• Home
  • Login
  • Registration
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
ESLarticle.com
Tweet
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Blog
  • Members
  • Add Article

Top Categories

Teaching 509
Other 210
Classroom Management 138
Career Development 135
Learning Methodology 121
Study Skills 90
E-Learning/CALL 87
English Language Learning (ELL) 78
Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) 77
Teaching Methodology 76
English Language Teaching (ELT) 73
English as a Second Language (ESL) 64
Teach in Shanghai
Home / Articles / Other / View Article

Publishing

  • Articles
  • Add Article
  • Articles Archive
  • Latest Articles
  • Popular Articles

Latest Articles

Jan 5, 2019

Metacognition in Reading Competency

As related to the reading process, metacognition can be defined as contemplation concerning one's own thinking processes or knowledge of one's own...

Jan 5, 2019

Mass Media Literacy Reflections for Language Instructions

"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself." Galileo Galilei Mass media forms thrive today. As development...

Nov 30, 2018

Ideas for the First Class with New Learners

~~The first class with new learners can be an anxious one for all concerned – teacher as well as learners. Below are some tips to make that first...

Nov 19, 2018

10 Amazing Hacks for English Learners

10 Amazing Hacks for English Learners It is estimated that there are over a billion English speakers in the world, including native speakers,...

Nov 15, 2018

Building Reading and Writing Knowledge with Very Young Children at Hom

Education Today, December 2013 Building Reading and Writing Knowledge with Very Young Children at Home  Timothy G. Weih University of Northern...

Popular Articles

1144525 Views

5 Creative Ways to Decorate Your Classroom Bulletin Board This Winter

Back to school, fall leaves, Thanksgiving and Christmas all easily lend themselves to great decorating themes, but what to do when those are over...

383240 Views

Three Unique Ideas To Make Your Bulletin Board More Useful

Bulletin boards have long been existent in campuses. They have proven to be such versatile and useful aids in both the learning and teaching...

141003 Views

History of the Chalkboard

Walk into just about any classroom and you will find one: A dark green board on the wall, lined with pieces of chalk and felt erasers. Chalkboards,...

65307 Views

Report Card Comments

For a small minority, writing report cards isn't a big deal. But most teachers generally dread report card writing time. Completing the comment...

49456 Views

Second Language Acquisition: Swain's Output Vs Krashen's Input

1. Introduction: Input versus Output. A general overview In order to assess how compatible Krashen's and Swain's views are, it is essential to...


New Reading Paradigm To New Literacy Concerns

by Reynald Cacho

Mar 1, 2009 Other 2969 Views

It has been a common knowledge that books have bewildered the world of their contents, appeals and processes from authorship to readership. At the advent of computer and internet streamlining every household in highly developed countries, agreeing with the note of Sven Birkerts that the old assumptions of writing and reading are under
siege, affecting the grass-root level consumers up to the print or online stalwart producers is a concern to look into with explicit, subtle and uncertain expectations.

Indeed, books have nourished the halls and citadels of learning institutions from time immemorial. Since books are primarily crafted for reading, reading books and producing them have continually evolved. Initially, traditional typography reading has flourished starting with Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. In addition, with myriad of innovation brought by technological development in advanced and poor countries alike, perusing religious to science books and to anything-under-the-sun tomes and other prints created small shelves to huge libraries of information in the world. Furthermore, books of this time have been with people. Books of different sizes, contents, and print forms have been muscled, dirtied, marked, and savored by the fingers, pens, hands, and eyes of students, teachers, and those who are engrossed by profession and leisure. Not to mention, books have also eaten all sort of bookmarks and varied memorabilia from flower of suitors, feathers, leaves, postcards and the likes from generation to generation. Although using them could mean withering them out, this would immensely remind the readers the proof of their acts etched by the wrinkles they have worn by turning their pages from cover to cover. Could this conventional ways embedded in people (writer, publisher, and reader) be changed by time and more advancement that is highly sophisticated?

The new reading model has come to answer. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos strongly considers that one of humankind’s most divine creations, the book, can be improved thus opening a new reading era. With technology at reach as initiated by telecom firms, digitalizations of analog books or tomes have already begun. Digitalization of books brought the e-book specifically what Bezos endorses, the Kindle. Kindle and its kin like the Sony Reader, Guitar Hero, Blackberry and the likes epitomize into action the new reading model.

What does the latest gadgetry has to offer compare to the traditional model, typical tomes or book? Bezos’ enumeration as Steven Levy reported cites some of its advantages, which are as follows:
• Projects an aura of bookishness (Although it’s battery power; it does not run hot compared to other electronic device.);
• Uses E Ink (breakthrough technology that copies the clarity of a printed book);
• Displays educational images to soothe the anxieties of avid print-culture;
• Allows versatility, allowing the user to change the font size for the elders’ consumption;
• Stores shelves or bulwark collection of virtual library stack in a high capacity;
• Offers searchability allowing easy access to book or data desired;
• Connects to internet via system called "Whispernet" creating net service;
• Downloads, browses, and personalizes books on-line independent of a computer;
• Subscribes to virtual publication linked to kindle with least cost;
• Jots down or make notes using a highlighted pen; and,
• Ventures out as a web itself capable of interacting web search engines, blogs, and other web pages and can offer file or document sharing.

With this features, Amazon calls it an iPod of reading. However, not all writers and publishers are happy about this latest technology considering that it is quite pricey at $399 (as of November 2007). In comparison to the conventional or paper books, Ann Proulx, fictional writer, commented that nobody is going to sit down and read a novel on a twitchy little screen.
Likewise, in Terje Hillesund’s paper entitled Reading Book in the Digital Age subsequent to Amazon, Google and the Long Tail, Robert Darnton said that written and printed books have an "extraordinary staying power" over its digital counterpart.
"Ever since the invention of the codex in the third or fourth century AD, it has proven to be a marvelous machine — great for packaging information, convenient to thumb through, comfortable to curl up with, superb for storage, and remarkably resistant to damage. It does not need to be upgraded or downloaded, accessed or booted, plugged into circuits or extracted from webs. Its design makes it a delight to the eye. Its shape makes it a pleasure to hold in the hand. And its handiness has made it the basic tool of learning for thousands of years ..."

Amidst strong calls to protection against the perceived death of books (traditional) over e-books (new reading), Steven Levy on his article (Future of Reading) is still optimistic of the possibilities the new bred of book may offer by reiterating the points (noted by experts) and where it may lead to, such as:

• Duplication the features of the physical book;
• Content or words appreciation not merely the physical aspect of books;
• Interaction of readers and writers creating a community or e-book club;
• Deduction of cost or price of downloadable books compared to books printed but not compromising author’s loyalty share;
• Amplification of readership compared to less people reading the tomes;
• Conglomeration of data leading to open source of world’s information providing reliable resources;
• Protection of intellectual and property rights against illegal acts on prints so as on online penetration;
• Corrections and updates of contents incase unavoidable errors;
• Participation of readers in writing of the authors for improvement and feedbacks;
• Serialization of notable works;
• Digitalization of entire libraries; and,
• Creation of new trends in reading, writing, publishing, and evaluating processes and industry of e-book.

People of all generations may conform to the common belief that change is inevitable. At the end of the day, people would agree that the energy-wasting and resource-draining process of making paper just to produce conventional books would not be realistic with in the 50 years as Bill Hill noted. By then e-books may find its rightful place over its predecessors (other digital or print) or it may even have its new brand, but for sure it is not going to be Kindle’s future version alone.

Although baffled by these concerns and challenges, if e-book becomes successful in the market reaching the north and south of the globe, it will surely revolutionized the way people think of reading leading to new literacy. Consequently, new literacy can mean new approach in education. What will education frontrunners, teachers be confronting?

Ilana Snyder provides closer outlook by expressing his views on Packaging literacy, New Technologies and Enhanced Learning.
If schools are to prepare students for a rapidly changing world, in which technology-mediated literacy practices are integral, then more is needed than reductive notions of literacy and market-driven `technologisation' of the curriculum, accompanied by evidence-free promises of better learning. The effort considers the possibilities for critical digital literacy education.

Different faces of literacy will be emerging. As this thing surfaces, teachers should be the first to be mediated or trained. A critical digital literate teacher is probably a teacher who could not only maximize the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) media to provide learning environment but could also streamline new trends at the classroom and off-classroom (real life) level. To name a few challenges, which teachers are up against, is to look into the product, process, and output framework leading to some issues that could be difficult to respond with by the teachers, school, and the state, such as:

• Provision of this new technological devise or equipment for literacy
• Sustainability and management of resources in e-learning or digital education
• Training for heads, teachers, and students
• Teachers and students’ access to the media
• Teachers’ adaptation to technological change
• Monitoring and evaluation of the new program
• Improvement and Reporting

Above all these, the foremost concern in this new literacy brought by the new technology is the teachers’ attitude with regard to it. Teachers’ culture varies in some places. How much more for schools, which have not been reached yet by computers?


References and Readings:

"The Future of Reading." Steven Levy. From the NEWSWEEK magazine issue dated Nov 26, 2007. Available at http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983/output/print

"Reading Books in the Digital Age subsequent to Amazon Google and long tail." Terje Hillesund. (2007) Available at http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_9/hillesund/index.html#author

"Packaging literacy, new technologies and 'enhanced' learning." Ilana Snyder. At
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LjncHPknhhfGzFM9QyVmhdpLMn7v21yV5MX581FVH6DBBm8MQ1rn!1397815523?docId=5001890503

Article source: http://eslarticle.com/pub/other/897-new-reading-paradigm-to-new-literacy-concerns.html

  • General Information
Author Info

Author Name: Reynald Cacho

About Author: Reynald Cacho

Most Recent Articles

  • Oct 6, 2018 Ideas on How to Reduce the Stress of Teaching by Reynald Cacho
  • Sep 26, 2018 Play schools – The best option of learning for your child by Reynald Cacho
  • Mar 15, 2018 Educational games for kids | Build skills by bonding by Reynald Cacho
  • Aug 26, 2017 How To Select Your SBMPTN Tutoring Service? by Reynald Cacho
  • Jun 28, 2017 Simple ways to ensure you undergo personal growth development by Reynald Cacho

Actions

  • Print Page

Articles Archive

  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • December 2021

Random Articles

TOEFL/TOEIC/IELTS

TOEFL exams; how to practice and pass it

The TOEFL exam is for some people a hard exam to practice and pass successfully. I will in this small article look at how the TOEFL exam is build...

Study Skills

Can We Improve Simple Mental Computational Skills?

Three years ago I tried to pay attention to importance of simple mental calculations for success in school math. Now it must be not only attempt,...

English for Special Purposes (ESP)

Writing Business E-mails

E-mails are much less formal than official letters. They are quick and easy to send. They also allow you to communicate to a large group...

TOEFL/TOEIC/IELTS

IELTS Preparation Guidelines

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an examination that tests your English ability in academic contexts. It provides proof...

Grammar

English Language Homophones

Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) spelling.

About ESL Article

ESL Article is a private ESL/TEFL site designed and maintained by educators and educational administrators. It was launched in August 2008 with the aim of bringing ESL/TEFL students, parents, teachers and schools information and articles about the teaching profession and learning community.

Icon Group Member

ESL Article is a member of Icon Group Thailand (IGT), a group of ESL TEFL TESOL websites providing educational resources and information to teachers, schools and students around the world. The group was founded in 2003 and now includes 15+ websites covering educational information services, teaching resources and e-learning.

What is ESL?

English as a second language (ESL) is the use or study of English by speakers of different native languages. It is also known as English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), and English as a foreign language (EFL).

  • Home
  • Registration
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Help
  • Partner
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
​

© 2022 ESLarticle.com.
Member of Icon Group Thailand - Educating the Future:
TESall All TESOL  Total ESL  ESL Job Feed
TEFL World  TEFL Jobs Overseas  Teach Overseas
Asia TEFL  ESL Powerpoint  Teacher Training