I had an interesting debate with Josh Moritz, managing partner of Customer Growth, a marketing company in Westport, CT (www.customer-growth.com). His high school-age son started downloading his books for English from the town library’s web site to listen to on his MP3 player rather than sit down and do the actual reading. I didn’t see the problem -- I listen to audio books all the time. In fact, it’s the main way I get to do any reading for me, since I have so much reading to do for work. And I love being read to. And I often play books on tape for our kids when we go on driving trips. But Josh had an interesting perspective when he explained, “No one is going to read you a business report. Reading comprehension is an invaluable skill, and by listening to books (or even watching educational video), you’re not strengthening this skill.” Touché.
Jul 19
Jul 20, 2009 at 2:09 PM I agree with both of you. And I think it's a balance. Our kids don't read enough (I speak for myself) and books on tape are a great way to get information. But the value of the written word is not to be underestimated. Our kids and our adults benefit greatly from reading comprehension.
Jul 23, 2009 at 4:36 AM For me, nothing beats having a "real" book in hand. The experience of sitting in a favorite chair and closing off the rest of the world can't be duplicated by books on tape. As for travel time on the road, I enjoy listening to the local flavor of the towns we're passing through on the radio or just enjoying the scenery. If I'm out for a walk, I don't want the distraction of headphones or an earpiece for safety reasons. I vote for the written word!
Jul 23, 2009 at 7:45 AM My mom taught me to read. She could have taught Evelyn Wood. She read at over 5,000 words per minute which works out to over 10 pages per minute with 90% retention and comprehension. Even at that speed she would often stop and underline when the author had a nice turn of a phrase. She won the General Excellence Medal in her school. When I asked her how she was able to do so well she told me she read all of her text books the first week and the rest of the year was review.
Reading is a skill that unfortunately is only taught until the student has minimal expertise. Our students would do a lot better if they regarded books as friends who have a lot to share with them instead of an assignment they have to endure.
Jul 23, 2009 at 8:57 AM I often debate on internet fora. One of the most striking things in my experience on them is the general alck of ability in critical thinking. Our country has descended from first place in educaton amongst industrial nations to twenty-nineth over only the last twenty years. India now has mor honor students than we have students altogether. I fear that the great bubble of American superiority will burst if we don't give it a substantial boos and soon. One way to do this is to encourage reading. It might be one of the few counterweights to the busy busyness and sound byte mentality so prevalent today. It seems we have sacrificed depth for convenience and live now as cash cows for industy, rather thatn as community of intelligent, insightful, and progressively innovative individuals.
Jul 24, 2009 at 4:00 AM Your brain is a muscle. Pump it up. Knowledge is the power of flexing your brain.
Aug 5, 2009 at 8:58 AM -------------------------------------------------------
We test students (H.S., College & Graduate School) who
read text material or listen to books on MP3
or Voice-Over audios. Night-and-... Reading text grabs
hold of specific Synapses, and Neural Networks and
creates growth on your Dendritic-Spines. Google it.
That means your memory and learning accelerate by
reading, and just tread water from audios. Aha!
Experiences are from reading not story-time.
By the way - Evelyn Wood was my Business Partner,
she passed in 1995, but her brilliance flows on.
Audios do Nada for your brain, sorry folks, that the
fact of neuroscientiftic research.
See ya,
Hal
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Aug 20, 2009 at 11:48 AM After waking from the Coma, I cuased being stupid not ignorant for I knew driving to to fast in the car should have killed my life and the young lady riding in the souped up Honda. I am sorry, but remember I will always love you as the fellow human being as I AM. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE AWESOME GIFTS GIVING TO ME DAILY. I AM GRATEFUL to continue to be able to learn from us. I wish all my brothers and sisters of us safe travels Its good to be home from the hospitol.
Nov 9, 2009 at 9:21 AM Now this is highly recommended post for me. I will surely email this to my friend.
Regards
Natalie