Carr writes about how the experience of reading an eBook should be different than the experience of reading a book in print. That there should be links or other features of the computer incorporated into the reading experience. That would be cool, but I think it would take away from my experience in reading a book for pleasure. If it is a book for school, I can see advantages, but not in a book for pleasure.
There are a few features that are written about that will be incorporated into an eBook. One such feature is social networking.
Which could be engaging, to be able to know what others are reading and have real time discussions with them, but it does completely change the experience of reading a book. I think I would use both formats. It would depend what I am looking for. Back to the “getting lost in a good book” or as Isaac of Syria had put it “…as in a dream, I enter a state when my sense and thoughts are concentrated. Then when the prolonging of this silence the turmoil of memories is stilled in my heart, ceaseless waves of joy are sent me by inner thoughts, beyond expectation suddenly arising to delight my heart.” (Carr 2010). I think it would be impossible to feel this way if I was in the midst of communicating with other people while trying to read. Maybe this goes back to Prensky (2012), digitally wise or digitally clever. Is it wise to have all these features incorporated into eBooks or just clever? I think that it depends on both the person and the book that is being read. This could be especially true for students who may be struggling to understand a book. If the student had the opportunity to be connected to to others through social media it could help them, but on the other hand, the student may resort to asking for help before really trying on his/her own.
As you can probably tell I am pretty torn myself. I know that I would rather read a real book for pleasure. But I also know that a lot of my negative or skeptical opinions about technology have been changing weekly since I have been reading both The Shallows and Brain Gain. So really now I am just totally confused! I think that is a good thing though. Technology is not going anywhere and in fact it is coming faster than I think anyone imagined, so if I have gone from feeling negatively about it to being confused, it is probably a push in the right direction… no?
And let’s take this a step farther, what about what we should be doing with our students? Prensky’s focus this week is on the inevitability of our culture being so entrenched in technology that many other things we do in the “old” way will become obsolete. We are in a new age. And we need to embrace it because it is happening right now. To embrace it is digitally wise. But as Prensky points out, if we are embracing it, shouldn’t we be teaching it to our children as well? Are we not doing them a disservice if we don’t?
~Experience this week: I find it more annoying to click to the next page, when reading on my computer, than flipping a page in a book. It is better on the iPad, but I still prefer flipping pages. I also like to lay down when I read, and I can do that when using my iPad, but not my computer.
Carr, N. G. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton.(Kindle)
Prensky, M. (2012). Brain gain: Technology and the quest for digital wisdom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Kindle)
rebeccaaf 