It's arduous to confine my reflections on these readings to 300-words. As verbose and introspective as I am I don't want to toil over a 1,200-word piece either. Our instructor already knows that I am proscriptive in terms of language use and writing well - period.
I find myself being a mix of digital immigrant and native; a major reason is that I do not adopt ways or technologies from their debut. I am cautious and thoughtful.
I was skeptical and surprised when I read that young people are concerned about writing well; most of the examples of young people's writing have shown meager interest in writing articulately, not to mention with any eloquence. Clearly, writing well is not synonymous with either of those former traits - except in my artistic and expressive ideal.
I've already strayed from addressing immigration vs nativism. I am someone who just will not abandon the conviction that analog learning is "the way," is superior! I will only walk the path toward online learning, and away from the Socratic method, while I am kicking and screaming. I understand my biases, but have an absolute Devil of a time ignoring or quashing them.
Granted the digital world doesn't solely focus on education. And I accept that online learning could be great - if one is a shut-in, in a rural area, or is an invalid.
Of course I face a contradiction. I think of my keen curiosity for these electronic readers, the kindle or the nook. I am curious about using them, almost solely for the novelty and mostly for the opportunity to save space. But the inability to highlight books' passages or to turn pages - the tactile experience - upsets and unnerves me.
There is an intriguing panel discussion at Fora.tv about the Battle for Readers.
And then there's the Old-Fashioned book vs the Amazon kindle at YouTube.com
I am just now coming back to the concept of subscribing to a few newspapers, rather than wearing down my eyes by reading "The New York Times," "The Root.com," "The Week," or "Paris Match" online. I prefer the tactile - the damned human experience of turning pages, smelling the paper (however subtle an experience that is), and being able to clip articles to save them or put into scrapbooks.
If I keep writing, I will probably end up with something around that 1,200-word count. So many other activities and priorities compete for my zeal and energies.
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