1. The Reading Brain in a Digital World:
The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown
(Not in that Order)
Maryanne Wolf Social Science Foo Academy February 2, 2019
2. Literacy is a basic
human right.
Across all learners,
all ages, all
backgrounds.
THE MISSION
Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice
4. âą Literacy changes the brain,
which changes the individual,
which changes society,
which changes the future of the
species.
âą This has all begun to change.
Reading as the âCanary in the Mindâ
5. The human brain was
never born to read.
Each reader creates a
new, plastic reading
circuit from older
cognitive and
linguistic structures.
The Reading Circuit and Neuroplasticity
6. Brain can rearrange
itself in multiple
ways to read,
depending on
writing system,
development of
the circuitâs parts,
and medium.
Bolger, Perfetti, & Schneider
English
Chinese &
Kanji
Japanese
Kana
Brain can
rearrange itself in
multiple ways to
read, depending
on writing system
and medium.
Bolger, Perfetti, &
Schneider
Multiple Circuits
Plasticity of Reading Brain
IMPICATIONS of PLASTICITY:
Multiple Circuits, Multiple Influences
8. Each child creates a
new reading circuit by learning to
connect the developing cognitive
and linguistic structures.
The Young Reading Circuit:
Multiple Paths Diverge Here
The rich get richer and the
poor poorer.
...Matthew 4:23
11. Deep Reading
âŠ.requires both milliseconds
during the reading act and
years of formation to
connect critical thought and
empathy to insight.
The medium matters.
12. âEvery medium has its costs and weaknesses; every
medium develops some cognitive skills at the expense
of othersâŠthe Internet may develop impressive visual
intelligence, the cost seems to be to deep processing:
mindful knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis,
critical thinking, imagination and reflection.â
-Patricia Greenfield, 2009
The Reading Circuit Reflects the Medium
13. âWe transgress not because we try to build the new, but
because we do not allow ourselves to consider what it
disrupts or diminishes.â
- Sherry Turkle, Alone Together
âą Past vs. Future
âą Traditional vs. Innovative
âą Print vs. Digital
The HINGE MOMENT:
From Print Culture to Digital World
No Binaries
14. Evidence (Not Good) from Infancy to Five: Early Language
Development
iPad, Extra-Sensory
Stimulation,and
Attention
Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2014
Zuckerman & Radesky, 2017
Christakis, et al., 2018
15. Meta-analysis of Effects of Print and Digital
Media On Comprehension
54 Studies
171,055 Participants
Print better than
Digital (p<.001)
âą Across most genres
âą Across timed
conditions
âą Increasing over the
years 2000-2017
Delgado, Vargas, Ackerman, and
Salmeron; Educational Research Review
(in press)
16. Less time on
concentrated
reading; more
distractions
(27/hr); less
immersion.
1 2 3
EVIDENCE in Adults
âSkimming is the New Normalâ
(Liu, 2005, 2009, 2014)
Information
increases along
with skimming,
browsing,
keyword spotting;
F or Z pattern of
reading.
Decreased
sustained
attention and
memory.
(Baron, 2014, 2018)
17. The Unknown:
Implications for Democracy
âą If reading largely changes to adapt to digital characteristics:
we will reduce deep reading
with less time for critical analysis and empathy,
less ability to grasp complexity, to perceive beauty,
to evaluate truth value, or to understand and
empathize with othersâ perspectives,
all of which threatens a democratic society.
18. The GOOD: Technology and Global Literacy Initiatives
How can we connect reading
brain research with the
needs of non-literate children
around the world?
CURIOUS LEARNING: Global Literacy Project
19. Ensuring the formation of deep
reading across any medium is
an INOCULATION
against false information,
demagoguery, indifference to
âotherâ.
A Goal for the Good: âBiliterate Brainâ with
Deep Reading across Mediums
20. Stewards of the Next Generation
âIt would be catastrophic to become a nation of technically competent
people who have lost the ability to think critically, to examine
themselves, and to respect the humanity and diversity of others.
And unless we support these endeavors, it is in such a nation that we
may well live. It is therefore urgent now to support curricular efforts
aimed at producing citizens who can take charge of the own reasoning,
who can see the different and foreign not as a threat to be resisted but
as an invitation toâŠexpand their own minds and capacity for
citizenship.â
Martha Nussbaum
21. Future of the Deep Reading Brain:
âUse It or Lose itâ, But Choose It
This timeâŠthis hinge momentâŠlet us
choose with all our intelligence.
Hinweis der Redaktion
How about a box filled with various letters, Chinese characters, Hebrew, etc.? I have a slide of Sumerian script that also could be used. SEE NEXT SLIDE. Letâs be creative.
Characters not languages
Photo of sketch
BANNER AND NEW Picture of St. Thomas Aquinas
Photo of Rainer Maria Rilke
Graphics of 2 points
Banner should now be changed to fit Letter Nine. I moved this slide.
Paolo, Please use a photo that is futuristicâŠ.for example, a picture of the universe in which the new galaxies are shown in amazing colors and nebulae.