Digital Media Effects on Conventional Reading and Writing Practices

Reactions to Articles about Digital Media Effects on Reading and Writing

From the article Literacy Debate: Online R U Really Reading?, I have chosen to write about the following quote:

"Some Web evangelists say children should be evaluated for their proficiency on the Internet just as they are tested on their print reading comprehension. Starting next year, some countries will participate in new international assessments of digital literacy, but the United States, for now, will not."

I had a strong positive reaction to this quote. Assessments such as research projects and book reports have previously evaluated a student on his or her ability to use their given resources to communicate main ideas and an understanding of certain topics. Now, let's be honest about the day in age that we are living in. The vast majority of students and teachers alike have easy access to the wonderful world wide web. Sure, we have all caught ourselves using this tool as a distraction mechanism, but we can also use it to help better ourselves in our professional lives. I use the internet almost daily to scour the web for resources and activities to use with my students. This is something I have had to somewhat teach myself and it has become very beneficial to me on many occasions, and would do so for a large amount of careers. I believe it would be beneficial to some extent to evaluate students on their internet capabilities. For example, rather than a book report, students could complete a web quest.

The second article, Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers?, had various quotes that talked about the debate of declining literacy due to new age digital media. Below is an excerpt that I particularly enjoyed.

"Ultimately, argues Baron, the writing challenges created by digital media are not unlike those faced when in the 1980s when word processing hit college campuses.  Baron says that tools like spell check and the ability to move text from place to place temporarily resulted in a step backwards."

I thoroughly agree with the fact that although we may have temporary setbacks due to the conveniences of digital media, they are just hurdles that we have to jump and eventually overcome. Eventually, we will learn to use the tools we are given as they are intended to be used and not abuse them.

My Thoughts

On the continuum between Web Evangelist to Traditionalist, I would say that I am definitely not 100% on one side or the other. I see the advantages, and disadvantages, to both the Web Evangelist end of the spectrum and the Traditionalist end, although I definitely lie closer to the Web Evangelist. I believe that the pros of using the digital media we have been exposed to greatly outweigh the cons. From the above articles, the story about Zachary Sims under the sub-heading But This Is Reading Too, would most closely relate to my stand point. Zach reaps the benefits of using the new age digital media, but also enjoys reading books. Alongside that point, I myself enjoy reading but most usually via Kindle or iBooks. I enjoy the convenience of buying it over the internet and reading it right then. In doing so, I am reading a book but using a digital platform to do so. 

Print-Aided Technology

Resources:

Karp, Josh. "Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers? | Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning." Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers? 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 June 2015.

Rich, Motoko. "Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 July 2008. Web. 1 June 2015.