How does technology impact our ways of thinking?
How does technology impact our ways of thinking?
By Patricia A. Mathews on June 9, 2009 8:09 AM | 4 Comments | No TrackBacks
I love this question for how it impacts my thinking about technology and society and teaching language; it's the wondering about the questions and its answers that is important. This belief is confirmed in Hass, chapter 1. But, to appreciate Hass, I'll share an experience with research on technology and literacy.
In the past semester of teaching a first-year research writing course, a student brought me a blog entry he knew would interest me. It was from the 60-Second Science Blog and reported on research by Anne Mangen of the Center for Reading Research at the University of Stavanger in Norway. The entry "Online v. print reading: which one makes us smarter?" by Coco Ballantyne suggests that "reading online may not be as rewarding--or effective--as the printed word." The reviewer states that learning requires time and mental effort that is not provided by a website and that the physical interaction with the computer is distracting. I was confused, it was research on children's reading. Who was being distracted, how was effort measured? The blog did not include an abstract or link to the study.
There was an alarmist tone to the blog that echoes Plato's issues with writing and Thoreau's issues with the telegraph that are noted by Baron. I was disturbed by the level of fear mongering in the blog and tried to find out more. Another blog, ScienceDaily, reported the same information but under the title "Storybooks On Paper Better For Children Than Reading Fiction On Computer Screen, According to Expert." I did not, or have not yet, located the study itself. However, an interview with the author herself was less controversial. Mangen is calling for more research to understand how technology impacts reading. The blog version of her research questions stated as concerns were design to attract the press. Does the fear-mongering tone balance with call for more public awareness of the issues?
Hass offers a place to more critically consider how technology may impact thinking. The historical, philosophical and cultural perspectives are crucial to understanding the impact of current changes. The interdisciplinary approach she calls for in the second chapter is another important piece of the process of research. This is a sharp contrast to popular media critiques of new multi-tasking practices such as using the cell phone while driving, texting while also having an in-the-flesh conversation with someone else, or sending twitter feeds while participating in a real-time meeting in a bricks and mortar space. I hope the research on technology and thinking is grounded in the complex spaces that Hass outlines and not in the fear that our children will go to hell in a hand basket if they don't turn the pages of paper books. So, I'm not sure how technology impacts thinking but it does and if we, as language teachers and researchers, listen to Cynthia Selfe, we will welcome the opportunity to understand what is happening in our heads and the heads of our students as we engage in more and newer technologies.
By Patricia A. Mathews on June 9, 2009 8:09 AM | 4 Comments | No TrackBacks
I love this question for how it impacts my thinking about technology and society and teaching language; it's the wondering about the questions and its answers that is important. This belief is confirmed in Hass, chapter 1. But, to appreciate Hass, I'll share an experience with research on technology and literacy.
In the past semester of teaching a first-year research writing course, a student brought me a blog entry he knew would interest me. It was from the 60-Second Science Blog and reported on research by Anne Mangen of the Center for Reading Research at the University of Stavanger in Norway. The entry "Online v. print reading: which one makes us smarter?" by Coco Ballantyne suggests that "reading online may not be as rewarding--or effective--as the printed word." The reviewer states that learning requires time and mental effort that is not provided by a website and that the physical interaction with the computer is distracting. I was confused, it was research on children's reading. Who was being distracted, how was effort measured? The blog did not include an abstract or link to the study.
There was an alarmist tone to the blog that echoes Plato's issues with writing and Thoreau's issues with the telegraph that are noted by Baron. I was disturbed by the level of fear mongering in the blog and tried to find out more. Another blog, ScienceDaily, reported the same information but under the title "Storybooks On Paper Better For Children Than Reading Fiction On Computer Screen, According to Expert." I did not, or have not yet, located the study itself. However, an interview with the author herself was less controversial. Mangen is calling for more research to understand how technology impacts reading. The blog version of her research questions stated as concerns were design to attract the press. Does the fear-mongering tone balance with call for more public awareness of the issues?
Hass offers a place to more critically consider how technology may impact thinking. The historical, philosophical and cultural perspectives are crucial to understanding the impact of current changes. The interdisciplinary approach she calls for in the second chapter is another important piece of the process of research. This is a sharp contrast to popular media critiques of new multi-tasking practices such as using the cell phone while driving, texting while also having an in-the-flesh conversation with someone else, or sending twitter feeds while participating in a real-time meeting in a bricks and mortar space. I hope the research on technology and thinking is grounded in the complex spaces that Hass outlines and not in the fear that our children will go to hell in a hand basket if they don't turn the pages of paper books. So, I'm not sure how technology impacts thinking but it does and if we, as language teachers and researchers, listen to Cynthia Selfe, we will welcome the opportunity to understand what is happening in our heads and the heads of our students as we engage in more and newer technologies.
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