Essay Proposal — How is technology changing the way we read?
For my essay for IxD502, I am going to write about how technology and the internet is changing our reading habits and what effects on traditional reading methods and our brains technology is causing. I want to discuss how social media, apps and technology in general are changing traditional methods of reading and how we consume information.
Below I am going to explain briefly what I am going to discuss in each section and add the resources that I am going to use to research these topics.
Title:
Technology is Changing our Reading Habits
or:
How technology is changing the way we read
Research Question:
It could be a wider look at:
How is technology changing the way we read? — I prefer this one!
or a more defined question:
Are new digital distractions causing a decline in reading rates?
Introduction:
Here I will be introducing my essay topic
Section 1: Reading is on the decline
- Discussing how reading is on the decline, reading rates in different generations
- Comparing facts and figures from now and previous decades
Sources for section 1:
National Endowment for the arts
Common sense media, 2014
Section 2: What technology is shaping the change in our reading habits
- What is causing the change in our reading habits — There are new forms of communication
- Research is Performed Mostly Online
- Classrooms are Getting Rid of Chalkboards and Paper
- Interactive Textbooks
- ‘view animations that aid in understanding the content’
- What is causing the decline in these numbers?
- Some argue that we are reading more than ever before, emails, social media posts
- The way we read is more superficial
- its changing the way our brains process information
- our brains have adapted to reading long text
- how we read on the internet, scanning and looking through sites for main points
- texting, reading short snippets on the internet
Sources for section 2:
sfbook.com — book/reading timeline
https://www.wired.com/story/how-we-read-introduction/
Section 3: Changes in the way our brains process information
Conclusion:
A summary of the answer to the essay questions
