A recent study by the UK-based National Literacy Trust finds blogging, Facebook, texting and other such writing results in a “strong correlation” with better overall reading and writing. Their study looked at kids aged 9 – 16. Big surprise? Success here leads to greater interest in traditional forms of writing, and the use of more informal writing styles online doesn’t seem to have a negative impact.
One of the new tech-memes is that the Internet brings a new information abundance, and businesses built on a model of information scarcity, like newspapers and universities, are doomed. I think many aspects of the delivery of information and where learning takes place is changing — and it needs to given the many new opportunities offered by the internet. But to predict that the experience of taking on-line courses replaces the in-person experience of participating in a learning community is foolish. The experience of going to college is so much more than just the time spent in class. Institutions that only focus on the traditional classroom are probably at risk. But those that recognize and embrace the full value of a multifaceted learning community have a value that will endure, and will actually be enriched by the internet.
The development of new learning/teaching should be a partnership between teachers and students –nice to see there are some folks out there actually leveraging this partnership…
Gift-wrapped for my birthday, my wife and kids presented me with an Amazon Kindle electronic book reader. I’d pretty much talked myself out of buying one, but secretly still wanted it. Nice to see my family knows me. First impressions? It is light and easy to navigate. The screen is very clear, and the text-to-speech function is surprisingly good. Access to the book store is easy too, and the download process painless. Lots more experimenting to do — I am particular interested in the transfer process for documents not purchased from Amazon, and the note taking capabilities. More impressions to come!
Two WordPress podcasts to check out.
For people just getting started:
Wordpress Installation Podcast
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I thoroughly enjoyed Cory Doctorow’s new book, Little Brother. The story starts off with a fictional terrorist attach in San Francisco on the scale of 9/11, and follow the effects on a group of teenagers. The government response to the attacks is a heavy handed clampdown on personal freedoms led by the department of homeland security. The kids each spend time in a ‘Gitmo’ style detention/torture facility, but by organizing public backlash through on-line social networking and some help from a good old fashioned investigative journalist, they prevail in the end.
Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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