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7/28/2008
A July 27, 2008 article from The New York Times examines the ongoing debate regarding the effect that the Internet is having on literacy skills, particularly among students. Educators who advocate reading traditional books fear that increased use of the Internet is preventing students from developing the discipline and concentration skills needed to comprehend lengthy texts. Others, however, counter that the Internet is allowing individuals to develop an entirely new form of literacy that is able to simultaneously absorb data presented in written, pictorial and video formats. While traditional books tend to be linear in nature, with predetermined beginning and ending points, the Internet allows the user to control the flow of information based upon the links they choose to follow. As a group, parents also seem to be undecided regarding the overall impact of the Internet on student reading skills - while they are concerned that many "user-run" sites may have a higher number of errors (in spelling, grammar and/or facts), they often concede that they would prefer their children reading something from the Internet than not reading at all.
The article is available at the Web site of The New York Times.
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