• In the late 1930s, an inventor created the first processing computer. The machine engulfed the room, its size gargantuan. A symbol of mechanical innovation, the computer brought hope to all scientists.

   

  Eventually, the creation blossomed, and now, more than 70 years later, there is a computer in almost every household. However, while the computer may foster technological progress, its allure and temptation enthralls the most focused people. Specifically, reading on the Internet advocates a less concentrated and more aimless kind of literacy.

   

  What Is Literacy?

   

  The definition of literacy is thus: "... not simply knowing how to read and write a particular script, but applying this knowledge for specific purposes in specific contexts of use" (Scribner 236). Some claim that the Internet affects literacy drastically.
• In an era of computers, televisions, and video games, screens dominate lives, whereas in previous eras, books and people were the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge. The Internet is not always a trustworthy resource, and its aimlessness damages the attention span. The ability to make inferences and logical conclusions has decreased since the creation of the computer. In a world dominated by technology, primarily the Internet, literacy has decreased dramatically, so much so that children of the twenty-first century are less able to process and analyze textual details.

• Most scientists assume that the children of this age are prepared for the computer era, and that they will learn to analyze and infer through the Internet. Terry Egan, who led a team that developed a test to measure "information and communication-technology" literacy, "assumed the generation was so comfortable with technology that they knew how to use it for research and deeper thinking" (Wallis 37).

   

  Their experiment revealed that such a hypothesis was false. Children's reading scores have actually declined dramatically since the creation of the computer. Part of the decline in literacy is because of Internet discrepancy. Many readers misjudge the accuracy of information online. A study in New York asked 48 students to look at a spoof website about a mythical animal species. Almost 90 percent thought the site was a "reliable resource" (Rich 3). Combing through untrustworthy sites is tedious in a student's quest for knowledge, and only lowers the attention span.

   

  In fact, "Much of the information found on the Internet through random searches will... not be relevant to the subject at hand" (DeCandido 126). On the Internet, "We are mere decoders of information. Our ability to interpret text, to make rich mental connections that form when we read deeply without distraction, remains largely disengaged," writes Maryanne Wolf, developmental psychologist at Tufts University (Carr 1).

   

  The Internet damages the ability to analyze because of its unreliability; its resources are not always accurate, and deep, concentrated reading is scarcely found. "As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens to artificial intelligence" (Carr 5). The Internet's damage on literacy through disparity of information affects the reader's ability to analyze and infer textual details.

   

1 more annotation...

• Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis?

   

  Studies shed light on multi-tasking, video games and learning

   

    By Stuart Wolpert   January 26, 2009    Category:   Research     

      

  As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.

   

   

   

  Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science.

   

   

   

  Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said.

   

   

  • Technology is causing a decline in our literacy skills

• • Decrease in Literary skills