William Barry
10/11/18
ENG-151
The worry of the current generation is how to aid the successor. With that the best way to do it is through teaching. In order to teach the next generation the correct steps that they did not take themselves, there is an emphasis on education and the ability to sustain knowledge. Some of these methods involve the integration of technology into the classroom and there are many positives and negatives to the argument of technology and how it affects the ability to process information from electronic texts versus physical books. However, these arguments over whether or not to allow technology to either deter us from learning less or excel our capability to process, will not be a compelling argument compared to how someone explains how they use technology to comprehend and succeed. In a modern society of continuous technological advancement, it is essential that schools also integrate technology into their teaching practices in order to better prepare the students for aspiring careers.
The integration of technology into education is essential for progression. In favor of the technological argument we have “The Deep Space of Digital Reading” written by Paul La Farge. Beginning with La Farge’s point, he conveys the advances that reading from the internet provides the average Joe. In his words, digital technology “has the potential to expand and augment the very contemplative space that we have prized in ourselves ever since we learned to read”, instead of crippling it with nonsense and banter (La Farge “The Deep Space of Digital Reading”). His ability to steal his thesis is one that does not get casted aside so easily, La Farge uses historical examples and studies on the topic that support his claim for technological engagement. Critics as La Farge points out, argue that the internet causes ones mind to wander. But as La Farge points out, our minds have been wandering long before the internet was idea within the minds of few men. An example of such wandering that has taken place is commonly seen in children; they don’t want to sit still and read when told to. Instead they would rather play with their friends, day dreaming of the fun they could be have, and even scheming how they can sneak away to have fun. Over time we are capable of controlling how much we wander while storing information, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, yes people’s minds have and still wander to this day but it’s not something that needs attention brought to. Teachers can use technology to teach students how to control the endless wandering. They can make lessons more interactive by using programs such as quizlet or kahoot which can be readily accessed by students. These types of lessons require students to focus on the specific task for a period of time in order to complete.
Along with wandering, our ability to store great amounts of information has always been an issue, as La Farge mentions around the time that books came into existence for a house hold the average reader “had only a few books—the Bible, an almanac, maybe a work of devotional literature—and he read them over and over, so that they were deeply impressed on his consciousness” (La Farge “The Deep Space of Digital Reading”). As he mentions that’s three or four prints that people were able to afford and these books were passed down through family lineage and were irreplaceable for many who did not have the means to afford other long and expensive titles. As such, one can imagine how exciting it is to be able to read some other form of text instead of their scriptures that were ingrained into their memories. Daily news, local writers, and details regarding neighboring towns or countries were of great interest. And these people “read each item only once before racing on to the next” (La Farge “The Deep Space of Digital Reading”). This issue of endless information provided to the daily reader is still the same issue that people faced many centuries before now, in sense it’s not worth bringing up the fact that there is such a vast amount of information available to an individual, when such information that overwhelmed a person in the form of a grand library held just as much of an impact. The only difference between the two was that there wasn’t a little voice that could come out of a box narrating War And Peace as you laid by a candle lit light. What schools can do to quell the information overload is to teach what’s the difference between reliable information and unreliable information. There can be classes that have the sole purpose of teaching how to find and cite credible sources and how to properly use creative commons. It would encourage the practice of citations when creating power points for a meeting or quoting previous studies conducted upon what is currently being researched for a company or non-profit organization.
Now both sides make valid points arguing for and against technological integration and usage, however the best merit comes from personal preferences. As I have come to understand, if given the choice to read an article online or on paper I’ll go with paper because I already can be easily distracted by my environment but with the internet you can use it to play games, watch videos, and talk to people over social media. While this is true for reading the opposite is true for when I need to write. When doing a paper or article for school, I find it that having the articles separated on one side of the screen ordered in pro-articles on the left sided tabs and con-articles on the right side tabs helps with organization. Along with this I can have the paper that I’m typing up on the other half of the screen so that I can read an article on the right side, take the time to analyze and plan how to word my essay, and then type up what I’m thinking in order to review another day and revise it. As I do this, I would listen to some classic rock to cancel out noise around me. All of this has supported me as I’ve progressed through education. This may not work for everyone but it is more important than ever to be able to work like this in order to prepare oneself for any future career that may use technology.