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I'm so old-school that I'm not sure what a digital immigrant is. I very rarely do fast-paced multi-tasking. I'm a mono-tasking sort of gal. The only time I multi-task is when I take walks and listen to audiobooks, or wash dishes and listen to audiobooks. I'm SO old-school that I never have the TV on unless I'm actually watching it. I hate going to restaurants where they have three or four TVs on, plus a radio going. I only read when there are no distractions. So my answer, I guess, is "no."
yeah okay what's a digital immigrant? I'm like you're only here digitally? Is your body somewhere else. Do you need a digital visa or a digital green card?I read all my books on an electronic reader. Doesn't that make them digital?
I watch movies, and tv shows on my computer. Are they digital?
I get all my music from the computer. Isn't that digital?
I don't really multi-task. I don't read something and watch something else at the same time.
I don't find there's much of an impact if I've been doing straight reading online--if I consecutively read a number of entries of a single blog, for instance, or when I've been on FB or GoodReads. But when I've been clicking links which lead on to links which lead on to links, that does impact my ability to "sit still" with longer works. I don't really multi-task, though. I can barely get one task done at a time! My own experience is that television, or even DVDS, have a much more negative impact on my ability to do sustained reading than the Internet does. They just sap my will.
Again, what is a digital immigrant? And a digital native?I frequently multitask. As a child I used to be chided for reading over meals. I still do that, if I'm eating alone. This morning I had breakfast seated in front of the tv, checking out the headlines and weather forecast, whilst reading and responding to email messages on my laptop. (And writing messages to Goodreads friends required recalling conversations here yesterday, opening up a new page to send the url etc.)
What was the question again?
:-)
Oh, no I have no trouble being immersed in a lengthy novel. Before breakfast it was A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book. It requires too much concentration to add to the tv and the laptop, but I can read it over breakfast.:-)
Irene wrote: "yeah okay what's a digital immigrant? I'm like you're only here digitally? Is your body somewhere else. Do you need a digital visa or a digital green card?I read all my books on an electronic re..."
I'm like Sherry, very old school, only more so. I won't have an e-reader because I consider it a ******* book. I only read "real" books and then only hardcovers if I can get them. (I do realize the value of an e-reader, though for students and readers of huge technical books, primarily.)
I never read a book or watch TV or a movie at the computer. I try to limit my time at the computer. I don't think it's healthy.
I never have the TV on unless I'm watching a program. What would be the use?
I hate email and usually won't bother to answer one for weeks, maybe never if it's not from someone I know well.
I, too, have NO idea what a digital native or a digital immigrant is.
I can multi-task, though. I don't become really absorbed in anything. I never become "lost" in a book or a movie. Sometimes I wish I did. I can read and watch TV at the same time and remember both well. Or I could before I had a concussion.
I find Web surfing impacts my ability to enjoy life. Though I love CR and some other things about the Internet, I think, on the whole, the Internet is a vile, evil thing, filled with misinformation and outright lies and I try to go only to the sites I love (like CR) and do NOT surf. If I had children, I would not allow them to spend their lives surfing the Internet. What could be more unhealthy? People need to be outdoors moving around!
This is so weird. This morning before turning on the computer I was thinking about how difficult it was for me to stay focus on the book I am reading. It is 600 plus pages. I was wondering if it was because I am older or that things have gotten so fast paced, that I want my books to be that way also. I had to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the story as it was unfolding and to not rush it.
Most 20-somethings and certainly teens are digital natives, i.e. folks for whom multiple forms of digital media are a native language. (They're the ones who, when you ask about some elect. task, look at you with a perplexed and perhaps slightly disgusted stare and respond, "You just DO it, Mom.")Digital Immigrants are those of us who are learning to navigate the digital world like, well like an immigrant. The geography, culture and language are all something we are having to learn like we might a second language.
Nothing comes naturally, while our digital natives don't even know how they know what they do
Then digital natives don't know what they're missing by not getting outside and living and seeing and experiencing the world. I'm glad I'm a digital traveler (one who just passes through the digital world for a short time most days).
But immigrants are in their new environment to stay. Some of us are just visiting the neighbourhood.Me, I'm a tourist. :-)
Carol (Kitty) wrote: "This is so weird. This morning before turning on the computer I was thinking about how difficult it was for me to stay focus on the book I am reading. It is 600 plus pages. I was wondering if it wa..."Exactly! That's what I'm wondering. And if you grow up with this constant shifting of focus, constantly having something new to look at or read a bit of - does that make it especially hard to enter the world of a print novel?
I'm afraid that will be true, Susan. Of course the research is still being done. I take hope from the fact that I have an 18-year-old great-nephew who is very tech savvy but is also a voracious reader. On the other hand, his brother has no use for a book. Maybe there's a gene for reading that will continue to blossom among a minority?
your post reminded my of a nytimes article I read a little while back
Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information.
These play to a primitive impulse to respond to immediate opportunities and threats. The stimulation provokes excitement — a dopamine squirt — that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored.
The resulting distractions can have deadly consequences, as when cellphone-wielding drivers and train engineers cause wrecks. And for millions of people like Mr. Campbell, these urges can inflict nicks and cuts on creativity and deep thought, interrupting work and family life.
While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/tec...
Interesting stuff, Mike. Thanks for the link. I wonder how many people are like Mr Campbell? He would seem to me to be an extreme example, but perhaps that's because I'm in a different milieu. Western culture leads us to admire those who seem to do more. Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with success. On one level I admire people who live that lifestyle. I think they're doing 'better' than I.
Caeliban - Mike wrote: "your post reminded my of a nytimes article I read a little while back Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They s..."
I agree with that, Mike. When I try to multitask, I find I don't do as good a job at any of the tasks I'm trying to do.
Hazel, you said Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with success.On one level I admire people who live that lifestyle. I think they're doing 'better' than I.I disagree. There is nothing more annoying to me than, when either individually or in a group setting, someone shifts their attention away from the people/person they are with to text, Facebook post, or constantly take cell phone calls. It is disrespectful to whomever they are with. In essence they leave the impression that those who are connected to them via technology are more important than the living breathing persons they are with.
Janet wrote: "Hazel, you said Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with success.On one leve..."Oh, the discourtesy isn't always a factor.
I was picturing someone using several devices; talking on his mobile phone, sending email, maybe reading data off another screen as part of his business/profession. The picture of modern productivity. :-)
To do so in a social setting would be very poor manners indeed.
Hazel wrote: "Janet wrote: "Hazel, you said Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with succe..."Unfortunately, I see that happen far too often.
Janet wrote: "Hazel, you said Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with success.On one leve..."Absolutely, positively, totally agree. I hate it when someone does that.
Janet wrote: "Hazel, you said Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with success.On one leve..."Similar to having someone leave the TV on when you've come to visit.
Gad, do I hate that. Makes me immediately start thinking about why I'm interacting with this person anyway.
If they drop by unexpectedly and interrupt a movie (not a DVD, but one shown on TV) that I'm watching, I might leave the TV on, but if I've invited them, I'd never think of having the TV on.Usually when people drop by my place unexpectedly, I don't answer the door, though. Unexpected visitors are another of my pet peeves.
Scout wrote: "Janet wrote: "Hazel, you said Someone who's having multiple conversations, sending and receiving messages, always using the latest technology seems to be productive and we associate that with succe..."I knew someone who, on his visit to my home, would pick up a newspaper and start reading, mid-conversation. He was a very nice guy, and I decided this must be a sort of blank spot in his social skills. I was quite taken aback the first time. :-)
That is kind of funny, Hazel. Kind of rude, but kind of funny, too. I've had guests who never want to move from the kitchen table and we're not even eating.
I think that some people leave the TV on all the time and don't even realize that it's on. In the special education preschool program that I work in, we make visits to homes to work with both the children and the parents. I frequently need to ask the parents, politely, if they would turn the TV off while we are there. They almost always look surprised that it is on and are more than happy to cooperate.
It has been about 2 years since we turn on the actual tv for shows. We do watch dvd's though.
In my house my husband & my 2 sons multitask. The big screen TV is on all day ( if they go out, they leave it on). The boys (23 & 20) have laptops so they can Facebook, etc. as well as text on their cell phones while they watch TV. My youngest has ADHD so it is considered normal that he has many things going at the same time.My daughter (24) is on her computer many hours in dialogue with others by drawing anime. We will watch a DVD at night maybe a couple times a week (there is nothing on TV -- I'm thinking of getting Netflix). We use our cell phones just for emergency calls. As a former graphic designer and years working for printers, I love reading hard cover books, especially older ones (with Linotype or "Letterpress" text - no digital.) At times my health makes it impossible for me to leave the house, so I got on the computer looking for a book group and that is how I got here.
Carol (Kitty) wrote: "It has been about 2 years since we turn on the actual tv for shows. We do watch dvd's though."I hadn’t watched TV in years, either, Carol. Then I found The Food Channel. I love most of the shows.
Susan: This sounds like a very interesting discussion. I love to immerse myself in a good book, whether an audio or a print version. I will read every word of several print newspaper articles. I also find myself reading a lot of headlines and not so many in depth stories while online or on my Blackberry and since the true impact of a story is likely in the text much further in, the digital delivery may make it easier to just graze and harder to get to the meat of the article. Twitter headlines leading to links are a good example of grazing for news, but not necessarily with nearly enough information to understand what has happened or the impact.
If so, what skills do you use to shift from high distractability to highly mono-focused concentration?
For me it is as simple as changing my setting. I focus on my audio book while in my car, and on a good book while in a comfortable chair, but usually not my computer chair. By changing my position, I signal to myself that I have settled in to read something longer.
I will be interested to hear what your students have to say on the subject. oh, and I am also a digital immigrant. I like that description.
Susan wrote: "I'm a digital immigrant teaching Eng.101 to three classes of digital natives. We're going to spend some time discussing digital communication, critical reading and the need to adjust reading based on the medium..."
I like your observation that switching your position physically helps signal your mind that your reading goals have changed. One of my guesses is that we need to be more conscious of shifting reading goals in this highly digitized environment. I'm wondering if that may be something digital immigrants are more cognizant of because we learned to read one way and then had to adapt. Don't know. But answers may be lurking around the corner - classes begin tomorrow!
I've found the convenience of a TV DVR (e.g. Tivo) has affected my attention in an interesting way. One feature of the DVR that I use often is the rewind of "live tv". I find that I don't have to give most of tv my full attention but if something is important, complex, surprising, etc. I can replay it with the touch of a button. On a few occasions, not many - I can probably count them on both hands, I've found myself with the urge to quickly replay other things in my life. It has happened the most with the radio. I let my mind wander with the false security that I can replay anything important. Then when I catch half of something that I want to pay attention to and realize I can't rewind it I am disappointed. This has also happened to me in the movie theater and, I'm ashamed to admit, twice in real life conversations.
How's that for a confession?
Caeliban-Mike, sometimes the radio station will have a replay on line, if your station has a web site.
Carol (Kitty) wrote: "Caeliban-Mike, sometimes the radio station will have a replay on line, if your station has a web site."I know, it's just not as convenient as pushing a button and listening to what was said 5 seconds ago. Has DVR made me a lazy listener? Maybe I always was and DVR has just made me realize it. Hard to say.
LOL. My husband will ask me what was said on the radio or TV. I don't know I wasn't listening is my response.
when I catch half of something that I want to pay attention to and realize I can't rewind it I am disappointed. This has also happened to me in the movie theater and, I'm ashamed to admit, twice in real life conversations.How's that for a confession?
Mike, I've caught myself thinking the same thing. Kinda wierd, huh? But then my mind would sometimes wander during conversations in the BD days (before digital). Is that different?
Susan wrote: "Mike, I've caught myself thinking the same thing. Kinda wierd, huh? But then my mind would sometimes wander during conversations in the BD days (before digital). Is that different?"Well, it's different if your finger twitches and you have to stop yourself from reaching for a non-existent remote. :)
Caeliban - Mike wrote: "Well, it's different if your finger twitches and you have to stop yourself from reaching for a non-existent remote. :) ..."
Which brings us to that scene in Being There, where Chauncy Gardner vainly tries to stop the thugs by using a remote.
LOL! Yes, Mike, the finger twitch is a dead giveaway. And I love that movie, Ruth. Had sort of forgotten about that scene.
Here's my question. Do any of you find that immersion in fast-paced, web-surfing, multi-tasking impacts your ability or enjoyment of reading lengthy non-digital media (like novels)?
If so, what skills do you use to shift from high distractability to highly mono-focused concentration?
(And is MY distractability a result of the web or my age?) ;)
But seriously - thanks for your input!