How do you read in a Web 2.0 world?
It’s interesting reading the article from New York Times, Of Two Minds About
Books, because I felt that way at one point, too. Reading from a book gives a
physical aspect to it that’s different from reading an ebook. I don’t feel the
texture and I don’t flip the pages the way I do with a print book. The
connection seems different.
However, my boyfriend bought me a Kindle two years ago and I fell in love. It made reading easier. The screen is different than that of a regular tablet or computer so it felt like reading a book. I could easily change from one book to another and I don’t have to worry about carrying multiple books when I’m travelling because it’s all in one device. The battery lasts a long time before I have to recharge. But don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy reading print. I just interchange between the two.
Now I even like reading from the iPad and iPhone. Life has never been easier. I can access my iPhone anywhere and just read when I’m waiting. Love this accessibility.
Is reading online different from reading traditional print texts? What strategies do readers need to develop in order to effectively read different kinds of texts? Do you read electronic texts? What are your experiences reading these different texts?
Reading now is different from traditional texts because there are more options available at the same time. I can zoom into a piece of text that is too small and be able to read it. I can change the size of the font and I can easily jump from one section to the other. I think people really enjoy the ability to access the dictionary option when they come across a word they don’t know and just click on it and find out right then and there. The ability to add notes and highlight parts of the text and use the find option makes a difference to readers of different levels and needs. The links can take people to other pages that can elaborate on a certain topic for those who would be interested. There is even the option of read aloud for those who need it.
My sister just started her first year in Pharmacy and they decided to go electronic. She downloads her notes onto her iPad every night and takes it to school. She annotates her notes via the app, Notability, that the school suggested and it’s pretty neat. She likes it because it’s all in one place and she doesn’t have to bring a whole stash of paper to school.
How can teacher-librarians model or promote this kind of 'new' reading to colleagues and students? What leadership role can/should teacher-librarians and lead teachers take in this area?
I think this is tough in the sense of promoting it to the whole school. The technology is here but not everyone is able to access this. Our school, due to our catchment area, is still trying to update our computers to match today’s needs while other schools are purchasing iPads. Our 1 mobile cart is outdated and half the laptops had to be fixed this year. It’s tough to promote new technology and new reading when we can’t even get our computers to run smoothly enough to give confidence to teachers to use technology in their classes. Not all students have the same access at home either. The expectation is that all students have a computer and internet these days but there is still a small percentage that do not. It’s a really interesting area where I feel that we are not quite there yet and I can’t push it until we are ready for this ‘new’ reading.
Richardson states that he reads on screen “95%” (2010) of the time. For myself, I read about 80%. Our school is slowly switching over to paperless as much as possible. Our staff weekly updates are via email, we have a virtual staffroom that I try promoting since the beginning of the term. I post any links or hand outs there for teachers to access. I think once the whole issue with ebooks is settled, we will be pushing towards ebooks. Some of the teachers have set up blogs/websites to keep their students up to date. I have helped a few get started. The library has its own as well that I update regularly. It will be awhile before the students are able to do that as well. Right now, our school still uses paper because it is the most reliable! Any project collaborations we have, I push for students to take notes via Google docs and I promote Web 2.0 tools for their end products. So far, the results are positive and the teachers like the end products. We recently created a wikispaces for a Social Studies 10 class on the Confederation to teach them to collaborate to create a page that they can refer back to for studying! Change starts little by little. Yay!
Work Cited
Richardson, W. (2010). Reading screens, writing screens, touching screens. Retrieved from: http://weblogg-ed.com/2010/reading-screens-writing-screens-teaching-screens/ RICHTEL, M., & MILLER, C. (2010, September 1). Print or Pixels? Publishers Strive to Advance Both - NYTimes.com.The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/technology/02couples.html?_r=3&th&emc=th Of Pixels and Pages. (2010). Retrieved from:http://nyti.ms/9qWjqS
However, my boyfriend bought me a Kindle two years ago and I fell in love. It made reading easier. The screen is different than that of a regular tablet or computer so it felt like reading a book. I could easily change from one book to another and I don’t have to worry about carrying multiple books when I’m travelling because it’s all in one device. The battery lasts a long time before I have to recharge. But don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy reading print. I just interchange between the two.
Now I even like reading from the iPad and iPhone. Life has never been easier. I can access my iPhone anywhere and just read when I’m waiting. Love this accessibility.
Is reading online different from reading traditional print texts? What strategies do readers need to develop in order to effectively read different kinds of texts? Do you read electronic texts? What are your experiences reading these different texts?
Reading now is different from traditional texts because there are more options available at the same time. I can zoom into a piece of text that is too small and be able to read it. I can change the size of the font and I can easily jump from one section to the other. I think people really enjoy the ability to access the dictionary option when they come across a word they don’t know and just click on it and find out right then and there. The ability to add notes and highlight parts of the text and use the find option makes a difference to readers of different levels and needs. The links can take people to other pages that can elaborate on a certain topic for those who would be interested. There is even the option of read aloud for those who need it.
My sister just started her first year in Pharmacy and they decided to go electronic. She downloads her notes onto her iPad every night and takes it to school. She annotates her notes via the app, Notability, that the school suggested and it’s pretty neat. She likes it because it’s all in one place and she doesn’t have to bring a whole stash of paper to school.
How can teacher-librarians model or promote this kind of 'new' reading to colleagues and students? What leadership role can/should teacher-librarians and lead teachers take in this area?
I think this is tough in the sense of promoting it to the whole school. The technology is here but not everyone is able to access this. Our school, due to our catchment area, is still trying to update our computers to match today’s needs while other schools are purchasing iPads. Our 1 mobile cart is outdated and half the laptops had to be fixed this year. It’s tough to promote new technology and new reading when we can’t even get our computers to run smoothly enough to give confidence to teachers to use technology in their classes. Not all students have the same access at home either. The expectation is that all students have a computer and internet these days but there is still a small percentage that do not. It’s a really interesting area where I feel that we are not quite there yet and I can’t push it until we are ready for this ‘new’ reading.
Richardson states that he reads on screen “95%” (2010) of the time. For myself, I read about 80%. Our school is slowly switching over to paperless as much as possible. Our staff weekly updates are via email, we have a virtual staffroom that I try promoting since the beginning of the term. I post any links or hand outs there for teachers to access. I think once the whole issue with ebooks is settled, we will be pushing towards ebooks. Some of the teachers have set up blogs/websites to keep their students up to date. I have helped a few get started. The library has its own as well that I update regularly. It will be awhile before the students are able to do that as well. Right now, our school still uses paper because it is the most reliable! Any project collaborations we have, I push for students to take notes via Google docs and I promote Web 2.0 tools for their end products. So far, the results are positive and the teachers like the end products. We recently created a wikispaces for a Social Studies 10 class on the Confederation to teach them to collaborate to create a page that they can refer back to for studying! Change starts little by little. Yay!
Work Cited
Richardson, W. (2010). Reading screens, writing screens, touching screens. Retrieved from: http://weblogg-ed.com/2010/reading-screens-writing-screens-teaching-screens/ RICHTEL, M., & MILLER, C. (2010, September 1). Print or Pixels? Publishers Strive to Advance Both - NYTimes.com.The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/technology/02couples.html?_r=3&th&emc=th Of Pixels and Pages. (2010). Retrieved from:http://nyti.ms/9qWjqS
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