Sunday, September 7, 2008

Is Surfing the Net Reading?

"She does spend hours on the internet every day. I would say that this would be the internet generations way of reading," said Shasta Goode.

Thank you for this thought provoking comment that was posted on the Reading Post.

So readers, here are a few questions:

1. Is surfing the net the same as reading a book? How is it alike? Different?
2. Is reading a magazine the same as surfing the net? Reading a book?
3. Is reading nonfiction material posted on the internet a more valuable skill for students as more and more information is digital?
4. Are there different skills needed to read web pages v. reading printed material?


Thanks to S.G. for contributing to the blog with her comment.


35 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Surfing the net is almost the same as reading a book because you are learing new words anyway you read. But most kids my age are not really trying to find somthing educational to read on the web we are just looking for things or chatting on MySpace.
2. I think that reading a magazine is kinda the same as surfing the net. It depends on what kind of magazine you're reading of what site you are on. Pictures are all the same on-line or in the mag, it's what you are reading is what is important.
3. Yes. I like to research different subjects on-line: fishing, hunting, riding. If I want to look something up all I have to do is go on-line. I like to read books, but alot of time I need to know something right now, and the web does that.
4. No, I don't. My eyes get tired the same when I read on-line or I am reading a book. Myabe you think that the website has too many things on it to distract you, but think when you are reading... the tv is on, the phone is ringing and the dog is barking. To me it is all the same.

Mr. McGuire said...

OK Christian, now I have to ask, is chatting on MySpace writing? Will it eventually help you get your thoughts down better when writing?

Anonymous said...

I guess I see your point. Yes, writing on MySpace will help me think about writing. But BRB or LOL are not words. I will type better for sure but not always write better.

Anonymous said...

If a kid surfs the internet it is the same thing as reading a book because there are a lot of web sits for reading

Anonymous said...

I think that surfing the internet is not the same as reading a book because when you read on the internet you can blow up the word and you can make the words bigger. If you are reading a book you can not do that you have to read the small print. If you are also reading on the internet you might run into IM words and you might not know what they mean. I a book you do not have to read those IM words.

Anonymous said...

No I don't think that surfing the net is the same as reading a book because you might not get on to read or research things. You might get on to look at pictures or play games. If you getting on to research then I guess you can say it's the same.

I think that reading a magazine is the same as reading a magazine because if you are researching something and you are doing the same with a magazine then yeah it's the same. That is what I think about reading and surfing the net.

Anonymous said...

No,I don't think reading on the web is the same as reading a book.In a book you can go to the table of contents to find what you need.On the web you have to skim through it to find what you need.I would like to have a book than I would reading on the wed.I would like to have a book because I think its easier to find what you need in a book.

Anonymous said...

Surfing the net is alike by a little because you are reading no matter what you do even if you go on My space you are still reading messages that you or your friends send or sent to you or to them because how are you going to respond if you can't even read the messages that they send. I also think that surfing the net is not the same as reading one book and staying on the same topic not surfing or typing on My space or any other website that you go to. Yet surfing the web can also be educational.
September 8, 2008 10:59 AM

Anonymous said...

I think that surfing the net is the same as reading a book because you are still reading words there just on a computer and not on paper. So you can still read and lean things by reading on the computer. I like that we can do things on the computer in school cause I think you can do it faster by the computer cause you can get to things a lot faster. I hate having to keep stop and find a book you can just write some thing and it will take you to it.

Anonymous said...

I think reading a magazine is the same as surfing the net because when you surf the net you have to read, right? Surfing the takes a lot of reading. Same thing as reading a magazine because you have to read a lot on both. Another thing is it depends what topic it is. That is how surfing the net is not different from reading a magazine.

Mr. McGuire said...

Sam,

This is a great point.

On the web you have to skim through it to find what you need.

I think skimming is one of the most important skills when reading websites.

Anonymous said...

I think that surfing the net is reading but it is different than reading a book. A book is more relaxing, portable and worry-free, in my opinion. If you were going to the beach, which would you prefer...taking a book or lugging a laptop, worrying about it getting wet or sand in it, making sure you have internet service available and most important, making sure you have enough battery-time, or that no one steals it, blah, blah, blah. We all know that somebody wouldn't be "geek" enough to steal a book! Sounds like a pain in the rear to me. I guess if I really think about it, if my kid (Rachael) was at the beach, the last thing she would think about is a laptop OR a book! My concern for this generation is not how computer savvy they are, because they are AWESOME with computers and technology, but SPELLING errors and proper use of GRAMMAR!!!!! There are so many shortcuts with texting and chatting, it could be it's own language! How will they know how to write a resume or those long college papers. Spell check certainly doesn't cover everything!

Anonymous said...

Here I am rambling about spelling and grammar errors and I made a huge error. Can you find it?

Anonymous said...

Surfing the net is different from reading a book because surfing the net gives you more info than a book.

Anonymous said...

I think surfing the net is the same thing as reading. It is the same thing because on the internet you are reading words just like if you were reading in a book. If you read on the internet it is the same thing because your eyes would hurt if you read in a book or the internet.

Anonymous said...

I think that when we are surfing the web we are reading because we can look up stuff that we are interested in like the outdoors.

Mr. McGuire said...

Brandi,

Your comment, my concern for this generation is not how computer savvy they are . . . but SPELLING errors and proper use of GRAMMAR is one shared by many teachers. That is one reason posts with spelling mistakes get blasted (but I will give you a pass, because you found your own error) :)

Thank you for posting, Please stop back frequently.

Anonymous said...

To me surfing the web and reading a book is the same. It is the same because I could read a book for an hour and get an headache and be on the web for an hour and also get an headache. Also when I am at the store with my mom and there are people coming in like every minute it is impossible to read and when I am an the web I get up and walk out to the front room to see how is out there. When I am at home I can actuarially read and get on to the computer without something bothering me.

Anonymous said...

While I believe that all reading is valuable (I'm happy to see my children reading the back of a cereal box), it's sad to think the books on the library shelves are collecting more dust year after year. It's not our children's ability to read that is in jeopardy, it’s the words and thoughts of so many wonderful authors that our children many never get a chance to know because they are scrolling pages rather than flipping pages. I do agree wholeheartedly that our children need to learn how to safely browse the internet. It is a valuable resource that is right at our fingertips and only seconds away (unless you’re still stuck with dial-up) from all the information you will ever need to know about practically any subject you can imagine. However, reading about bullying on Wikipedia is much different than reading Blubber by Judy Blume. Wikipedia will give you a definition, the book will bring you into the lives of the characters and let the reader share emotions along with those characters and hopefully come away with a life lesson when the book is closed.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Mcguire ,

Would you care to give me some advice?

Mr. McGuire said...

Bailey,

Please take a look at the post about Smarter. Do you have a plan for where you are headed?

Anonymous said...

Surfing the web is not the same as reading a book.
Because the web does not have more information then the book does

Anonymous said...

1. I think that surfing the net is like reading but not exactly the same. It is not the same because if you are reading somthing on the net you could skip alot and still know what is going on but in a book if you skip a page then you some times have n o clue. It is the same because you are still reading and finding somthing now every day.

Anonymous said...

1. I think that surfing the net is like reading but not exactly the same. It is not the same because if you are reading somthing on the net you could skip alot and still know what is going on but in a book if you skip a page then you some times have no clue. It is the same because you are still reading and finding somthing now every day.

September 9, 2008 9:32 PM

Anonymous said...

2.I do not think that reading a magazine is the same as reading a book because it is a lot of different things when a book is about on thing not a lot of things.
It is a little like the net because the net is about a lot of things too.

Anonymous said...

1.Surfing the internet is the same as reading a book because as you get on the net you have to read when you want to get on the blog or something else. Surfing the net is different then reading a book because sometimes you may not want to read when you get on the blog or something else on the net.

Anonymous said...

Surfing the internet is a lot better than reading because there is a lot more facts. More people get on the computer than read books . The computer can be very unsafe at the same helpful.

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone!

I teach Grade 6 in Canada and I am teaching my students to respond to blogs and I would like to use your wonderful responses as models for them!

Mr. McGuire: Do you mind if I use some of your questions as prompts for my posts? I think they are exactly what I am looking for!

Take care,
Head Monkey
(of the teacher blog "Middle School Monkeys - www.mrsbowes.edublogs.org and the class blog "6K Monkeys" -
www.6kmonkeys.edublogs.org)

Anonymous said...

I thank a deer hunting magazine is different than a deer hunting web site. it take longer to fine the web site than opening a book.

Anonymous said...

surfing the web is sort of the same thing.But going on the internet is a lot faster when you need information.But sometimes books are what people use most.Like on vacation when you need directions.

Mr. McGuire said...

Mrs. Bowes aka Head Monkey,

Please feel free to use any of the prompts or questions that would work with your class.

BUT, what I would really like is to have all of your students join us on a post, giving their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Then we could both benefit, and look at the similarities and differences in our classes.

Please give me a shout at Mr. McGuire

Anonymous said...

Mr. McGuire,

What a great idea! I will work with them for the next few days on some blog etiquette and then we'll start posting on ours first to work out the kinks. I think I'll use the"Is surfing the net reading?" prompt as an opener.

What a great lead-in to my lesson on feeds and readers. We can check our reader for your blog everyday and encourage commenting. I will be in touch soon.

Keep up the great work!
Head Monkey aka Mrs. Bowes

Mr. McGuire said...

Mrs. Bowes,

We look forward to having you join us.

If it will help, there is a post about Blog Etiquette.

Talk to you soon!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Mr. McGuire for the Blogging Etiquette list. It was just what I needed! We started commenting today, but I am not sure how to handle all of the spelling and capitalization errors. How do you reinforce that with your students? I am moderating the comments, but once it's posted, it's already out there. Do you delete posts that have too many errors? Thanks for helping me on this journey. The monkeys are soooo excited to start posting on your site too (once they get the hang of things. Get it - monkeys - hanging...)

Okay it's late, I'm being cheesier than usual!

Mr. McGuire said...

Mrs. Bowes,

We type posts on a word processor first (Open Office). That way students have a saved copy if I blast their post.

If there are many mistakes, posts get deleted faster than a slacker can think up excuses for missing work.

Sticking to your theme, we are looking forward to having the monkeys hang around! :)