet reading can be very positive and can improve a students learning
ability but, they need to be aware of what they are reading may not be accurate or true. As
a future teacher I hope I can assist students on how to use the internet for a positive reading
and learning experience.
References:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html
http://www/nytimes.com/2009/12/26/technology/internet/26kidsearch.html
2:51 am - 3-1-2012
Wow, that
10:28 am - 3-3-2012
Pam, I think you and I were making some of the same arguments in our posts. It makes sense that students will become better readers if they read more. I also agree that the Web can expose them to information that they would probably not stumble upon in a book.
I also see how the Internet could be a tool that doesn’t enhance reading skills. Social networking sites are not designed for deep reading and I can see how students wouldn’t benefit from reading from these sites. I can see how the content students are reading is not challenging them to become better readers.
Along the lines of gaming, do you think certain games foster problem-solving skills? That thought crossed my mind as a read your post.
Great post with some great points. I completely agree about using the Internet to promote reading skills and that teachers need to teach students to look for accurate sites and use the Internet not just to find answers, but to find deep content as well.
1:54 pm - 3-3-2012
Jen,
We seem to be on the same track of thinking and ideas. I would think gaming would help students but maybe to a limited degree. It is good to have the students get a well rounded experience and gaming might be part of that experience.