Question 1: Is reading still reading?
This question was really interesting to me -- for the opposite reason than I thought! I came into this text with a love for reading in any format, without prejudice (I assumed). I read on my iPhone, my iPad, and my Nook. And of course I have books upon books upon books around my house, my bed, and still in boxes from our move. So when the first question started out talking about using a Nook and that some teachers tell kids that's not "really reading" I thought -- nope, that's not me.
And then the other shoe dropped: the quote "Now, more than ever, reading seems to be a social act." Um, no? I have attended book groups, I always loved reading discussions, and I bore people to tears talking about books I've read. But I'm not online in my reading. Nor do I think that an e-book should ever have a YouTube link to click and distract me!!
So where does that leave me? Still stuck in (gasp) the 20th century? I still think my third graders should learn cursive, I miss the feel of paper books (although I looooove the fact that I can lay in bed on my side and read my Nook, turning the page with just one finger, no pages falling back and losing my place......) especially because of the complexity of note-taking on a Nook or iPad (complex being my code word for different). I enjoy reading people's blogs, especially education and sewing blogs (my passions), but I rarely comment because it's not in real-time. I signed up for GoodReads but it didn't really go anywhere for me, and I'm realizing now that was because it wasn't in the format I was expecting.
I need to change my thinking of reading response. Reading will always be reading. I agree with the authors that paper and e-books "share the common purpose of recording and transmitting language. Written language is the essence of both." What I need to change is the way I interact as I read: recording my thinking, sharing with others, and hearing others' ideas. What are the best ways to do this?
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