Is Google Making Us Stupid?
This article is more about the how the Net is changing the way we think by changing the way we read. I thought this could only happen with new generation and was surprised to know that it can still happen with people like me (in my 40’s!) due to the plasticity of our brains. According to this article our brains get so used to the immediate finding of information - by scanning titles and subtitles, moving our eyes vertically on the pages of the Net, finding the specific information at the touch of a bottom - that we lose the concentration we need when faced with a dense reading of a book.
The reading researcher, Maryanne Wolf, argues that deep reading is indistinguishable from deep thinking. If the Net is making us lose our ability of deep thinking, we should all be concerned.
Book Program Resources
I checked LitLovers out and really enjoyed it. I happen to be participating in a book club for the first time and found the site really helpful.
eBooks
I’ve recently got a Kindle as a gift and I love it! Being away from the US without APO services makes ordering books a long wait and a Kindle is definitely a solution. What I absolute love about Kindles is that you can click on a word to search for its meaning in a dictionary – this is a fantastic tool for a second language learner.
I did not know about Project Gutenberg so I was delighted to search through their shelves and learn about all the free possibilities! The challenge is to find time to read them all!
Audio Books
LibriVox – I browsed and was impressed with the site. This might be wonderful for children with learning disabilities, reading difficulties.
Visual Bookshelf
I know have Visual Bookshelf on my Facebook and I love it! I was surprised to see some of my friends there and learned about their reading preferences, exchange insights about a given book – real cool and useful.
No comments:
Post a Comment