My EME 2040 blog
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Digital Blog Post #D - Chapter 5 There are some concerns about reading habits, changing from reading printed books to digital reading. Not everyone agrees that digital reading is a good thing for children and adolescents. Some critics “believe printed books is the time –honored, proven, path to intellectual growth”. Another comment, “Learning is required mainly from books”. With that being said, more time is being spent reading on line; for age groups between five to seventeen years of age. A study has also shown no significant differences in comprehension with a e-reader and printed books among fourth graders (Maloy, Robert pg.101-103). Parents main concerns are putting an E-reader in the hands of a child too early. They feel there is not enough research done to fully understand the impact that technology devices may have at a young age (Deam, J. E-books). I found this subject to be very interesting. I grew up in a family of readers. One of the largest walls in our home is a book shelf and every bedroom has a book case. Not only that, every digital device we own has books loaded on it. I have mixed feelings about E-books vs printed books. I do not want to give one up for the other, I enjoy them both. For leisure reading, I like digital because I can read on the go with my iPhone therefore, I do get to read more. I think, the critics and the parents may be missing the big picture, teaching your child the love of reading. It is never too early to start; I would use phonics picture cards and make the sound or a digital program on the computer. The digital would most likely win out because of the movement. I cannot comment on a digital textbook because I have never used one.
In the past, students did all their research in the library digging thru the library card catalogs, books and encyclopedias for information they needed to write a paper. Have times changed or what, with the technology of today, students conduct their research for information on line, better known as “information research and retrieval”. In 2012, Google released, “Search Education”. to help teachers educate students on the procedures and ethics for on line researching (Maloy, Robert pg.104-105). The website “Search Education”, has grade specific lesson plans for K-12. There are four starting points a student can start at: Lesson Plans & Activities, Power Searching, A Google a Day Challenge and Live Training. All the lesson plans are self-paced and free (Search education).
I have never heard of this website “Search Education” before now. I did go to the site and found it to be interesting. In the future, I will go back and take some of the lessons because I have always used “trial and error” to gather my information on websites. The fact is, what I know about technology has been through trial and error. I am a visual and audio learner, so for the most part, the instructional manual finds their way to the garbage.
Once students find the information they are looking for, the next step is making sure the information is correct. Middle and high school students assume the information they find on the internet is true. Students need to understand this is not always true and that the web sites at the top of the first page may not be the best information. Teachers can help students to take a deeper look into the website by doing an evaluation of the site (Maloy, Robert pg. 110 &111). Students can do a quick evaluation, to see if they want to read on or move to another site. For example: look for the name of the author/publisher, can you get in touch with the author, what is the author’s credentials, when was the site created, has it been up dated, where does the information come from (Policy, L. P.,).
When I was a high school student I always looked for the author/publisher and the created date. I always wanted information that was up to date or updated. Anything else I figured was obsolete. If I found a site, I wanted to use I would look at other sites for some of the same information. At the time, this was the only way I knew how to fact check the information I wanted to use.
In conclusion, does it really matter, what a child uses to read with, a book or a digital device as long as they read and become a life time reader. Some critics think books are required and are the only way to learn. Even through, a study has shown, there is no significant difference in comprehension between printed and E-readers. When it comes to research, students are using digital devices to retrieve information off of the internet. With the wide use of the internet students also need to learn how to retrieve and evaluate the correct information.
Reference:
Policy, L. P., Now, G., & Feedback, W. (2016). Evaluating web sites - teaching & learning services. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from University of Maryland,
Search education – Google. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from Help your student become better searcher,
Deam, J. E-books vs. Print: What parents need to know. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from Parents Raising readers & learners,
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
