Paperback or Screen Books?

Paper books or screen books? That is a question that I can say that I never really thought about until now. Before reading the article, “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens,” by Ferris Jbar, (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reading-paper-screens) that I found on Twitter from @BillSelak, I never really gave it much thought about how I processed what I read whether it was from paper or a screen. I will admit that I still like to use paperback books and as the article stated, most people still like to use paperback books too. A lot of it has to do with the experience that people have had with books ever since books have been invented. Many people like how a book smells, the physical touch of changing a page, marking a book with a highlighter or pen, or simply how heavy or light a book may feel. Humans have a natural tendency to make goals and having a physical book in hand allows people to create a “mental map” of how much they are progressing through a book.

When people read from tablet, kindle, smartphone, computer, or some other technology device; they simply do not experience the same thing that a paperback book can give. For example, the device that is used will always feel the same weight and won’t be able to map out how much is left to read. Also, reading from a devise allows the body to interact in a different way than reading a paperback book, which sometimes makes it difficult to concentrate on the words. There are different senses that are used when reading from a device rather than from a book. Despite of what people like to read off of better, the article states that there much of significant effect on the speed and comprehension of material.

One of my favorite points from the article was that there was study that took place where they gave students an assignment to read an article and then they were to answer questions based off the reading. Half of the students had to read from a screen and the other half of the students had to read from a paperback. The results showed that the students who read from the screen did a little worse than the students who read from the paperback.

I couldn’t help to think, what this means for our future students? Many of our students are going to be taking tests from computers and reading textbooks from some type of electronic device. Does this mean we are hindering their chances of doing better than they could? I think the answer is we are unsure of what it will be. The studies that have been done state that there isn’t a drastic difference of results of how people perform whether they take a test from a computer or paper and I believe a lot of it has to do with they were raised to use paper at some point in their life. However, for the babies that are born now and if they never interact with paper, then maybe there brains will be trained to read from electronic devices thoroughly and gain full comprehension from it, because that is all that they will know.  

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My Professional Growth During My Masters Work!

I would have never thought that I would pursing a Masters degree and let alone in DIGITIAL TEACHING!!!!! I will admit that growing up I was never really fascinated by the new technology items that were coming out and sometimes I felt behind on knowing what all the cool new gadgets were. Ironically, I never really wanted to get “sucked” into the world of technology, because I really wanted to preserve the old way of life. However, with that being said, getting my M.A. in Digital Teaching is one of the best decisions I could have made. I feel that in the last 12 weeks my professional growth in my Master’s program growing in a positive direction.

One of the best experiences that I have had so far with my professional growth is talking to 5^th grade teachers about the technological resources that are out there to use.  I am not stating that I know more than teachers that I was able to interact with, because I know I have a lot to learn and as teachers we are always learning and growing. However, it made me realize that everyone has special gifts, talents, and interests that can all be contributed to make the school experience positive and enriching for students and staff. I think one of my interests is learning about resources that involve technology and that’s what I felt I was able to contribute.

Another way that I see myself growing professionally is by following professional teacher and organizations on Twitter. I find it beneficial to get updates about what other people are using or doing with technology in the classroom. For example, there are people who will Tweet about the best apps to use in the classroom or what websites will come in handy for certain projects for the students. I find myself looking into the resources myself and building a pile of resources, so when I get hired as a teacher I will have already built a list of resources.

My experience with the Masters of Digital Teaching and Learning program has only been a positive experience so far. I am grateful to know that I am embracing the change that the 21^st century has brought and that I will be able to contribute a positive experience to our future students by incorporating what I am learning now and what I will continue to learn in the future. I know that in time my professional growth will continue to prosper as I get more opportunity to incorporate all that I have learned into a professional setting. Until then, I have been given the tools to keep up to date with what is out there. 

My Twitter Experience

I will admit that I never thought I would ever get a Twitter account and honestly if I wasn’t in this M.A. in Digital Teaching and Learning program I probably wouldn’t have one to this day. However, I am starting to see what the benefits are of this new fad with Twitter, at least from the Educational World perspective.

One thing that surprised me was I didn’t realize how many educators and educational associations are involved with Twitter! There are so many ideas that are constantly floating and it makes me grateful for the people who are able to find resources and share them to followers, such as myself. I don’t really find a lot of things to post and contribute, but I do like how I am able to get new ideas and learn about new issues that I probably wouldn’t have heard about. The nice thing about getting started with Twitter now is that when my classes are over in the future, I feel that I will still have a resource that I will be easily able to go to find information or know what are new and upcoming resources and items.

Another thing that I like about Twitter is that there are all different subjects floating around. There are ideas about Common Core, which I didn’t even know that some people are for and against it. (I assumed that everyone was just for it, since we complain about our current system now).  Also, there are ideas about classroom activities (with and without technology), photography tips (which is one of my hobbies), Apple products, Google news, and such more! I feel the possibilities are endless on what you can find and this is just for the Educational world alone!

My current experience with Twitter has grown more positive since I have started. I am checking it more often and I take more time to read the links that are usually posted on the posts. I hope that I will be able to contribute more in the future with some of my findings and get more involved in posting meaningful resources for others to see too.