Although you may not realize it, there is a great difference between the ways that you read a book versus the material that you read online. According to developmental psychologist Maryanne Wolf and her book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, the value of print books lies in their ability to promote deep thinking and contemplation amongst readers. In Wolf’s opinion, the overwhelming amount of information online does not motivate the user to be analytical or think critically (12).
Worried that the Internet promotes a style of reading that places efficiency and easy access above deep thinking, Wolf notes that, “We are not only what we read, we are how we read.” In an article for the Boston Globe, Wolf expresses her fear that the overwhelming popularity of the internet over books has caused the student's of today to become mere “decoders of information who have neither the time nor the motivation to think beneath or beyond their Googled universes” (2007). Indeed, researchers such as Liu Ziming have supported Wolf’s argument, finding that reading online “is characterized by more time spent on browsing and scanning, keyword spotting, one-time reading, non-linear reading, and reading more selectively, while less time is spent on in-depth reading and concentrated reading” (709).
While the reading of print books may differ greatly from the style of reading promoted in an online environment, that does not mean that reading on the Internet should be considered a negative experience. Indeed, according to N. Katherine Hayles, a literature professor at Duke University, while online reading can result in a tendency to power-browse, that does not mean that readers are not partaking in deep and critical thinking. In her book Electronic Literature: New Horizons For The Literary, Hayles discusses how the use of hypertext, images, and video can result in a variety of meaningful interpretations for readers (163). While Hayles is referring to electronic literature in terms of writing that is “digital born,” or meant to be read on the computer, such as flash poetry or hypertext fiction, it can nevertheless be compared to the reading that occurs on interactive websites (160).
As in the case of electronic literature, interactive websites are "digitally born" and are created with the Internet user in mind. Like electronic literature, interactive websites also possess an engagement component, causing the user to stop and think about the links that they are clicking, and contemplate the direction that they should take to access the information that they are seeking. While this contemplation may not be the "deep-thinking" that Maryanne Wolf advocates, interactive websites nevertheless require that its readers stop and consider the information presented to them so that they can evaluate its usefulness and meaning.
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As in the case of electronic literature, interactive websites are "digitally born" and are created with the Internet user in mind. Like electronic literature, interactive websites also possess an engagement component, causing the user to stop and think about the links that they are clicking, and contemplate the direction that they should take to access the information that they are seeking. While this contemplation may not be the "deep-thinking" that Maryanne Wolf advocates, interactive websites nevertheless require that its readers stop and consider the information presented to them so that they can evaluate its usefulness and meaning.
Return to: 2.0 A Vision of Students Today
Previous Page: 2.1 What Today's Students Look Like
Next Page: 2.3 What Do Students Prefer?
Sources:
Carr, Nicholas G. The shallows: what the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.
Hayles, Katherine N. Electronic literature: new horizons for the literary. New York: University of Notre Dame Press, 2008. Print.
Wolf, Maryanne. Proust and the squid: the story and science of the reading brain. New York: Harper, 2007. Print.
Ziming, Liu. "Reading behaviour in the digital environment: changes in reading behaviour over the past ten years." Journal of Documentation 61.6: (2005), 700-712.