What Counts as Reading?

Here is an interesting look into the reading habits of today's children and how they compare with other generations. The question is does online reading really count as reading? Does a non-linear approach to information consumption benefit readers in a non-linear world or does it promote laziness and hamper children with a sense that sustained focus no longer necessary.

My take is that we need both traditional and newer reading skill sets. They are very different forms of information intake and accomplish very different things. Today's pace often requires people to make decisions quickly. My international business professor at Western Washington University often assigned us way more reading that was humanly possible to consume. When we complained that what he had assigned was beyond reasonable, he said, "sometimes it is better to know 10% of 90% of what is going on out there than to know 90% of 10% of what is going on." The Jack of All Trades theory I guess. But I think there is some validity to it.

This is not to take away from traditional reading skills that kids will also need. But these skill sets need not be mutually exclusive and can actually be quite complementary. To be able to quickly get a sense of a topic and promptly provide general feedback on it is a necessary skill to have in the modern workplace. A skill that is particularly well suited to non-linear, online searching. Once generalities have been established you often need to go back and flesh out your understanding of that topic. But the groundwork laid out in advance allows your co-workers to move on once a general direction has been established.

This isn't to say that every thing is just fine. I think we do need to find ways of measuring the effectiveness of children's online reading habits. But overall I think kid's behaviors are a product of our societies dynamic culture - a reaction to an increasingly fast paced world.

(PS - I didn't finish the above mentioned article... it was too long!)