Okay so I will admit according to Nicolas Carr's article and his belief in this new revolution of literacy's, I caught myself skimming his article. My first reaction when I clicked on the article was to look at the scroll down toolbar on the right side of the screen...and the little "scrolly thing-a-ma-bob" (sorry I don't know the technical computer language for it) was tiny, thus I took a huge sigh laid down on my stomach and prepared myself to read what I would like to consider a REALLY long article. Yes, I am an English major and rightfully so one would think I like to read. Well you guessed wrong! I hate it! But I love to write! So, as technology has shifted so has our minds. When we want to look up something fast...who do we turn to? Google. When you want to know who won the 2007 MLB World Series...who do we turn to? Google. When you need to look up information for a school project...we no longer walk to the library and use call numbers and break our backs trying to find a book that ends up not being there all along...Nope. The library has come to us! Virtually. And then If you can't find an article in your schools virtual library...who do you turn to? Google! So remind me again...what did we do before we had google?
However, lets look at Kevin Kelly's comments about Gutenburg's Shift...it is more where I find my stand point on this revolution. Gutenburg's Shift states:
"...from book fluency to screen fluency, from literacy to visuality."
A majority of us no longer like to sit down and just read a book. Some will probably argue with that...but hey...when I say majority I most importantly mean me! But if you do like to read...you still don't sit down and read a book. You sit down and you read off a Kindle. Am I right? Like the lecture states "changing times demands changing literacy's". People communicate in so many different ways with the advancement of technology. Books are no longer the door to knowledge. We also learn from videos, podcasts, online articles, etc. Possibilities are endless with the internet!
I will tell you my experience when I realized Google was taking over my brain, which might I add was just this past weekend. So I am here, in Barcelona, Spain because I am a Spanish minor. I feel like the best way to learn the language is to be immersed in the culture! Fact. I was not learning the language in the classrooms because teachers never demanded us to speak it. And If they did they would give up if we just completely butchered what we were attempting to say. Fair enough right. Well I told myself I was not going to come back to the states not knowing the language. So, with all the confidence in the world and very high hopes I set out on this mission. First things first...buy a Spanish dictionary in Spanish. Good Sarah! Good! Second...I bought a journal to write all the vocabulary words down that I did not know so that I may look them up later! AWESOME! I was well on my way to learning the language right? Ha Wrong. When I got home that day to do homework for class...do you know what I used to look up the words that I did not know in the literature I was reading? Thats right Spanishdic.com. So, after all of that...my journal is blank and my spanish dictionary is still in the bag! Convenience is the way of the world these days. I mean we have even gone as far as to having it on our phones. Luxuries, of course! Kevin Kelly mentions that "changing times demands changing literacy's". I agree. But I think he should also throw in the mix -- where you are in the world changes literacy's too! Spain is far behind the states with technology. There are newspaper stands at every corner and tons and tons of bookstores. No one is here to judge though. I kind of like it that way. I needed someone to open my eyes to what all America has to offer!
Well thats it for now! Thanks guys! We went to La Sagrada Familia today so there will be a post soon about it! Alright! Chau!
I must confess, I also checked the sidebar to see how long the articles would be. And I was disappointed. Carr's article made me realize that I was victim to the internet's effect on the mind, as well.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. How exciting! You must be excited about the possibilities in your field. It is bound for some bold moves and statements. How could that work? Imagine read less and know more - what a leap!
ReplyDelete