R U Really Reading?

“what counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online" (Jenkins, 2009).

 After reading the article by Motoko Rich (2008), "Literacy debate: Online, R U really reading?" I thought a lot about my students and where they would fit into this.  The college students I work with are very invested in their classes, and so picking up a book to read when they have time off is not a usual thing they do.  As Rich points out in the article, reading online can connect young people with the content that interests them most as well as others that share their ideas.  Many times material contains related links so it is easy for someone to continue to explore a specific topic with varying opinions in different online locations.  Online websites are also beneficial to those that struggle with reading and it can give them the place to read without criticism (Rich, 2008).  I also feel that having access to tablets, that I am seeing more students using in place of textbooks, are a way to quickly access a website and read a few short articles instead of needing to be immersed in a book.

I also found interesting information about the increase in consumption of news in the 2013 article, "Digital: As mobile grows rapidly, the pressure on news intensify" by Jane Sasseen, and Kenny Olmstead and Amy Mitchell of the Pew Research Center.  The article discusses the rise in consumers viewing the news on their mobile devices due to the fact that you can carry it with you all the time.  News stations have also started to use social media as a way to reach out to their viewers and engage their audience.  According to the authors (2013), “Audiences now consume more news through social media than they did before.”  Even though people may not be always watching a news broadcast, they are still obtaining the news online through the expansion into social media.  

I feel that with the changes in society and technology, we need to find an alternative way to make young people interested in reading again.  When they are required to do research for a paper in a class they look up resources online, yet we expect them to only read printed books in their spare time.  If we can integrate this type of reading into classes in such a way that explains the flaws in editing or lack of proper sources, students can be more critical of what they read.  Dismissing an alternative way of reading before exploring how it could be a benefit is performing a disservice to our young people.  There is always a chance that a young reader discovers a passion for writing by reading fan fiction or journalism through news articles. 

References:

Rich, M. (2008, July 27). Literacy debate: Online, r u really reading?. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Sasseen, J., Olmstead, K., & Mitchell, A. (2013). Digital: As mobile grows rapidly, the pressures on news intensify. Retrieved from http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2013/digital-as-mobile-grows-rapidly-the-pressures-on-news-intensify/

Digital Literacies

I am surrounded all the time by textbooks being a tutor and teacher at Mohawk Valley Community College.  Students buy them for classes and we keep the new editions in our tutoring center; however, it seems like many students only use them to find the homework problems.  I run the math lab which provides tutoring for students taking math classes, and many times I have heard "Well why didn't it just say that?".  Textbooks can be very difficult to understand and follow, but sometimes I feel that there is something else that they are not getting from the text itself.  I try to show them how to read and understand their book so they feel like they haven't wasted their money purchasing their book, but many times they end up looking elsewhere.

According to Gillen and Barton (2010), "A user of the screen who has several windows open at the same time – attending to chat, surfing the internet, listening to sound-as-music, is engaged in forms of ‘attention’ management entirely unlike the withdrawing, reflective modes of reading traditional written text, a mode still encouraged and rewarded in schools." (p.7).  I see many of our students engaging in this sort of behavior when working on schoolwork, and so I believe that reading a textbook doesn't have that same comfort.  Students can choose what music to play in the background, what sections of educational videos they need to replay to understand a concept, and many other things that make them feel like they are in control of their learning.  A textbook is very static and non-conforming, which sometimes even makes me look elsewhere for a better explanation for a student.  Students feel more engaged in the material when they feel ownership and can manipulate or control some aspect of it, and a textbook doesn't always allow that.  Even ebooks allow you to change the font, background color and number of columns presented.  When a student is allowed more freedom, they may feel more inclined to participate in class, and it all begins with the textbook.


References:
Gillen, J., & Barton, D. (2010). Digital literacies: Research briefing for the TLRP-TEL (Teaching and Learning Research Programme - Technology Enhanced Learning). London: ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme.