Internet Reading

I just finished reading the article, “Reading on the Internet: The link between literacy and technology”, written by Elizabeth Schmar-Dolber. The article discussed the similarities and differences between reading plain text and reading internet resources, i.e., websites, emails, blogs, wikis, etc. The article also discussed how the definition of literacy is rapidly changing due to the ever expanding world of the Web 2.0. The internet is changing how we need to teach literacy. It is no longer enough to teach reading and comprehension strategies that relate only to books, and printed materials. We, teachers, have to acknowledge the fact that students do a large portion of their reading on the computer.

One portion of the article discussed the special demands that reading on the internet puts on student readers; for instance, “A reader must be able to evaluate all the features of a webpage and quickly decide which one will likely be the most helpful in accessing information”, or “the Internet reader must be able to handle the sheer volume of text”. These are two distinct ideas that a reader must be aware of when they are reading on the internet.

Flickr Image Accessed From: San Jose Library

Basically, I think this article is emphasizing the importance of acknowledging the difference between reading on the internet and reading plain text. In order to create successful, literate students, we need to address these differences with our students. I think many teachers are scared of technology and they would rather have students go to the computer lab once a week/month to do who knows what. Really, internet reading and using the Web 2.0 needs to a consistent pass time in schools and classrooms. In order for students to gain competency and acquire the correct strategies for reading comprehension on the internet they have to practice, and I think that practice needs to start early.

What Am I?

According to the article, "Digital Natives in the Classroom", “Digital Natives perceive technology as their friend and rely on it to study, work, play, relax and communicate.” The article also states that “Digital Immigrants…struggle to understand and master these new technologies.”

"Digital Natives in the Classroom" offered its readers a Digital Natives Quiz to take. I took the quiz…and according to the article and my answers, I guess you could call me a native speaker; meaning, I am comfortable with a wide range of technologies. However, with all this talk about the new D – gen (i.e. the Digital Generation), and how children have been raised surrounded by up-to-the minute technologies, I would not consider myself a part of this category.

Image via Kwout

Yes, according to the quiz, I am a native; however, the level of comfort that I have achieved, in terms of utilizing technology, has only recently developed. I have used computers, the internet, cell phones, digital cameras, etc. for many years throughout my life, but those resources are a miniscule portion of what is available. Over the course of my time at Michigan State University, I have been introduced to an astonishing amount of technology that I was not familiar with before. Last year, I took a course called, “Teaching and Learning with Technology”, CEP 416. This course introduced me to blogging, personal websites, wikis, twitter, Smart-boards, etc. Thankfully, I took full advantage of that course and in doing so, I have had practice working and playing with numerous digital resources.

During the last week of class, we spent a fair amount of time discussing our upcoming project…the “New Literacies Project”. I am really excited to begin the exploration process. As a class, we reviewed a great deal of technologies available for us to dive into! After listening to the variety of resources presented, I realized that, while I am familiar with a large amount of them, I still have a lot to learn. Honestly, no matter how comfortable I feel in terms of the technology available, there will ALWAYS be more.

I was looking through Gale E. Tompkins’ text, Literacy for the 21^st Century, A Balanced Approach: 5^th Edition, when I came across the term “emergent” (pg. 111). Tompkins utilized this word as a way to describe a how a child becomes literate; that is, how a child learns to read and write is emergent literacy (Tompkins, 2010). Right now, I’m going to use the word “emergent” to describe myself. Currently, I am an emergent new, digital literacy learner. I am in the process of learning the ins and outs of the technologies out there.

I can’t imagine that I will EVER be anything other than emergent. Since the influx of technology is so rapid and growing exponentially, there is no possible way that an individual can be anything other than emergent. It just isn’t possible for one person to feel comfortable working with every single technological resource out there.

Here's a funny comic I found online...