Me likey da books. Books 2.0 tools? Puhlease. There's no substitute for a good book. It's sad that we have a hard time convincing our children of this. Parents, please read for yourself and read to your children. Teachers, quit teaching the boring old classics. These should constitute some, not all, of required school reading. Libraries, keep doing what you've always been doing - providing equal access to a varied and representative sample of what's out there and promoting literacy.
Internet literacy, and beyond that, information literacy, is a reasonable thing to teach, but it should come second to teaching reading comprehension. Kids are DUMB these days folks and it's not because of the internet. My brief stint in the education profession showed me that the biggest barrier to learning basic skills like reading is behavior problems. Teachers are overwhelmed with teaching the proper way to behave that they can hardley fit in book learning. I put the blame on the parents, but what society can do about that I'm not sure. Contraceptives in the drinking water?
I've not had much luck with online reader's advisory tools, but I enjoy perusing award winner lists, book reviews, and author read alike services such as the one provided by Novelist. I'm pretty picky, but I've found that books that have positive reviews listed on the back cover are often good bets. KDL's what's next database is great for looking up books in a series. I will continue to browse the shelves at my library and take recommendations from people I know before turning to online Book 2.0 tools.
No comments:
Post a Comment