Journal 9

Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and Leading, 39(3), 12-15.

Annette Lamb discusses the concept of reading and compares it from the older days to more recent times. Years ago, reading consisted of opening a book, flipping through the pages and reading line by line. In our new digital world, reading has progressed to forms of e-books, interactive reading, reference databases, hypertext and trans-media story telling. In our emerging and growing digital age, we now have the Kindle, e-books and apps for the I-pad or I-phone or interactive storybooks on CD-ROM. It seems that these new forms of reading are catering to the needs of all diverse people in our world. There are many students that can not just sit down for two hours and read a book straight through. They might have more visual and active brains that do not have the will or want to force themselves to sit through a long book. Many of these apps for the I-pad or I-phone have e-books that allow the reader to adjust font color or size and add various graphics to what they are reading. This benefits those children who may have a learning disability or need extra help putting sentences together because it caters to their personal learning style.

How can educators incorporate e-books into classroom material?
Educators need to understand that these new forms of technology and reading enhance the learning experience for children. I did classroom observations at an elementary school and noticed that some teachers handed out I-phones to children who had learning disabilities. These i-phones had applications that helped the child pronounce words and put sentences together.

Is it beneficial to get rid of books altogether?

I think that getting rid of hard copies of books is not beneficial to students because it does not allow them to explore all areas of their learning abilities. Some students may not prefer reading via the digital world, rather they would open up a book and want to flip actual pages.