so i've only very recently blogged on AGU today, but this doesn't really belong there
my auntie jan got facebook today.
and i'm incredibly happy about this. the fact that she's so far away sucks and i miss her. knowing that i can contact her online and be kept up to date with her health is fantastic.
but i'm also worried. i don't know how okay this is all going to be when the time does come and there's a constant digital reminder of the fact that she isn't around anymore.
it's just a little conflicting, that's all. i imagine this to be the equivalent of calling a deceased person and getting their (very alive-sounding) voicemail. on the one hand, it's a relief to hear their voice. on the other, knowing that a recording is all that's left of them is exquisitely painful.
still, i'm going to enjoy it while she's here :)
that is all
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Reading
I'm in the process of reading "Out of our minds: Learning to be creative" by Ken Robinson.
As I've read about how technology has pervaded the lives of the under-30s, becoming a cybernetic extension shaping thought processes, values and the very nature of our cognitive gymnasticism, I can't help but notice the truth in this as evidenced in my reading process.
As I read, I highlight, dog-ear and share fragments from the convenience of my kindle app. But that's just scratching the surface in examining the impact of digitised reading processes. Ten years ago, reading was an isolated pastime. I would contentedly sit with a book, close off the outside world and let myself be immersed. Whilst I appreciate that 10 years ago I was reading the likes of Harry Potter and The Obernewtyn Chronicles and naturally my reading habits have matured, I can't ignore the increasingly social aspect which accompanies my current reading practice.
Whilst reading I find myself concurrently listening to music, periodically checking facebook, updating my progress on 'goodreads', browsing youtube for content (both related to the text and otherwise) and writing a blog about the reading process I am currently engaged in. It's all very meta.
As both avid reader and educator, I ask: how can a reader fully engage with a text when faced with all of these competing stimulant experiences?
Somewhat surprisingly, reflection would suggest that these experiences are now so deeply engrained in my understanding of the act of reading that I find it difficult to separate them from the process. I had noticed myself checking facebook on at least a bi-chapterly basis. The frequency of these checks alarmed me at first, and I would consciously try to limit them. "You're not fully engaged" I told myself. I didn't believe that I could so willingly abandon an immersive text for something as menial as status updates detailing what my friends had eaten for dinner. But I found that ignoring my impulse to periodically take breaks actually stilted my appreciation for the text. Reading began to feel like a chore. Where normally my mind would allow itself breaks, addressing pressing curiosities as the impulse rose, I was trying to ignore those impulses. This did little more than fuel my curiosity, so much so that I found myself re-reading large passages that had not been retained due to mental abstraction.
Even in the process of writing this blog, I have found that addressing my mind's curious whims has done a great deal to assist rather than impede the creative process. Google searches and fact checks have helped to shape this text whilst prompting deeper thoughts on the issue, transporting this piece to a place inconcievable to myself when first I set to writing.
Perhaps it's my low tolerance for anything dull or my short attention span which is the cause of this need for constant, multi-faceted sensory stimulation, but I highly doubt that I am alone in this. We live in a world of instant gratification; so much so that the processes of reading and writing alone are not sensory enough. We seek to supliment and enhance them.
This is by no means a commentary on the content of the book I'm reading, although it does extrapolate on a few points raised by the author. These are just the questions and ideas that the reading process has provoked. And isn't it remarkable that reading promotes this kind of internal dialogue? I can't imagine the same effect would be achieved in more traditional reading processes. No, this is not cloze reading. I am not readong for comprehension of the original text, peeling back the deftly placed layers of meaning to find the true authorial intent. But this is, to me at least, far more valuable. Promoting thoughts independant from the original work to create new texts, new dialogues and new understandings completely distinct from the author's own.
As I've read about how technology has pervaded the lives of the under-30s, becoming a cybernetic extension shaping thought processes, values and the very nature of our cognitive gymnasticism, I can't help but notice the truth in this as evidenced in my reading process.
As I read, I highlight, dog-ear and share fragments from the convenience of my kindle app. But that's just scratching the surface in examining the impact of digitised reading processes. Ten years ago, reading was an isolated pastime. I would contentedly sit with a book, close off the outside world and let myself be immersed. Whilst I appreciate that 10 years ago I was reading the likes of Harry Potter and The Obernewtyn Chronicles and naturally my reading habits have matured, I can't ignore the increasingly social aspect which accompanies my current reading practice.
Whilst reading I find myself concurrently listening to music, periodically checking facebook, updating my progress on 'goodreads', browsing youtube for content (both related to the text and otherwise) and writing a blog about the reading process I am currently engaged in. It's all very meta.
As both avid reader and educator, I ask: how can a reader fully engage with a text when faced with all of these competing stimulant experiences?
Somewhat surprisingly, reflection would suggest that these experiences are now so deeply engrained in my understanding of the act of reading that I find it difficult to separate them from the process. I had noticed myself checking facebook on at least a bi-chapterly basis. The frequency of these checks alarmed me at first, and I would consciously try to limit them. "You're not fully engaged" I told myself. I didn't believe that I could so willingly abandon an immersive text for something as menial as status updates detailing what my friends had eaten for dinner. But I found that ignoring my impulse to periodically take breaks actually stilted my appreciation for the text. Reading began to feel like a chore. Where normally my mind would allow itself breaks, addressing pressing curiosities as the impulse rose, I was trying to ignore those impulses. This did little more than fuel my curiosity, so much so that I found myself re-reading large passages that had not been retained due to mental abstraction.
Even in the process of writing this blog, I have found that addressing my mind's curious whims has done a great deal to assist rather than impede the creative process. Google searches and fact checks have helped to shape this text whilst prompting deeper thoughts on the issue, transporting this piece to a place inconcievable to myself when first I set to writing.
Perhaps it's my low tolerance for anything dull or my short attention span which is the cause of this need for constant, multi-faceted sensory stimulation, but I highly doubt that I am alone in this. We live in a world of instant gratification; so much so that the processes of reading and writing alone are not sensory enough. We seek to supliment and enhance them.
This is by no means a commentary on the content of the book I'm reading, although it does extrapolate on a few points raised by the author. These are just the questions and ideas that the reading process has provoked. And isn't it remarkable that reading promotes this kind of internal dialogue? I can't imagine the same effect would be achieved in more traditional reading processes. No, this is not cloze reading. I am not readong for comprehension of the original text, peeling back the deftly placed layers of meaning to find the true authorial intent. But this is, to me at least, far more valuable. Promoting thoughts independant from the original work to create new texts, new dialogues and new understandings completely distinct from the author's own.
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