Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Could we be much dumber, now?
I have long been an advocate of technology, especially in the classroom. But after reading a recent article on NPR.Org I wondered just what the author wondered? "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?(sic)
Some of the claims the author makes in his article are:
1) The Internet has damaged our attention span, we are more likely to scan for information rather than read the entire article
2) Very rarely, do we even finish reading an entire blog entry(keep reading people)
3) Lastly, the Internet is affecting our ability to read longer novels...
In the past summers, I have read around eight to ten novels. I have found it harder to read novels, and I have elected to read short stories and articles from literary magazines. I have definitely noticed how my attention span and patience have started to decrease. I think I really enjoyed the Graphic Novel Shortcomings not only for the storyline but also for its succinctness.
This is quite disturbing to me, because I think reading bring us to a different level of knowledge than scanning. As for the world of research, I think it will be more difficult for students to research subject matter in its entirety.
I won't stop googling, scanning, and quick searching for information. But, I have noticed how this is affecting my attention span. Maybe even my ability to finish grading term papers, but that's another subject. You can read the article by clicking below: (wink)
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google
Some of the claims the author makes in his article are:
1) The Internet has damaged our attention span, we are more likely to scan for information rather than read the entire article
2) Very rarely, do we even finish reading an entire blog entry(keep reading people)
3) Lastly, the Internet is affecting our ability to read longer novels...
In the past summers, I have read around eight to ten novels. I have found it harder to read novels, and I have elected to read short stories and articles from literary magazines. I have definitely noticed how my attention span and patience have started to decrease. I think I really enjoyed the Graphic Novel Shortcomings not only for the storyline but also for its succinctness.
This is quite disturbing to me, because I think reading bring us to a different level of knowledge than scanning. As for the world of research, I think it will be more difficult for students to research subject matter in its entirety.
I won't stop googling, scanning, and quick searching for information. But, I have noticed how this is affecting my attention span. Maybe even my ability to finish grading term papers, but that's another subject. You can read the article by clicking below: (wink)
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google
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