The (death) of publishing?
This is a recent message I read, is this true in the new digital age? Share your thought by posting a comment!
This is the end of publishing
and
books are dead and boring
no longer can it be said that
we like to read
my friends and I
we don’t like the way books feel in our hands
it’s not true that
I don’t follow trends
I know what I want when I see it and
packaging
is more important than
content
I have to tell you
my attention span is too small for big ideas
and it’s just not true that
I read a lot and I like learning
I don’t care
and you should never think
I’ve got to be concerned with environment and sustainability
what I really hope you get is
you’ve got to open your eyes to my values
what’s important to me is
what Lady Gaga is wearing
and I don’t really care all that much
what Gandhi did last century
I think it’s unbelievable
that you’re actually listening to us
what’s important for you is
you’ll find
customers
for your
products
you’ll think
your job’s done
if we like your brand
we’ll do it for you
on Facebook
on our mobiles
me and my friends
your market is
dying
don’t think that it’s all
going to survive
it is…
7 comments:
Hello world ;-)
I am curious to see how it works - I did not need the login information yet...
And with regards to the "message" posted: it sounds like a modern poem to me. Is it true?
Generally spoken I think every generation is developing their own ideas and methods - if we talk to our grandparents, we will hear, that their parents hated the changes in music, style and behaviour of their kids... just imaging what our parents thought of us and we will think about our kids...
I do not expect to be able to fully understand all the trends and actions and opinions etc. of the younger generations. But it is a fact that the world around us is evolving all the time. We have to stay up-to-date otherwise we will loose touch with the once we have to teach.
To cut it short, I think we should adapt to the new requirements and there will always be new requirements.
Barbara (MoEdu, 2FS, HU)
Hello everyone,
I liked the 'message' posted on the front page. It reminds me a bit of a book a read a while ago 'So Yesterday'. It's all about trends in fashion and having the latest mobile and so on.
I agree with what Barbara said. Every generation develops new ideas which the older folks find hard to except. But I also agree that we somehow have to adapt to the new trends or at least know about them.
With regard to reading literacy I believe that reading a book or reading something about the past is not the common trend, but people still do it and with the the help of the internet even past events may become interesting again.
Anna (MaEdu, 4FS, HU)
Hello everyone,
This message is obviously very exaggerated, but I think that this depiction of the digital age is partly true. Brands, blogs, mobiles and Lady GaGa´s fashion seem to be main interests of this digital age or pop culture respectively. Books are replaced by modern and more convenient media. Old values gradually get lost and new ideals come up. This does not necessarily mean that the digital age, as depicted in the message above, is something negative. Thus, I agree with what Barbara and Anna said: Our world is something that constantly changes. We don´t have to understand or adapt to everything, but we should, at least, be aware of some of the characteristics of this modern world since it is the world our prospective students have to deal with.
I particularly agree with Anna´s last point: Nowadays, books might be a bit old-fashioned but they are still commonly used. I wouldn´t say that books are replaced by modern media. In fact, books are just accompanied by new media which easily help us to get access to the past, the present and the future.
Kay (MaEdu, 2FS, HU)
melaniewieser said...
It is definitely true that students are rather interested in modern media than in old fashioned books. Students focus on different things than teachers or adults want them to.
I think that this is a very provocative statement as books are still fascinating and any time I go to Dussmann or Hugendubel, there are so many people who buy books of various types (cook books, sci-fic., novels, etc.).
However, nowadays, most peoples’ focus is on superficial things. Clothing, brands, image and celebrities are more interesting things to discuss and worth thinking about than dealing with more difficult or profound topics. A clear shift of interest can be identified.
However, we as future teachers have to be aware of new technical developments in order to address our students in a modern and more motivating manner.
Interestingly enough, even we avail ourselves of new media as we now blog thoughts via the World Wide Web..... ;)
Melanie Wieser
Master of Education
HU Berlin
Vivien:
I agree with all of you, that we have to get used to changes in life style, to new trends we might not fully understand and interests we will not always share with our students.
However, as Kay already said, I do not see these changes, including the developing media, as being totally negative either. It can even be a chance for us as teachers!
Melanie said that students are "rather interested in modern media than in old-fashioned books". In my opinion these two aspects are not mutually exclusive at all – thinking of “ebooks” for instance. I truly believe students read and will always read. In future they will just read increasingly differently, maybe on their mobile phones, on the internet, in ebooks, etc. Or they will listen to "audio books", but does that make it less valuable? I also think that the literature read in schools is not always (if at all) in accordance with the students' tastes. Thousands of students "devoured" the Twilight-books or Harry Potter a couple of years ago. So I do not think one can say students do not read anymore at all - they simply read different things and often in a different medium, which is completely ok if you ask me.
Lena B.:
I don't think that reading a book will ever become extinct. The best examples, already mentioned, are the Harry Potter books as well as the Twilight books. I believe that it is an individual decision at what stage in life people like to read a book. Sometimes pupils are annoyed by all this "school literature" and maybe it's uncool/unpopular to say it out loud when reading a book. But that doesn't mean that they will never experience the pleasure and addiction of reading. Of course our world constantly changes but why can't we use all media which is available? Why do we have to choose?
I personally find it problematic that there is a ranking between all the available media. Books are still regarded as being superior; the canon of high literature is to be read by everyone who wants to be called an intellectual. To me an intellectual is somebody who is able to view things critically and not someone who is able to quote Shakespeare. Of course, reading helps developing a critical attitude but so do movies, arts, music and the new media. This is why I think that the available media we have nowadays should not be ranked but equally analyzed in schools. Our students should learn from us how to interpret books, movies, songs, paintings or different internet resources and thus become multiliterate. Books are not the only resource of knowledge anymore and society should start to accept this!
Iulia
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