INF533 – Module 1

Module 1 opens with a generalised fear that the reading culture would be replaced by a visual one. I would have to say that 1970s-1980s fear is now true; movies and TV are more popular than books and the Internet is more popular than newspapers.

Over time, we have seen typewriters, postcards, the handwritten letter and more gradually disappear to the point where students of ours will not have seen any of them. They will only have heard of them as we have heard of VHS tapes and film negatives.

As we have become more digital orientated, texts have become more multiform (Huang, 2012, p. 288) through experimentation with formats to varying degrees of success. Electronic texts are generally seen as cheaper because they are easier to store (Felvegi and Matthew, 2012, p. 40); however, one must take into account the ‘cloud’ or hard drive space needed to store these digital files.

Technology – especially digital literature – can benefit classes greatly, however, they are not always seamlessly embedded into the classroom. This can be due to teachers nearing retirement or who are set in their ways being unwilling to change their practice. Or because of the classroom/school facilities cannot handle the high level of technology and digital material that we have. Similarly, some students may not have access to a laptop or tablet or even have the Internet connection at home – therefore making it impossible for them to connect to digital literature in the same way that we can.

Digital literature is something we (including “digital natives”) are still feeling our way with. We are still learning how to embed it into our classes, schools and libraries. While our generation has grown up with technology and the digital world, it may take the next to fully have digital literature embedded within our classes and schools.
​
References
Flevegi, E. & Matthew, K.I. (2012). eBooks and literacy in K-12 schools, Computers in the schools, 29(1-2), 40-52.
DOI: 10.1080/07380569.2012.651421
Huang, H-C. (2012). E-reading and e-discussion: EFL learners’ perceptions of an e-book reading program.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 26(3), 258-281/. DOI: 10.1080/09588221.2012.656313