Since we’re “wired” for this course, I did the readings online instead of printing them out. Wow, it was hard work! Reading the Digital History Introduction chapter took focus and effort far beyond reading a chapter in a physical book.
Here are a few problems I ran into:
- Note taking in the margins: I wrestle with authors by amplifying and taking exception with notes in the margins. I cut and pasted the intro chapter and inserted comments…it took a lot longer than my scribblings. When I tried this with the other chapters, I couldn’t copy/paste them because they were broken into many “pages.” Separated by a “next à link. It made me wonder if there’s a way to mark up a document online.
- Pacing: I don’t know how long a document is if I have to keep following different links to “next à” This leaves me feeling uneasy, can my time available equal my time needed?
- Attention span: I think we’ve become accustomed to 3-5 sentence web-bytes when surfing the web. An online text book like Digital History isn’t configured to align with web habits. Maybe one way might be to cut it back to a thin outline with links to depth and examples? If not, I’m ready to go buy the book!!
- Distractions: If I’m reading a document in a browser, an idea might pop into my head on any random subject. Since I’m sitting at a computer, I’m usually now off chasing it down on Google.
So, I’m going to try to stick with a paperless semester. It remains to be seen if I can
retrain my mind and retool my learning habits to make it work
September 4, 2006 at 8:06 pm
I hear ya on the not being able to write notes in the margins. I tried having my notebook right next to me and would jot down things in it when I disgreed/agreed/was fascinated by a particular point. The only problem with that is you are not really sure exactly where you were in the chapter (I am mainly talking about the intro, I plan to do the other 2 chps today).
Distractions are also a very big issue for me. Usually when I sit down to start reading or doing other HW, I must turn the cpu off or else, as you said, get an idea and start pursuing it (as I write this comment, I am typing up questions for my discussion sections tommorow!). I can have TV or radio/CDs on because they are more passive devices, whereas the cpu is so user-interactive.
I guess we could print them out but then we run into the problems of ink and paper usage and running up even larger bills for the semester in those 2 areas! Oh, what to do, what to do!! SaS
September 5, 2006 at 2:43 am
Bill,
I thought your analysis was excellent. Thanks for the considerations.
Dieter
February 5, 2007 at 2:39 pm
[...] I had been blaming myself for poor attention span when trying to read online content (see my previous post from Clio 1), but the readings this week and last week’s seminar discussion let me off the hook! [...]