Comments on: Are We Text Snobs?

By: Paul Hamilton

Paul Hamilton — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:17:30 +0000

I don’t think the term “snobs” is too strong at all. If a learner is relatively less gifted in dealing with text than in working with other media, he or she faces all manner of penalties and barriers in our schools. There are learners for whom it is essential that information be presented in non-text formats. It’s also necessary for many learners to have non-text ways of showing what they know. Check out this video, made recently by a learner with diagnosed learning “disabilities”, where she discusses some of the barriers faced in her own journey to achieve a teaching credential — http://vimeo.com/5565982
Paul Hamilton´s last blog ..Celebrating Diversity

By: PowerPoint Templates

PowerPoint Templates — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:25:27 +0000

Schools should embrace technology they seem to shun it. There is alot that could be done to embrace text.

By: Erin Nash

Erin Nash — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:19:51 +0000

Great post! This reminds me of a novel I just started reading called Proust and the Squid. I’ve only started reading it, but one of the author’s main assertions is that humans aren’t genetically wired for reading. As the author begins, ” We were never born to read [. . .] And with this invention (reading), we rearranged the very organization of our brain, which in turn, expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the evolution of our species.” Our ancestors made primary usage of visual and oral communication prior to the invention of reading. Considering this, it only makes sense to try to incorporate various forms of communication into any learning environment. Nothing is wrong with reading; similarly, nothing is wrong with utilizing other forms of communication within the classroom.

By: Anthony Morrison

Anthony Morrison — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:10:47 +0000

Great job Dean, i often read your post to keed up to date. I dont consider a text snob, i like reading and blogging. So im more than a simple text snob, im a text freak!

By: Eliza

Eliza — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:30:55 +0000

I would say that the audio and the video presence is so
important.. The text would just be as simple form to read.
I am thinking of that too…
We need to have good communication towards the society by using videos and not just text

By: Dean Shareski

Dean Shareski — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:41:47 +0000

Doug,

Coming from someone who works directly with libraries and librarians, you represent an important but I’m guessing controversial perspective in your circles.

By: Doug Johnson

Doug Johnson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:12:03 +0000

Hi Dean,

Great post. I would go so far as to say we are even more than “text snobs.” We are format bigots – favoring one format (print) over other equal or greater means of communication. We definitely treat print resources in different ways than we do other media – especially in schools and libraries.

Keep up the good work,

Doug

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:46:05 +0000

Excellent post. I started writing a comment here and it got so long I turned it into a post instead. Lots of text and no audio or video, however, so I need to work on that.

Thanks for the inspiration.
Tim´s last blog ..Educators Are Snobs

By: Dana Woods

Dana Woods — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:10:24 +0000

I agree with Allan and Dean. Its not an text snobbery OR new media proposition we are faced with in this revolution. It is an AND proposal. The leaders of this revolution will have to be superheroes, I am glad to have the support of people like Dean as I begin my teaching career.
Dana Woods´s last blog ..The skills of which century?

By: Dean Shareski

Dean Shareski — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:53:03 +0000

Alan,

the word “snob” came to mind as I thought of a story told to me when attending a conference last year on First Nations people. The story was about a treaty document that was rescued from a collector by local Indians. The treaty agreement was a pictograph created by the Indians while the English had a pure text document. At the time and even currently the text document was seen as the more sophisticated and continued to view the Indians as less educated and ultimately not as smart. The details and intricasies of the pictograph detailed emotion and much richer context than the text document.

In many ways this belief still reigns. Written text is the superior, more intellectual way of communicating. I’d call that a form of snobery. Yes?
Dean Shareski´s last blog ..Are We Text Snobs?

By: Alan Levine

Alan Levine — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:09:55 +0000

Not long after reading your post, I was reading through Chapter 5 of Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” where he addresses this topic head on, outlining how the worlds of words and pictures meet in a plane of creation where comics sit. It has a great opening series of a kid doing a typical show and tell where “he uses words and images interchangeably… it’s considered normal in this society for children to combine words and pictures, as long as they grow out of it.”

!!
Alan Levine´s last blog ..Getting Around Google Search’s Theft of Copiable URLs

By: Paul C

Paul C — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:22:34 +0000

Your post reminds me of Seth Godin’s ‘Textbook Rant.’ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/textbook-rant.html He argues that they often don’t sell the topic, and that they are incredibly impractical. Instead, teachers should develop material, including visual and auditory resources, to energize and empower learning.
Paul C´s last blog ..Obama’s Ghana Speech Inspires, Prods

By: Alan Levine

Alan Levine — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:46:31 +0000

I get where you are trying to go, but I’m thinking “snobbery” is a bit strong here. If it were snobbery, we would inwardly feel that our text form of communication is vastly superior, where it is more a case of being vastly familiar. We would ridicule and look down our text noses at those video idiots.

It seems to run the other way- people clinging to the textual dominant communication form due so in fear- of the unknown, of looking incompetent, of not being able to “grok” it (if the texties know what ‘grok’ is?).

Yes, we need more use, appreciation, and acceptance of media as a forms of communication/literacy/etc. At the same time– I would avoid an implication that video is always better. There are some limitations. I cannot easily scan video like text (yes I can scrub, but it is guess work- there is no equivalent for a quick eye scan of text). Also, search to find within video is a technology still beyond our grasps. Is video better for a person just talking? I question that as well. And really, we should not be talking OR but AND for media.

And doh, I should have commented in video
Alan Levine´s last blog ..Tech Glory Days (stuff that gets spammed)

By: Bill Ferriter

Bill Ferriter — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:31:59 +0000

I’m with you, Dean—video is playing a more important role in communication and persuasion.

The instructional barriers to incorporating video in the classroom are HUGE though.

A simple example from my experience:I’m given 2.5 GB of storage space on our school’s server—and the majority of free video hosting services are blocked— so simply posting clips for students who are in the pre-production process is nearly impossible.

I think there are more teachers interested in video than you think. We give up, though, when we have to fight through constant digital roadblocks.

Does this resonate with anyone else?

Bill